Brooklyn, New York – The BMCC men's basketball team entered Wednesday night's 2023 CUNYAC CC Men's Basketball Championship semifinal with a chance to put a mark on a major turnaround season after just two victories a season ago. The challenge before them was the two-time defending conference champion Hostos Community College. Even though the Panthers had a tough finish to the regular season, they knew they could defeat the Caimans after a solid defensive effort led them to victory back in December.
 
Head Coach Tommy Keenan continues to preach to his team the importance of defense and rebounding, both of which his squad followed in the gameplan using a stifling defensive effort, including holding Hostos Community College to 19% from the field (8-42 FG) to upend them 57-47 at Kingsborough Gym in Brooklyn, New York. As a result, the Panthers improved to 11-11, surpassing the program's 2019-20 mark of 10 victories, while the Caiman's two-year rein ended with the loss dropping them to 14-12.
 
BMCC is in the CUNYAC CC Men's Basketball Championship for the 15th time in program history and the first time since 2018-19. The Panthers made it back-to-back championships in the 2019 final with a 104-90 victory over Hostos Community College.
 
Three Panthers finished the evening in double figures, and three put up double-digit rebound games. Freshman Daniel Laffitte (New York, New York) led the offensive attack off the bench with a team-high 13 points, while classmate Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) scored 12 points, all coming in the first half. Sophomore Adewale Fasanmi (Brooklyn, New York) also registered his fourth double-double of the season, ripping down a career and game-best 16 rebounds and scoring 10 points.
 
Fasanmi also turned away a game-high three shots while fellow upperclassman Jeremiah Cardi (New York, New York) dished out a team-best four assists and tied for another with Fasanmi with two steals. Cardi scored six of his nine points in the second half.
 
The Panthers faced a Caiman offense that averaged 85.5 points per game and stepped up with their best defensive effort of the year, holding them to 24.7% shooting from the field (18-75 FG), including 2-for-29 from three-point range.
 
BMCC also needed to control the glass to win, and they came through outrebounding Hostos C.C. 53-41 on the night while outscoring them in the Paint 34-30. The 53 rebounds by the Panthers are the second-most on the season.
 
Hostos Community College jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead on a pair of Tionne Palmer free throws at 14:58 before BMCC rang off the following points to get within two, 10-8 at 13:01 on a Laffitte layup. 
 
The Caimans would respond with four straight points to build their lead back to its largest of the night, six 14-8 at 12:22 on an Evan Douglas-Vazquez layup before the Panthers put together a ferocious 15-2 run tying it at 15 on a Marte layup at 8:56 going in front 17-15 on a Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) score at 8:30 and stretching that lead to its largest of the first half 23-16 at 5:20 on a pair of Fasanmi free throws at 5:20. Hostos would rally with 11 of the last 17 points of the first half to get the BMCC advantage down to two, 29-27, at 1:28 when Marquise Paulin went 1-for-2 at the free throw line and that score remained as both teams went into the halftime break.
 
The Panthers took control of the game right from the opening inbound of the second half constructing an 8-2 run capped off by a Fasanmi dunk at 15:09 to make it 37-29. BMCC held the Hostos without a field goal for the first 4:40 of the period, but the Caimans would not go away, using an 8-3 run to get the deficit down to three twice, 38-35 at 12:09 and 40-37 at 10:57 on a pair of layups from Randolph Charles and Marquise Paulin.
 
The Panthers countered with four of the following points to get the advantage to six, 44-38 at 9:12 on a Leverson Tulien (Roslyn Heights, New York) bucket, before the Caimans registered nine of the next 13 points to cut the deficit down to one, 48-47 at 4:48 on a David Honore score. BMCC would never look back after exploding with a 9-0 run and holding Hostos without a field goal the rest of the way, getting their lead to its largest of the night by 10, 57-47, with 16 seconds remaining when Tulien went 1-for-2 at the free throw line.
 
Ryan Ramo's final three-point shot went off the right glass and into the hands of Fasanmi, and the celebration began from the left block to the bench as the Panthers accomplished a major upset with a 57-47 victory.
 
Tione Palmer recorded a double-double with a game-high 15 points while grasping 10 rebounds. Sophomore Marquise Paulin chipped in with 10 points, handed out a game-high six assists, and gobbled up a game-best four steals. David Honore led the Caimans on the glass with a team-high 11 rebounds.

The Panthers have one more mountain to climb for the program's first CUNYAC Championship since the 2018-19 season, as they will face top-seeded Queensborough Community College on February 17 at 8 p.m. from Kingsborough Gymnasium. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.
 
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The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of eight varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at https://bmccathletics.com - The official site of BMCC Athletics. Follow the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).