Feb 23, 2011
New York, NY---The #4 seeded Brooklyn College Men's Basketball team's (15-12) quest for a third straight conference championship came up just short on Wednesday evening, as the Bulldogs fell in heartbreaking fashion to #1 seed the College of Staten Island (17-9) in overtime, 73-70, in the Semifinals of the 2011 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC)/Con Edison Men's Basketball Championships, held at Nat Holman Gymnasium on the campus of CCNY.
The loss also snaps BC's streak of seven straight wins in the CUNYAC tournament.
The top seeded Dolphins advance to the championship game on Saturday, February 26th, as CSI will take on #2 seed Medgar Evers College.
BC had three players in double figures scoring led by senior Ahmad Hemingway, who scored a team-high 19 points. Hemingway also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Juniors Amil John and Tyshawn Russell finished the night with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Russell also dished out four assists.
For CSI, Jordan Young registered a double-double with a game-high 29 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. Thomas Tibbs added 16 points, while Bloochy Magliaore chipped in with 12 points coming off the bench. Dale Taranto filled up the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds and six assists.
The Bulldogs started off the game focused jumping out to a 13-5 lead at the 12:48 mark of the first half. Trailing by eight for the second time in the half, 20-12, the Dolphins began to chip away at their deficit using a 14-5 run to take a 26-25 lead, their first since the opening basket, with 4:51 remaining until the break. Young and Tibbs helped spark the run combining for 10 points, scoring six and four points, respectively. The lead would be short lived as Brooklyn regained the lead on the next possession on a Keiran Halton jumper. The teams would exchange baskets down the stretch as BC entered halftime with a slim 33-32 lead.
Both teams would continue to trade baskets throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half. After a Magliore three-pointer gave the Dolphins their first lead of the second period, 43-41, with 10:30 left in the game, the Bulldogs began to pull away utilizing a 17-4 run to take their largest lead of the game, 58-47, at the 6:02 mark on the closing stanza. Russell helped spark the run scoring 11 points in the run.
CSI would again chip away at their deficit using an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to erase Brooklyn's momentum, tying the game for the fourth time at 58 all. The teams would continue to trade buckets in the final minutes, as neither club was able to put away from the other. After a Magliore jumper tied the game at 64 all with just 48 ticks left on the clock, both teams would have their chances to come away with the victory down the stretch. However, neither team would be able to hit the go-ahead shot as the game headed into overtime.
The overtime featured much of the same as both teams traded early baskets. A three-pointer from Tibbs gave the Dolphins a 69-68 lead, however, Hemingway would answer with a layup to give the Bulldogs a 70-69 advantage. From there, Young would take the game over scoring the final four points of the game for CSI, including a three-point play the old fashioned way, scoring a lay-up off of an offensive rebound and hitting the free throw after being fouled.
For the game, BC shot 40.6% (26-for-64) from the field, while connecting on just 2-for-9 (22.2%) from three. The Bulldogs shot 66.7% (16-for-24) from the free throw line. CSI shot 42.6% (26-for-61) from the floor, while hitting 6-of-15 (40.0%) from beyond the arc. The Dolphins also hit 75.0% (15-for-20) from the charity stripe.
CSI held the rebounding edge 43-37, which led to 17 second chance points; however, the Dolphins were forced into 21 turnovers, compared to the Bulldogs turning the ball over 14 times. CSI made the most of BC's miscues, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. Brooklyn scored 18 points off of CSI turnovers.
"I'm proud of my team and the way we played tonight," said Head Coach Steve Podias. "I feel that we defended our championship well."
The Bulldogs will now await a possible at-large bid to the ECAC Division III Metro Tournament.
The loss also snaps BC's streak of seven straight wins in the CUNYAC tournament.
The top seeded Dolphins advance to the championship game on Saturday, February 26th, as CSI will take on #2 seed Medgar Evers College.
BC had three players in double figures scoring led by senior Ahmad Hemingway, who scored a team-high 19 points. Hemingway also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Juniors Amil John and Tyshawn Russell finished the night with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Russell also dished out four assists.
For CSI, Jordan Young registered a double-double with a game-high 29 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. Thomas Tibbs added 16 points, while Bloochy Magliaore chipped in with 12 points coming off the bench. Dale Taranto filled up the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds and six assists.
The Bulldogs started off the game focused jumping out to a 13-5 lead at the 12:48 mark of the first half. Trailing by eight for the second time in the half, 20-12, the Dolphins began to chip away at their deficit using a 14-5 run to take a 26-25 lead, their first since the opening basket, with 4:51 remaining until the break. Young and Tibbs helped spark the run combining for 10 points, scoring six and four points, respectively. The lead would be short lived as Brooklyn regained the lead on the next possession on a Keiran Halton jumper. The teams would exchange baskets down the stretch as BC entered halftime with a slim 33-32 lead.
Both teams would continue to trade baskets throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half. After a Magliore three-pointer gave the Dolphins their first lead of the second period, 43-41, with 10:30 left in the game, the Bulldogs began to pull away utilizing a 17-4 run to take their largest lead of the game, 58-47, at the 6:02 mark on the closing stanza. Russell helped spark the run scoring 11 points in the run.
CSI would again chip away at their deficit using an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to erase Brooklyn's momentum, tying the game for the fourth time at 58 all. The teams would continue to trade buckets in the final minutes, as neither club was able to put away from the other. After a Magliore jumper tied the game at 64 all with just 48 ticks left on the clock, both teams would have their chances to come away with the victory down the stretch. However, neither team would be able to hit the go-ahead shot as the game headed into overtime.
The overtime featured much of the same as both teams traded early baskets. A three-pointer from Tibbs gave the Dolphins a 69-68 lead, however, Hemingway would answer with a layup to give the Bulldogs a 70-69 advantage. From there, Young would take the game over scoring the final four points of the game for CSI, including a three-point play the old fashioned way, scoring a lay-up off of an offensive rebound and hitting the free throw after being fouled.
For the game, BC shot 40.6% (26-for-64) from the field, while connecting on just 2-for-9 (22.2%) from three. The Bulldogs shot 66.7% (16-for-24) from the free throw line. CSI shot 42.6% (26-for-61) from the floor, while hitting 6-of-15 (40.0%) from beyond the arc. The Dolphins also hit 75.0% (15-for-20) from the charity stripe.
CSI held the rebounding edge 43-37, which led to 17 second chance points; however, the Dolphins were forced into 21 turnovers, compared to the Bulldogs turning the ball over 14 times. CSI made the most of BC's miscues, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. Brooklyn scored 18 points off of CSI turnovers.
"I'm proud of my team and the way we played tonight," said Head Coach Steve Podias. "I feel that we defended our championship well."
The Bulldogs will now await a possible at-large bid to the ECAC Division III Metro Tournament.