Brooklyn, NY---The #1 seeded Brooklyn College Men's Basketball Team improved to 23-6 on the year, as they advanced to the semifinal round in the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro Tournament, getting by the #8 seed Centenary College (New Jersey), 68-63, after coming back from a 12-point deficit. The Cyclones fall to 15-13, ending their season.

The victory allows Brooklyn to advance to the semifinal round on Saturday, where they will face a familiar foe in City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) rival, and #5 seeded Staten Island, who defeated fellow CUNYAC rival #4 Lehman College tonight, 76-65.  Saturday's game will be at Brooklyn College's West Quad Center at 7 pm, following the Brooklyn College Women's Team, as a #1 seed, who will be playing in the women's semifinal against The Sage Colleges at 4:45.

After a Centenary three-pointer gave the Cyclones a 47-35 lead with 14:12 left to go in the contest, the Bulldogs stepped up their intensity on both sides of the ball and went on a 20-6 run over the next 8:55, capped by an Egzon Gjonbalaj three that gave BC a 55-53 lead with 5:17 remaining.

Centenary was able to get back to within one with 3:13 to play, however Gjonbalaj scored eight of his team's last 10 points, including four from the free throw line, on his way to a game-high 26 points, to go along with 13 boards on the evening.  Senior Valon Djombalic also finished the night with a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Junior Jamel Gist hit a personal milestone in the game, as his free throw with 1:26 remaining in the first half gave him 1,000 for his collegiate career that included one season (freshman year) at NYU-Poly. Gist joins Gjonbalaj and Djombalic as 1,000 point scorers. Gjonbalaj has scored all his points in a BC uniform (1,170; 11th all-time at BC) and accomplished the feat on January 30th against CSI, while Djombalic recently hit the milestone on February 25th against Lehman in the semifinals of the CUNYAC Championships. Djombalic's career point total is combined between Brooklyn and Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC).

All ECAC Metro Tournament Games this weekend (both Men and Women) will be at the West Quad Center, with the schedule as follows:

Saturday

12:00 pm #2 Rutgers Newark vs. #3 Staten Island (Women's Semifinal)

2:15 pm #2 Rutgers Newark vs. #3 NYU (Men's Semifinal)

4:45 pm #1 Brooklyn College vs. #4 Sage College (Women's Semifinal)

7:00 pm #1 Brooklyn College vs. #5 Staten Island (Men's Semifinal)

Sunday

5:30 pm Women's Championship Game

7:30 pm Men's Championship Game