New York, New York – Sophomore Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) exploded for the BMCC men's basketball program's first 40-point scoring effort in five seasons, dropping a career-high 42 points, 24 of them coming in the second half to help outmuscle Kingsborough Community College 91-76 in CUNYAC action on Tuesday night at BMCC Gymnasium. The Panthers ended their two-game skid with the victory, improving to 4-4 (2-1 CUNYAC), while the Wave dropped to 2-6 (1-3 CUNYAC).
 
Marte is the first Panther player to register a 40 spot since the program's 1,000-point scorer, Quran Dublin, posted 45 points against Orange County Community College on January 10, 2019. Marte, who also led the Panthers defensively with two steals on the evening, has been on a tear to start the 2023-24 season, scoring 20 or more points in four of his eight games this season and stands 13th in the nation in scoring average with 21.5 points per game.

Marte also posted another career-high with 18 field goals made and 23 field goals attempted in the contest, while freshmen Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) and Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) also shined on the evening. Griffin drained a career-high 14 points and distributed a team-best four assists, while Mohammed ripped down a game-high 16 rebounds for his seventh straight double-digit rebounding performance and team-best third double-double with 12 points while swatted away a game-best five shots. 
 
BMCC outrebounded Kingsborough Community College 46-38 on the evening, with sophomore Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) hauling 12 rebounds for his third double-digit rebounding performance.
 
The Panthers also got major contributions from their bench, outscoring the Wave 28-11. Freshman Dontate Creedland (Brooklyn, New York) scored a career-best nine points on a game-best-tied three treys, while Jarrett and classmate Kimmeo Dixson (Bronx, New York) scored six and five points, respectively.
 
The Panthers also shared the basketball on the evening, registering their seventh double-digit assist game in eight contests with 17 assists as eight different players recorded an assist, and four had two or more assists as Marte and Jarrett handed out three each while classmates Khalil Black (Queens, New York) and Dixson both had two.

The first five minutes of the first half were back and forth with five different lead changes and three ties in which both squads traded the first 20 points. BMCC would score five straight points to lead 15-10 at 13:43 on a Marte fastbreak layup off a steal before Kingsborough Community College got the deficit down to three, 15-12 at 13:05 on a pair of Christopher Jace free throws.

The Panthers would put the pedal to the medal over the next four and a half minutes, outscoring the Wave 19-6, building their lead to double digits for the first time, 24-14 on a Mohammed layup, then their biggest of the first half 13, 29-16 at 8:31 on a Griffin layin. Kingsborough Community College roared back with a 15-3 run to get it down to one on an Omari Hinds layup before BMCC closed out the first half on a 13-2 run capped off by a Marte layup with 21 seconds remaining, giving the Panthers a 45-33 lead at halftime.

BMCC kept their momentum going in the second half, opening on a 10-3 run to get their lead to 55-36 at 16:38 on a Mohammed layin and then to their largest of the night, 20, 60-40, when Marte went 1-for-2 at the free throw line. KCC would make one final charge to get the deficit down to nine, 70-61 at 7:13, when Tysean Boney went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe but wouldn't inch any closer as the Panthers pulled away for a 91-76 victory. 

Kingsborough Community College had four players score in double figures, and one had a double-double led by a team-high 24 points from Orion Anyango. Phillip Harris registered a team-best 12 rebounds and scored 15 points. Tysean Boney and Omari Hinds came off the bench to score 12 points and 10 points, while Xavier Whitfield snagged a game-high four steals, and Isavior Coombs dished out a team-high three assists.
 
The Panthers look to make it back-to-back victories a week from tonight on Tuesday, December 5, at 8 p.m. in CUNYAC action at Bronx Community College at Alumni Gymnasium in the Bronx, New York. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.
 
Notables –
- Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) is third in the country with five blocks per game and tied fourth nationally in rebounding average with 14.3 rebounds per game. He has registered seven straight double-digit rebound games, tops on the team, and recorded three or more blocks in all eight games.
- Mohammed also leads the Panthers with 40 blocks, the tenth most in a single season, passing Viktor Kovacevic's 39 blocks from the 2017-18 season.
- Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) is tied 10th in the country with 5.5 assists per game.
- Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) has now moved into the top 20 all-time in school history in total points with 448 after last night's performance. He surpasses Oren Mansky's 441 career points from 2003-05.
- Marte currently leads the Panthers in five categories with 172 points, 21.5 points per game, 70 field goals made, 111 field goals attempted, and 17 steals.


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