CUNYAC Championships New York, NY---For the second year in a row, the Brooklyn College men's basketball team will be heading to CUNYAC Championship game!  The #3-seeded Bulldogs defeated the #2-seeded College of Staten Island, 78-69, in the semifinals hosted by the City College of New York.  BC will now play a rematch of the 2015 CUNYAC final against #5-seeded Baruch on Friday also at CCNY at 8:30 PM.  Baruch knocked off #1 Lehman in the first semifinal game of the evening.  

Following senior forward Lorenzo Williams' lay-in to get the Bulldogs on the board two minutes into the game, the Bulldogs were scoreless until Williams made another lay-up.  BC's defense held tough, not allowing Staten Island to pull away during the drought with the Bulldogs only trailing 6-4 with 14:13 left in the opening period.   Williams paced the Bulldogs with 11 first half points, six rebounds, and three assists.

BC took their first lead of the game, 11-10, on an Egzon Gjonbalaj made three-pointer with 12:37 to go in the first half. 

Brooklyn and CSI battled it out the remainder of the first half with seven lead changes before halftime.  Gjonabalaj would knock down two free throws in the final ten seconds to give the Bulldogs the 29-28 halftime advantage.  Free throw struggles from the foul line kept BC from extended their lead, connecting on only 5-11 in the first half.

Gjonbalaj picked right back up where he left off with his two makes from the charity stripe late in the first half, scoring the Bulldogs' first seven points in the second half.  The Bulldogs opened the second half with an 11-3 run to take a 40-31 lead forcing the Dolphins to take a timeout at the 17:13 mark.
    
BC took their first double-digit lead (44-33) with 14:50 left in the game on a Jamel Gist fast-break lay-up.  Senior guard Dillon Williams helped the Bulldogs push the lead up to 13 on a banked three-point make a couple of possessions later.

The Dolphins answered with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the BC lead to 47-41 with 11:59 remaining in regulation. 

Leading 54-48, Lorenzo Williams would make a hard drive to basket for a change at a three-point play, giving the Bulldogs an eight-point lead with 8:40 remaining the game.  Following a CSI basketball, the senior forward struck again with a made jumper.   After taking a charge on the defensive end, BC extended their lead back up to ten on a Nicholas Grasso floater. 

BC floor general, Jamel Gist, fouled out with 2:41 remaining in the game.  Gist had a standout second half, scoring 12 points.

A CSI lay-in with just under a minute to go would cut the Brooklyn lead to 68-63.  Following two Lorenzo Williams' free throws, the Dolphins answered again with a lay-up with :44 left in the game.  However, the Bulldogs knocked down seven of their last eight free throw attempts in the final thirty seconds of the game to seal the semifinal victory.   

Senior forward Lorenzo Williams led the Bulldogs with a 23-point, 11-rebound double-double.  Senior guard Egzon Gjonbalaj added 20 points including 14 in the second half and eight rebounds.  Jamel Gist finished with 15 points and five rebounds. The Bulldogs received solid contributions from reserve guards, Chris McIllhatton and senior Nicholas Grasso who finished with nine points and six points respectively.  McIllhatton also grabbed a couple of key offensive rebounds in crunch time that led to scoring opportunities for the Bulldogs.  He finished with seven rebounds overall on the evening. 

Seniors Frank Schettino and Will Fonseca led the way for the Dolphins with 19 points a piece.