New York, New York –  The BMCC men's basketball team's exciting second-half comeback fell just short on Thursday night against Rockland Community College at BMCC Gymnasium. The Hawks improved to 6-6 with the victory, while the Panthers dropped to 4-7 with the loss. 

The Panthers had three or more players score in double figures for the fourth straight game, spearheaded by sophomore Jayden Jarrett's (Bronx, New York) career-high 27-point game, his second of the season and third of his career with 16 of his points coming in the first half. Jarrett missed his third double-double of the season by two rebounds with eight in the contest while matching a career-best with 13-for-19 shooting. Classmate Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) posted his team-leading ninth double-figure game with 17 points, with 11 coming in the second half. Freshman Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) registered his team-best fourth double-double with 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds while also turning away a game-high six shots. Fellow freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) chipped in with 11 points and knocked down a team-high two three-pointers, while classmate Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) gave out a team-high seven assists.
 
Marte snatched a game-high tied four steals while Black gobbled up three, and Mohammed and Griffin had two each.
 
BMCC handed out 16 assists for their fourth straight double-digit assist game and tenth double-digit assist game of the season while recording eight blocks in the contest, their second-highest total on the year. The Panthers also scored 25 points off of 20 Rockland turnovers while outscoring them in the paint 58-46 and outrebounding the Hawks on the night 41-31.

The first half was a rollercoaster ride between both squads that featured six different lead changes as BMCC would score five of the first nine points of the contest to take a 5-4 lead on a Jarrett Layup at 17:51 before Rockland responded with a furious 16-2 run over the next 3:59 to build their lead to the largest of the night, 13, 20-7 on a layup from Jayden Austin at the 13:52 mark. The Panthers mounted a charge of their own right after exploding for a 17-4 run over the next 5:45 to tie it at 24 on a Black three-pointer at 8:07. Emmanuel Barkor would put Rockland back in front on a layin at 5:58, then Marte responded with a three-point play 11 seconds later at 5:47 to give the Panthers back the lead 27-26. The Hawks would score seven of the following 10 points to make it 33-30 on a layup by Steven Polanco at 4:34. Jarrett put a layup home to make it a one-point game, 33-32 at 1:36 mark, then Rockland responded with a 9-2 run capped off by a Jayden Austin dunk with 34 seconds left to make it 42-34. The Panthers rolled off the final five points on a Marte three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit down to three, 42-39, as both teams went to the locker room for the halftime break.

The Hawks got off to a quick start to start the second half opening with a 10-2 run to build their lead to nine, 52-43, on Tayejon Lynch's three-pointer at 17:32. BMCC countered with an 8-0 run of their own capped off by a Mohammed three-point play to cut the deficit down to one, 52-51, at 14:10. Rockland would outscore BMCC 17-7 over the next 5:07 to lead by 11, 69-58 on a Polanco layup at 9:17. BMCC responded with an 11-4 run to make it 73-69 at 5:44 when Mohammed went 1-for-2 at the line then over the next 2:05 the Panthers would continue to chip away scoring five of the following seven points to get the lead down to one twice on a Griffin layup at 3:38 to make it 75-74 and a Marte layin at 2:24 to make it 77-76. 
 
Rockland would stretch their lead to six, 83-76, with 45 seconds left on a Barkor layup before the Panthers scored five straight points to cut the deficit down to two, 83-81 on a Griffin three-pointer with 17 seconds left. The Panthers had a chance to tie it at the final horn as Lynch had a one-and-one for Rockland with eight seconds left. After missing at the line off the left rim, Jarrett took the defensive board and helped lead a final charge as Griffin fed Black for a tying two-pointer at the right elbow, but his attempt would go off the right rim and glass, allowing the Hawks to espace with an 83-81 victory.

The Hawks had all five starters register double-digit scoring performances, led by sophomore Tayejon Lynch's game-high 31-point game. Lynch also knocked down a game-high four three-pointers, Jayden Austin and Steven Polanco chipped in with 14 and 13 points, and Emmanuel Barkor and Leon Simon contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively. Austin grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and distributed a game-high eight assists while tying another game-best alongside Lynch with four steals.

The Panthers will look to grab their fifth Region 15 win on the season and make it three straight victories over their next opponent, Suffolk County Community College, two days from now on Saturday, December 16, at 2 p.m. at BMCC Gymnasium in downtown Manhattan. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.


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