CUNYAC Community College Men’s Basketball Presented by Army ROTC
Championship Info -  Championship Central
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LaGuardia Red Hawks 82, BMCC Panthers 69

LaGuardia and BMCC put on a show Friday night at Borough of Manhattan Community College in a rematch of last year’s CUNYAC/Army ROTC Community College Men’s Basketball Championship. These two evenly matched teams gave us another classic as the LaGuardia Red Hawks took down the BMCC Panthers by the score of 82-69. The Red Hawks overcame an early deficit on the road to knock off the Panthers for a second consecutive year and repeat as CUNYAC champions thanks in large part to the play of their outstanding sophomore Mahlik Sherlock who scored 17 second half points in the comeback win.

The Red Hawks were led by Sherlock with 23 points and 9 rebounds on his way to being named the CUNYAC /US Army ROTC MVP. They also got significant contributions from Leon Antwi (19 points) and Carl Balthazar (12 points, 8 rebounds). BMCC was led by Terrell Fullerton who scored a game high 24 points as well as Jason Mejia (20 points) and George Keener (18 points).

“I’ve been waiting for this for a year now,” said Sherlock. “I just did what I needed to do to bring this championship back to where it belongs.” The MVP Sherlock didn’t forget about his teammates either. When asked about his effort he said, “I gotta give it up to my teammates. Those are my brothers, we’ve been battling all year and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

BMCC had the defending champion Red Hawks on their heels early, opening the game on an 11-2 run led by 8 points from Jason Mejia. Just 6 minutes into the game LaGuardia looked rattled and the Panthers were playing with the confidence and poise of a championship team in front of a deafening home crowd.

It was only a matter of time before LaGuardia would respond though. As they had all season long, the Red Hawks turned to Sherlock to get the offense going. The boys from LaGuardia were finally getting some shots to fall and they were closing fast on the Panthers with 10:06 to play in the half.

A three by Koron Williams of LaGuardia would tie the game at 26-26 with just over 4 minutes left in the half, but the Panthers would right the ship. Riding their one-two punch backcourt of Terrell Fullerton and Jason Mejia, BMCC continued flying toward the rim and lighting it up from beyond the arc. Fullerton and Mejia combined for 33 of the Panthers’ 37 first half points and sent their team to the locker room with a 37-35 lead.

As the second half got underway, the Red Hawks were still looking for their first lead of the game. It came just over 2 minutes into the half, and just like that the LaGuardia offense had caught fire. The Red Hawks outscored BMCC 18-7 for the first 7 minutes of the second half and built up a 9 point lead.

“We’ve been a great team on the road all year long,” said LaGuardia Head Coach Ben Chobhaphand. “I just told them in the locker that it is a 40 minute game and a lot of these guys have never been here so just weather the storm, stick to what we do and we’d be alright.”

Mejia and Fullerton had gone cold and the Panthers were struggling to find offense elsewhere. The spark they were looking for would come from none other than George Keener. The freshman guard hit a three for the Panthers that sent the crowd into a frenzy...and then another. Keener would score 11 of the next 13 points for the Panthers, doing everything he could to will his team back into the game until BMCC’s sensational backcourt duo could get hot again.

With 6:33 to go, Jericho Cherisma stepped to the line for the Panthers with a chance to tie the game. He sunk both free throws and just like that the score was 62-62 and coming down to the wire. The Red Hawks needed to respond or risk losing momentum and possibly the game.

Mahlik Sherlock would once again step up for the Red Hawks though, looking unstoppable for the next five minutes as he got to the rim and the free throw line with ease. LaGuardia gradually rebuilt their lead, and with just over a minute to play the score was 76-68 in favor of the Red Hawks. It was time for BMCC to start fouling and hope for a miracle.

That miracle never came though as Leon Antwi and LaGuardia were strong at the free throw line down the stretch. The Red Hawks would ice away the game and take home their second championship in as many years by the score of 82-69.

Laguardia will move on to play in the Region XV Tournament for which the seeding will be released next week. The Red Hawks were also honored with Daniel Hernandez being named to the CUNYAC All-Tournament team along with Json Mejia (BMCC), Terrell Fullerton (BMCC), Jemal Smith (Hostos), and Jonathan Frazier (Bronx).

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