Story courtesy of Brooklyn College Athletics
The defending-champion Brooklyn College Bulldogs outlasted the Baruch College Bearcats in overtime 82-77 to advance to the 2010 CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison Men’s Basketball Championships. The second-seeded Brooklyn Bulldogs (21-6) will play top-seeded York College (21-6) in the finale, at 5:00 pm at CCNY on Saturday, February 27th. York defeated Hunter earlier in the day, 88-84.
After making eight three-pointers in the opening stanza, Baruch held a 41-37 first half advantage. In the second half, Brooklyn went on an early 10-5 run to drop the Bearcat lead to just one. For the rest of regulation, the game stayed close, with the largest lead for either team being just six.
With 13 seconds to go in regulation, and his team down by one, BC's
Daniel Nisbett (Petrides / Staten Island, NY) got a pass from
Richard Jean-Baptiste (St. John's Prep / Queens, NY) and knocked down a three from the right wing to give Brooklyn a 72-70 lead.
Baruch pushed the ball upcourt and Lionel Hilaire (Archbishop Molloy / Far Rockaway, NY) made a move in the lane and Nisbett swiped across his arm and was whistled for a foul with two seconds remaining. Hilaire stepped up and made both free throws, tying the game at 72 and sending it into overtime.
In the extra period, BC got all 10 of their points from their backcourt duo of Nisbett and
Amil John (South Shore / Brooklyn, NY). The Bulldog defense stifled Baruch, who could only manage two points over the first 4:34 of the extra period, holding the Bearcats to just 2-9. Brooklyn shot just 1-4 in overtime, but hit eight of their 10 free throw attempts to clinch a trip to the finals.
"We battled our way to this victory," said BC Head Coach Steve Podias. "We never gave up and DC hit that huge shot near the end of regulation."
Nisbett led the team with 22 points on 5-7 from three point range. Nisbett was also 7-8 from the charity stripe, including a perfect 6-6 in overtime.
Jean-Baptiste scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds while fighting a leg cramp for much of the second half and overtime.
John had 18 points and a team-high four steals, while
Ahmad Hemingway (Curtis / Brooklyn, NY) was huge coming off the Bulldog bench, scoring 13 points and nabbing three steals.
Chris Beauchamp (Xavier / Glendale, NY) led the way for Baruch with 23 points, while knocking down five three-pointers of his own. Hilaire chipped in with 19 points and five assists.
2010 CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison
Men’s Basketball Championships
Nat Holman Gymnasium - City College of New York
Semifinal Round: Tuesday, February 23rd
(1) York College 88, (4) Hunter College 84
(2) Brooklyn College 82, (3) Baruch College 77 (OT)
Championship Game: Saturday, February 27th
(1) York College vs. (2) Brooklyn College - 5:00pm
(click here to view live stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/cuny/mbball3/index.htm)
(game to be re-broadcast on Time Warner Cable - Sunday, February 28th, 7:00pm)