Garden City, New York - After the BMCC men's basketball team built a nine-point halftime lead, Nassau Community College shot 55.9% from the field and outscored the Panthers 56-35 in the second half to pick up an 81-69 victory in Region 15 action on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Panthers to 7-13 (7-6 Region XV), while the Lions improve to 11-7 (9-3 Region XV) with the victory.

Three Panthers registered double-digit scoring efforts on the evening, with sophomore Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) carrying the offensive torch with his third straight and team-best sixth 20-point scoring effort of the season with a team-high 26 points on 10-for-18 from the field (55.6 percent). After Saturday's contest, Marte moved into fifth all-time in school history in scoring with 653 career points, surpassing Joseph Ojo's career point total of 652.

Marte also knocked down double-digit field goals for a third straight game and a team-best seventh time this year, while his 20-point effort was the 10th of his career.  
 
Classmate Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) put up his fifth double-double of the season and second one in his last three games, ripping down a team-best 18 rebounds, with 13 boards coming in the first half to go along with 12 points. Freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) also chipped in with 12 points for his 12th straight double-figure scoring game and his team-best 16th on the season, tying him with Marte. Freshman Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) distributed a team-best five assists. 
 
Jarrett and Marte led the Panthers on defense, with Jarrett swatting away a team and career-high tied three shots and Marte vacuuming up a team-best two steals, giving him 98 steals for his career, which puts him two away from tying for the all-time program record of 100 career steals with Ariel Joseph.

The Panthers spread the wealth again on the hardwood, distributing double-digit assists for a sixth consecutive game and 18th time this season with 14 dimes on the afternoon, as three different players handed out four or more helpers with Marte and Jarrett giving out four each and classmate Elijah Paul (Brooklyn, New York) having one.

The Panthers started fast for the second straight game, exploding for a 14-3 run to get their lead to its largest of the game, 11, 18-7 at 9:58 on a jumper from Jarrett. Nassau Community College responded with a 7-2 run to get the deficit down to six, 20-14 at 7:12 on an Anthony Todd layup, then BMCC stretched the lead to 10, 24-14 on a pair of Jarrett free throws at the 6:07 mark. 

The Lions scored nine of the following 10 points over the next 3:55 to cut the Panther's lead down to two, 25-23, at the 2:52 mark on a layin by Anthony Todd. BMCC closed out the first half strong with a 9-2 run capped off with a tip-in by Emmanuel Agyei (Brooklyn, New York) with 12 seconds left to make it 34-25 going into the halftime break.
 
Nassau Community College scored seven of the first 10 points of the second half to trim the BMCC lead down to two, 37-35, at 18:34 on a Dajul Johnson three-pointer. The Panthers scored the following four points to increase the margin back to six, 41-35 at 16:59, on a Griffin jumper before a Jesse Taylor three-pointer cut the deficit down to three, 41-38 at 15:43.
 
The Panthers scored the following five points to get their lead up to eight, 46-38 on a Paul three-pointer at 14:18 then the Lions went on a 10-0 run and held BMCC scoreless for the next 3:15 tying it at 48 at the 11:33 mark. 
 
Over the next 3:23, there would be five different lead changes and two ties over the next 3:23 as Black's layup gave the Panthers back the lead 50-48 at 10:43, then a three-point play by Bashir Byrd at 9:50 gave Nassau their first lead of the day by one, 51-50 at 9:50 then Paul knocked down a three-pointer 23 seconds later to put BMCC back in front 53-51. Byrd knotted it up a second time at 53 at 9:06 on a layup, and after he failed to convert the three-point play, Black buried a three-pointer at 8:52 to give the Panthers back the lead 56-53.
 
Nassau Community College grabbed control of the contest after unloading on a 12-0 run over the next 2:29, taking the lead for good by one, 57-56 at 8:10 on a layin from Dajul Johnson, and stretching it to nine, 65-56 at 6:23 on a Jesse Taylor three-point play. BMCC got within six two more times on a Black three-pointer at 5:46 to make it 66-59 and 73-67 on a layup from Marte at 1:54, but that is as close as they would get as Nassau Community College built their lead to its largest on the afternoon, 12, 79-67 with 48 seconds left on a Byrd layin and win the contest by the same margin 81-69 when the final horn sounded.
 
The Panthers will look for two straight conference wins when they host Queensborough Community College on Tuesday, January 30, at 7:30 p.m. at BMCC Gymnasium. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.

Notables –
- Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) was the Panther's top player this week, posting two 20-point games and averaging 25.5 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, 4 rebounds per game, and three steals. He shot 20-for-37 from the field (54.1 percent) and 10-for-12 from the line (83.3 percent). 
- Marte has registered double figures, a team-best tied 16 times this season and 32 times total in his career.
- Marte leads the Panthers with 46 steals and has grabbed two or more steals 16 times in 19 games. 
- Marte leads the Panthers in eight different categories in total points (377), scoring average (19.8), field goals made (150), field goals attempted (268), free throws made (67), free throws attempted (88), steals (46), and steals per game (2.4). His 377 total points and 19.8 points per game are season-bests.
- Khalil Black (Queens, New York) averaged 15.5 points per game in the Panthers' two contests this week, to go along with six rebounds, four steals, and an assist. Black shot 12-for-27 from the field (44.4 percent) and 6-for-13 from three-point range (46.1 percent) in his two games this week.
- Black leads the Panthers in three-pointers made (40) and three-pointers attempted (99), connecting on two or more three-pointers in four straight games and 13 of his 20 games this season. 
- Black is also second on the Panthers in total points (284), scoring average (14.2), field goals attempted (243), free throws made (50), free throws attempted (66), and steals (29).
- Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) is fifth all-time with 339 career rebounds and averaged 10.5 points per game, 13 rebounds per game to go along with four blocks and four assists. He also shot 9-for-15 from the field (60 percent).
- Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) has dished out a team-best 96 assists and 4.8 assists per game average. Griffin is also tied for 10th nationally with 96 assists, and he has handed out three or more assists in six straight contests and 17 times in 20 games this season.


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