New York, New York – The BMCC men's basketball team clicked on all cylinders on Thursday night, putting together their best performance of the season at the right time to pull off one of the biggest wins in the program's history with a 63-57 upset of NJCAA Division III nationally-ranked No. 9 Dutchess Community College at BMCC Gymnasium. The Panthers improved to 9-13 (9-6 Region XV), ending a six-game skid to the Falcons, who dropped to 15-3 (11-2 Region XV) with the loss.
 
"Our guys came ready to play tonight against an extremely talented and well-coached Dutchess team, and I am real proud of them," said Head Coach Tommy Keenan. "They paid attention to the scouting reports and kept attacking Dutchess from start to finish," said Keenan. "This is a great win for our program, and we will look to keep that momentum going on the road this weekend."
 
The last Panthers victory over Dutchess was on the road in Poughkeepsie, New York, on January 16, 2020, and their first at BMCC Gymnasium since January 17, 2019, when they won 89-68. BMCC is currently fifth in Region 15 behind Hostos Community College. The Caimans have 10 Region 15 victories, the second most in the Region.
 
Three of the Panther's five scorers finished in double figures on the evening, with sophomore Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) leading the way with a game-high 19 points for his third straight double-figure game, while classmate Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) and freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) posted their team-leading tied 18th double-figure game each as Marte scored 12 points and Black scored 10 points.
 
Marte and Black dished out a game-high tied three assists each in the contest.
 
Freshman Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) ripped down a game-high 12 boards and turned away a game-best six shots, making him the new single-season record holder for blocks with 82.
 
Marte became the program's all-time leader in steals with 101, grabbing a team-best tied two on the night with the record breaker coming at the 18:27 mark, while Freshman Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) and sophomore Elijah Paul (Brooklyn, New York) joined Jarrett and Black to also tie for the team-best in steals with two apiece.
 
The Panthers spread the wealth again on the hardwood, distributing double-digit assists for an eighth consecutive game and 20th time this season with 13 helpers. BMCC recorded back-to-back double-digit steal games and their ninth double-digit steal game of the year, snagging 10 steals on the night.
 
The first half featured five different lead changes and three ties over the first 12:43 of the contest. After both squad's first eight points, Dutchess Community College took a 6-4 lead at the 16:38 mark on Malhiki Raymond's layup, then Mohammed knocked down a jumper at 16:10 to knot it up the score the third time at six. BMCC scored four of the following six points, stretching the lead to four, 10-6 at 14:15 on a Dontate Creedland (Brooklyn, New York) three-pointer at 14:15 before Dutchess Community College scored the next five points to retake the lead by one, 11-10 at 12:54 on a Prince Kamate three-pointer. 
 
The Panthers would explode for a 14-3 run over the next 5:38 to stretch their lead to 10, 24-14, their largest of the first half on a Black layup. The Falcons responded with a 7-2 run to cut the Panther lead down to five, 26-21 at 3:57 on a Tisean Edmond three-pointer before BMCC scored four consecutive points to get their lead back up to nine, 30-21 at 2:01 on a Griffin layup. Dutchess Community College finished strong with a 9-2 run down the stretch to cut it to a two-point BMCC lead at halftime, 32-30.
 
The second half would be a back-and-forth slugfest with six ties and two lead changes. The Panthers scored the first five points in the period to increase the lead to seven, 37-30, at 17:47, when Jarrett went 1-for-2 at the line. The Falcons went on a 9-0 run with the final five points coming from Seiray Sinerna to knot it up at 37 at 16:03 on a three-pointer and go back in front by two, 39-37 at 14:36 on a layup. Creedland's jumper at 14:10 tied it up for the second time in the period at 39, and then Joseph Battle went a perfect 2-for-2 at the line for Dutchess to give them back the lead 41-39 at 14:01. 
 
BMCC tied it again at 41 on a Jarrett jumper at 13:41, then a Battle layup at 13:19 gave Dutchess back the lead 43-41. The Panthers would score four of the following six points to tie it twice at 43 and 45 at 12:50 and 12:10 on a Griffin layup and a Mohammed jumper before Seiray Sinerna gave Dutchess back the lead by two, 47-45, at the 10:49 mark.
 
The Panthers would finally put their foot down and take control of the contest using a 9-0 run to stretch the advantage to seven, 54-47 at 7:01 on a Jarrett jumper. Dutchess battled back with a 9-1 run to get as close as three, 56-53 at 4:13 on a Sinerna layin before BMCC shut the door with six consecutive points courtesy of two jumpers from Jarrett and Black at 2:19 and 1:38 and a pair of Griffin free throws with 53 seconds left to get the lead to nine, 62-53 and allowing BMCC have enough distance to capture the 64-57 upset.
 
Seiray Sinerna and Prince Kamate led Dutchess in scoring with a team-high nine points each, while Quincy Platt grabbed a team-best nine boards and blasted away a game-high tied six shots. Raesean Greer dished out a game-best tied three assists, and Sinerna had a game-high three steals.
 
The Panthers will look for back-to-back Region 15 victories and a season sweep of Region 15 opponent Suffolk Community College on Saturday, February 3, at 1 p.m. in Selden, New York. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Basketball Schedule Page.


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