New York, New York – The BMCC men's basketball team squandered a nine-point lead as Roxbury Community College rallied with a 9-3 run in the final 2:16 of the second half, capped off by a game-winning layup from Shamar Browder with 1.7 seconds remaining to stun the Panthers 81-80 at BMCC Gymnasium in New York, New York. The Panthers fall to 6-12 with the loss, and Roxbury Community College improves to 8-11 with the victory.
 
Three of the five Panthers starters scored in double figures on the afternoon, with two posting 20-point scoring efforts and another putting up a double-double. Sophomore Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) spearheaded the offensive effort with his team-leading four 20-point game of the season and the eighth of his career with a team-best 29 points, with 17 points coming in the first half. Classmate Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) rang up his fourth double-double of the season and his second in the last three games with 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with a game-best six assists.

Freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) recorded his 10th straight double-figure scoring performance with 16 points and nailed a team-high two three-pointers, while classmate Marques Jones (Bronx, New York) made a major impact off the bench, taking down a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
The Panthers spread the wealth again on the hardwood, distributing double-digit assists the fourth straight game and 16th time this season with 19 dimes on the afternoon the second most of the season with five different players have two or more assists with Marte and freshman Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) dishing out four assists each while Jones had three and Black had two.
 
The Panthers spread the wealth again on the hardwood, distributing double-digit assists the fourth straight game and 16th time this season with 19 dimes on the afternoon, the second most of the season with five different players having two or more assists with Marte and freshman Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) dishing out four assists each and Jones and Black giving out three and two.
 
Jarrett also denied a team-high two shots in the contest.
 
The Panther shot 50 percent from the field for the third time this season registering a 50.7 percent mark from the field (34-of-67) and outscored Roxbury Community College 50-38 in the paint including 24-14 in the first half. Turnovers hurt BMCC on the afternoon as Roxbury had 27 points off 15 BMCC turnovers with 19 of those 27 points off turnovers coming in the second half while the Panthers cashed in with 17 points off of 16 Roxbury turnovers.
 
After both squads traded the first 14 points, the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to stretch their lead to five, 14-9 on a three-pointer from Black at the 14:16 mark before a Shamar Browder three-point play at 13:34 cut the lead to two, 14-12. BMCC roared right back over the next 4:29, outscoring Roxbury Community College 10-5 to increase their lead to its largest of the first half 9, 26-17 at 9:05 when Griffin went 1-for-2 at the line. Roxbury Community College rallied again with an 8-2 run to cut the BMCC lead down to three, 28-25 at 6:42 on a layup from Browder, then the Panthers got the lead back to five three times 30-25 at 5:45 on a Black layin and 32-27 at the 5:05 mark and 34-29 at 3:13 mark on a pair of Marte layups. 
 
Roxbury Community College recorded four of the following five points to cut the deficit down to one, 34-33 at the 2:28 mark on a layup from Browder, then BMCC moved the lead back to four three times 37-33 at the 2:03 mark on a Marte layin and to 39-35 with 45 seconds left and 41-37 with 14 seconds remaining on layups from Jarrett. Roxbury made the most of their last possession of the period as Michael De Leon drained a three-pointer from the left wing at the horn to cut the Panther lead to one, 41-40, at the halfway point.
 
Roxbury opened up the second half with a layup from De Leon at the 19:24 mark to make it 42-41. BMCC responded with a 9-0 run to get their lead back to eight, 50-42 on a Jones jumper at 15:33. Roxbury scored the following five points to get the Panther lead down to three, 50-47 at 14:45 on a Jacob Harris laying before BMCC scored six consecutive points to increase the margin to their largest of the afternoon nine, 56-47 at 12:45 on a layup from Marte. Roxbury got the deficit down to five again, 57-52, at the 11:47 mark on a De Leon three-pointer before BMCC brought their lead back to nine, its biggest of the day twice with eight of the following 12 points to lead 63-54 at 9:09 on a Jarrett jumper and a layup by Marte to make it 65-56 at the 8:39 mark. 
 
Roxbury outscored BMCC 14-6 over the next 4:05 to cut the lead down to one, 71-70, at 4:34 on a layin from Browder. The Panthers went on a 6-2 run, beginning with four straight points to get some breathing room by five, 75-70 on a Black jumper at 2:55, then after a Roxbury score got it back to five, 77-72 on a layin from Jarrett at 2:17. Roxbury would not go away going on a 7-3 run over the final 1:29 capped off by a Browder three-point play with 46 seconds remaining to cut the BMCC lead to one, 80-79.
 
After the Panthers failed to get some insurance on the next possession on Jarrett missed a layup with 29 seconds, they did what they needed to do, holding Roxbury scoreless the next possession, and after Black ate up the defensive board with 11 seconds left, he had a one and one opportunity to make it a two-possession game.
 
The first attempt would rattle off the back rim and fall into the hands of Roxbury's Adiel Escobar, who raced up the court and fed their best player, Browder, who knifed down the right wing through a pair of defenders and floated one off the right rim and back iron and down the hoop to shock the Panthers with 1.7 seconds remaining. A desperation midcourt shot from Dontate Creedland (Brooklyn, New York) fell short as Roxbury Community College came away with the stunning 81-80 victory.

Roxbury Community College was led offensively on the afternoon by Shamar Browder, who scored a game-high 32 points and dished out a game-best five assists. Michael De Leon had 20 points and knocked down a game-high four three-pointers, while Adiel Escobar secured a team-high nine rebounds, and Jacob Harris grasped a team-best tied four steals.

The Panthers will look to regroup with a big-time CUNYAC matchup on Tuesday, January 20, against LaGuardia Community College at 7 p.m. at BMCC Gymnasium in New York, New York. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.

Notables –
- Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) leads the Panthers with 43 steals and moved alone into second all-time in program history with 95 career steals, surpassing Patrick Bonna's career total of 94 from 2006-2008, and is six away from being the all-time program leader in steals and five away from tying the top spot with Joseph Ariel with 100 career steals. He also has grabbed two or more steals in 12 straight games and 15 times in 17 games. 
- Marte has registered double figures, a team-best tied 14 times this season and 30 times total in his career, and moved into sixth all-time in program history with 602 career points surpassing Igor Borukhov's career total of 600 points from 2003-2005.
- Marte leads the Panthers in eight different categories in total points (326), scoring average (19.2), field goals made (130), field goals attempted (231), free throws made (57), free throws attempted (76), steals (43), and steals per game (2.5). His 326 total points and 19.2 points per game are season-bests.
- Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) was one of the Panther's top players at the end of this week, averaging 18.5 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, and four assists per game to go along with three blocks and two steals while shooting 17-of-26 from the field (65.3 percent) in the Panthers two games this week. Jarrett has recorded double-figure scoring efforts in three straight games and nine times this season.
- Jarrett moved into fifth all-time with 313 career rebounds after Saturday's contest, surpassing Ashan Adam's total of 310 career rebounds who played the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons.
- Khalil Black (Queens, New York) has recorded 10 straight double-figure games and a team-best tied 14 overall on the season. Black leads the Panthers in three-pointers made (34) and three-pointers attempted (86), connecting on two or more three-pointers in 11 of his 18 games this season and has done it in three of his last four games. 
- Black continues to be the most consistent player on the floor for the Panthers in the 2024 portion of the season as he posted two double-figure scoring efforts in the Panther's two matchups against Monroe-Bronx and Roxbury Community College, averaging 16 points per game and shooting 5-for-10 from three (50 percent) while hauling down 3.5 rebounds per game to go along with two assists and a block. He shot 11-for-26 in the two contests (42.3 percent).
- Black is also second on the Panthers in total points (252), scoring average (14.0), field goals attempted (216), free throws made (48), free throws attempted (65), and steals (25).
 - Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) has dished out a team-best 87 assists, also 10th in the nation with 87 assists. Griffin has dished out three or more assists in 15 of his 18 games this season.

 
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