The top-seeded York College Cardinals defeated the fourth-seeded Hunter College Hawks 88-84 in the first game of the 45th Annual CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison Men’s Basketball Championships semifinal round. The second semifinal game was even closer with Brooklyn College, the defending champions, outlasting the Baruch College Bearcats in overtime 82-77. The Cardinals (21-6) and Bulldogs (21-6) now advance to this Saturday's championship game, a rematch of the 2009 title tilt, at 5:00 pm @ CCNY on Saturday, February 27th.
With the game on the line, Nick Hamilton-Lopez put the foul-plagued Cardinals on his back, finishing with a career-high 36 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals. He did not reach the free throw line until the final four minutes of the game, but his 4-for-4 performance from the stripe sealed the win in the closing minutes.
“We take nothing for granted,” said York head coach Ronald St. John. “Everyone comes to play, when they’re matched up against York - that was our biggest fear coming in. But we held up on our end and withstood their runs tonight.” St. John's Cardinals now find themselves heading to their fourth CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship game in past five years.
Both teams started out hot, as Rocco Rubino of Hunter (13-14) and Hamilton-Lopez hit three pointers in the early going. The offensive onslaught continued as a couple of thunderous dunks from York’s Philipe Gregoire and CUNYAC Player-of-the-Year Marcel Esonwune gave the Cardinals a 14-point lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. The Hawks closed the gap to 10 just four minutes later as Hunter continued to force key turnovers in the open court while the hot hands of CUNYAC first-team selection Rubino and Eric Klingsberg closed the deficit to 49-44at halftime.
The second half started at the same pace as the first, with a couple of quick transition baskets for both teams, and then another monstrous dunk from Esonwune off an alley-oop lob from Hamilton-Lopez. Esonwune finished the game with 17 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. After a fast-paced first couple of minutes, the speed of the game slowed as both teams settled down defensively. Esonwune blocked three shots in a two-minute stretch before being forced to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with over ten minutes to play. With the Cardinals forced to sit two starters in foul trouble, Hunter closed to a 72-70 deficit at the seven-minute mark. The Hawks wisely put the ball in the hands of the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, Eric Klingsberg, who finished with a team-high 22 points.
Still nursing a two-point lead with just over five minutes remaining, York's starters checked back into the game. But Rubino hit his third trey of the game to cut the lead to 82-81 with 1:14 to play. Hamilton-Lopez came right back with a tough drive to the basket which earned him a trip to the foul line. His three-point play with 23 seconds remaining gave York an 84-81 lead, forcing Hunter to foul. Exum was the first one to the line, and promptly missed both free throws. York then fouled Maxwell Dubois on the rebound and he connected on both to close the deficit to 84-83. But Dubois was forced to commit his fifth foul moments later, and he headedato the bench for the final time with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Elijah Evelyn sunk both free throws to extend York's lead to 86-83. York immediately fouled Klingsberg on the inbounds pass, and he sunk one of his two attempts from the line to cut the lead to 86-84. Forced to foul Hamilton-Lopez, the Hawks watched as he calmly hit both free throws to ice the game. After the game, St. John stated, “...when you have Nick, you’re never out of a game. So when the game’s on the line, I expect him to want the ball in his hands.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
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 got a pass from Richard Jean-Baptiste and knocked down a three from the right wing to give Brooklyn a 72-70 lead.
Baruch pushed the ball upcourt and Lionel Hilaire 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. 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 Nisbitt 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 was huge coming off the Bulldog bench, scoring 13 points and nabbing three steals.
Chris Beauchamp 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
Championship Game: Saturday, February 27th
(1) York College vs. (2) Brooklyn College - 5:00pm
(game to be re-broadcast on Time Warner Cable - Sunday, February 28th, 7:00pm)