Brooklyn, New York - The BMCC men's basketball team rallied late in the second half with eight of the final ten points in the final 2:24 to hold off Queensborough Community College 68-62 on Wednesday evening in CUNYAC Community College Men's Basketball semifinals at Kingsborough Community College. The Panthers return to the Conference finals in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, improving to 11-15 with the victory, while the Tigers fell to 7-14 with the loss.
 
BMCC will take on 2023-24 CUNYAC Regular Season Champion Hostos Community College in the Championship game on Friday, February 16 at 8:30 p.m., and it will be the first meeting between the two squads in the final since the Panthers captured their sixth Championship in 2019 with a 104-90 win over the Caimans.

The Panther's key players showed up when called upon on Wednesday night, with sophomore Ysaia Marte (Bronx, New York) and freshman Khalil Black (Queens, New York) both hitting the 20-point plateau with Black dropping a game-high 24 points on a game-best 8-for-17 from the field (47.1 percent) with a team-high four three-pointers while Marte had 20 points on the evening. Freshman Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) registered his team-leading tied seventh double, uncorking a career-high 10 blocks and contributing 12 points, while classmate Ja'Lyn Griffin (Ithaca, New York) hauled down a career-high 11 boards.

Marte is third all-time in program history with 757 career points, and his career-best 481 points are the sixth most in a single season. Black moved into a tie for ninth all-time in school history with 54 career treys, while Mohammed continues to add to his single-season record, holding a block total with a team-high 97 blocks while that mark is also good for fourth all-time in program history.

Mohammed is second in the nation in blocks per game (4.6) and fourth nationally in blocks (97).

Marte dished out a team-high six assists while snatching a team-best two steals, adding to his all-time program lead with 108 career steals.

The Panthers outscored the Tigers 34-14 in the paint and registered two new season-bests with 21 assists and 11 blocks. BMCC dished out 20 or more assists for the second time this season after doing it back in a home win over Nassau Community College on November 11, 2023.  

Both teams went back and forth in a matchup with nine different lead changes in seven ties. Queensborough Community College scored six of the game's first eight points, leading 6-2 before the Panthers tied it at six on a Marte layup at 14:36. BMCC would go on a 10-3 run to stretch their lead to seven, 16-9 at 11:38 on a Black three-pointer. Queensborough would outscore BMCC 15-11 over the next eight minutes to trim the lead down to three, 27-24, at 2:38 when Benjamin Grant went 1-of-2 at the free throw line.

After the Panthers increased their margin to six, 30-24 at 2:15 on three points from Black on a tip-in and a free-throw, the Tigers would finish the period on a 7-0 run capped off by a pair of Isaiah Grant free throws with 16 seconds remaining to go in front at the halftime by one, 31-30.

The second half was a dogfight until the final horn featuring six different lead changes and four ties. The Panthers grabbed six of the first eight points of the period, retaking the lead 33-31 on a Black three-pointer at 18:50 and moving it to three, 36-33, at 15:55 when Jayden Jarrett (Bronx, New York) went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. The Tigers used a 7-0 run to retake the lead 37-36 at 15:09 on a Williams Guzman layup and stretch it to four, 40-36 at 14:40 on a three-pointer by Isaiah Grant.

The Panthers scored three straight points to go back in front by one, 41-40 at 12:50 on a Marte three-pointer then a Williams Guzman three-point play put the Tigers back in front 43-41 at 12:25 before BMCC went on a 9-0 run to lead by seven, 50-43 on a Black layup. The Tigers roared back to tie it with a 9-2 run to tie it at 52 at 4:51 on a Joseph Ferguson dunk. After Jarrett knocked down a jumper at 2:44 to make it 59-57, Isaiah Grant knocked down a three-pointer to put the Tigers back in front by one, 60-59, at the 2:24 mark.

BMCC dug in and held Queensborough to one field goal the rest of the way, scoring six straight points to go back in front for good 61-60 at 2:08 on a Mohammed jumper, then get the lead to five, 65-60 with 46 seconds left on a Marte layup and going 3-of-4 at the line - 2-of-2 from Marte and 1-of-2 from Black - to come away with a 68-62 victory and a return to the Conference final.

Queensborough Community College had two players in double figures, with Isaiah Grant leading the way with 23 points and a game-high five three-pointers, while Bryan Godette chipped in with 11 points on the night. Benjamin Grant handed out a game-high seven dimes while Goethe snagged a team-high two steals and turned away two shots, also a team-best.
 

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