2012 NJCAA Region XV Championship Game
BRONX CC 95, NASSAU CC 68 • BOXSCORE
Bronx Community College (27-5) scored 63 points in the second half of the 2012 NJCAA Region XV Championship game to defeat Nassau Community College, 95-68 to advance to the Nationals for the first time in school history. It's been a magical year for the BCC Broncos, as the team won the CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison Championship for the second straight season, were ranked #9 Nationally lasy week, and now blew away the competition at the Region XV Tournament at the Monroe Athletic Complex in New Roc City, NY.
Ronell Ross led the Broncos with 24 points, followed closely by Matthew Thomas (21 points), Claude Blue (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Ernest Quaye (15). Sophomore Chris Davis had 13 points and eight assists, many in the second hald, when BCC was 7-12 from beyond the arc to make the game a blowout.
Now head coach Shannon McKinnon's squad will travel to the home court of their most unfriendly foe, Sullivan Community College in Loch Sheldrake, NY from March 15-17, for a chance at the school's first and the Conference's second-ever NJCAA Division III National title (Hostos won in 2005).
"I'm excited about shut down defense we played throughout this Tournament," said McKinnon. "In all three games, we were able to step up on the defensive side of the ball and just make our opponents bend and break."
The Broncos, winners of seven straight games, drew an unexpected opponent in the Region title game, fully expecting the same opponent as last season when they lost 100-82 in Sullivan CC. But in the semifinals, Nassau upset the #2 team in the Nation, Sullivan, 70-69 to put the Broncos, who were 18-2 in Region XV this season (both losses were to Sullivan) in the drivers seat.
"We press for 40 minutes, we're not going to back down," said an always confident McKinnon, a two-time CUNYAC Coach of the Year. "We don't wilt under pressure, we've gone through so much this season on and off the court, that we're mentally prepared for the Nationals. Our defense will be the key, because we have proved ourselves offensively all season."
In the game, BCC struggled in the first half, playing their third game on consecutive days. Blue, the 2012 CUNYAC/Con Edison Tournament MVP had only two points and three fouls at the break with the Broncos leading 32-27. But McKinnon stuck with Blue and BCC got rolling, shooting 56% from the field and 86% from the free throw line in the second half.
"I hope that we will be contenders Nationally for years to come, conlcuded McKinnon. "Young men can come to Bronx Community to get a great education and play on a good basketball team without having to live on campus or pay a ridculous price for college. We're getting to be exactly where we want to be as a team and Athletic Program. Now we just have to wait 11 days to play again!"
2012 REGION XV TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: BRONX 79, ULSTER 52 • BOXSCORE
Currently ranked #9 Nationally, Bronx Community College (26-5) head into Sunday's NJCAA Region XV Tournament Final at Monroe College in New Rochelle, NY. The Broncos, the 2012 CUNYAC / Con Edison Community College Men's Basketball Champions, who crushed their first two opponents in the Region XV Tourney, will face #5 Nassau Community College on Sunday, March 4 at 2:30 pm with a berth into the National Elite Eight on the line.
BRONX 62, HOSTOS 59 - BOXSCORE
Link to Video here:
www.youtube.com/watch
Bronx Community College muscled out a 62-59 Victory over Hostos Community College in the 2012 CUNYAC / Con Edison Community College Men's Basketball Championship Final on Friday. Currently ranked #10 Nationally, the Broncos (24-5) won the school's second straight championship in a hard-fought nailbeiter in front of a full house at Queensborough CC.
"I feel better about this win, than I did last year," said BCC head coach Shannon McKinnon, who has now won back-to-back titles. "Last year I knew we had the game, this year, i didn't know about my freshman, but this year my sophomores pulled it out for me. This may be the worst game we played all season, but we were just good enough to edge it out. They have a great program. I just think we had the better team and we proved it."
A game expected to be high energy and high scoring didn’t disappoint at the opening tip, Bronx’ ERNEST QUAYE buried a three-pointer just 0:21 and Hostos’ JEREMIAH BROWN responded with a trey of his own to know the game at 3-3. But Hostos (19-7) forced a slower pace than the 91 point-per-game Broncos would have preferred. The defending champions were never able to get on track offensively and grab the lead in the first half, despite holding a huge advantage on the boards 20-11. The Broncos were 11-32 from the floor, including 4-14 from long distance, while the Caimans thrived, shooting 14-27 (52%) in the first half.
Still, with the final two baskets of the first half, Hostos held an one-point advantage, 31-30 ,behind 11 points by Brown. MAVERICK HODGE and CUNYAC Player of the Year CHARLES JACKSON each had six points in period number one.
BCC was led at the break by CUNYAC Rookie of the Year CLAUDE BLUE (seven 1st half rebounds) and two-time All-Star Christopher Davis with ten points each.
In the second half, the Caimans tried in earnest to hold off the bigger Broncos, despite a big disadvantage on the boards (37-49, ad 12-25 on the offesnive side). Sophomore BRANDON STOLZ took the ball to the hoop with 8:39 to give HCC a four-point lead 48-44. But an and-one shot by Blue finally seemed to turn the tide. Blue made the free throw and another basket during a 12-2 stretch that and the corner looked to be turned.
In the final minute, only down by two, Jackson forced a turnover from BCC’s ENSON GARCIA and went straight to the basket for the game-tying layup. But RONELL ROSS checked back in the game replacing Garcia and took a Davis pass and made the game-winning shot with 0:11 remaining. A foul on the play by Jackson, his fifth fouled him out of the contest with only eight points (He averages a CUNYAC best 22.9 ppg), but Ross missed the shot from the charity stripe. On the next possession, Stolz turned the ball over for Hostos and following a timeout, he was forced to foul Blue. Blue missed the first free throw, but made the second shot and took home the trophy for the Bronocs, 62-59.
Blue finished with 23 points and a CUNYAC/Con Edison Tournament record 19 rebounds in the final on his way to Most Valuable Player honors. Davis enjoyed a strong game as well with 12 points, seven assists and three steals to lead the Broncos back to the top spot.
"I didn't even know I was in the record books! I'm super excited! My happiness jsut went out the window Completely!," claimed Blue on the new Tournament record 19 caroms. "Now my daughter has something to see what her father did. Didn't know I made history! I'm speechless."
"Claude Blue is the most dominating player in the conference," McKinnon added in.
Brown led Hostos with 22 points, largely on 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Stolz also shot well for HCC and came away with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, but the Caimans were only 3-8 from the charity stripe and had too many late turnovers in the crucial contest.
Monroe College will host the NJCAA Region XV Basketball Tournament this weekend at the Monroe Athletic Complex (MAC) in downtown New Rochelle, NY. From March 2-4, three CUNY Athletic Conference men's teams will vie for the opportunity to win the Region title and earn one of eight slots in the National Chamapionship Tournament the following week.
The Region XV Division III Women's Basketball Championship began with four quarterfinals last night at the higher seeded teams. Nassau Community College, currently ranked 10th in the latest NJCAA poll, topped #8 Hostos, 84-36. No. 2 Westchester beat No. 7 Kingsborough, the CUNYAC/Con Edison Champions, 65-60 and No. 4 Rockland defeated #5 Queensborough, 71-64 in a game played at Dominican College in Orangeburg.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28
Division III Women’s Quarterfinals
Suffolk 59 Sullivan 51
Westchester 65 Kingsborough 60 - Under the direction of Head Coach Leon Payne, the Lady Vikings will make their third consecutive trip the Region XV semifinals. Westchester (27-4) took down a feisty Kingsborough squad 65-60 Tuesday night. The Vikes now take on nemesis Suffolk in Friday's (March 2) game at 6:30pm at the Monroe College Athletic Center in New Rochelle. The last time the two schools hooked up in the postseason was two seasons ago. Host Westchester downed Suffolk, 67-44, for the 2010 Region XV Championship. Previously nicknamed the Clippers, Suffolk took home last year's Region XV title, and earlier this month the two rivals split their season series. Friday's contest should be filled with excitement!
Nassau 84 Hostos 36 - Top seed Nassau raced out to big lead and foiled any threat of a Hostos upset in an 84-36 victory Tuesday in Garden City. The Lions (20-3) were led by Copiague graduate Nicole Brown's 16 points and five steals. Amityville native Hannalee Fordyce added 15 points and had 11 rebounds, while former Carle Place athlete Stephanie Brock had 12 points and dished out 9 assists in the win. Nassau now takes on Rockland in the semi-final round at 8:30pm on Friday (March 2) at the Monroe College Athletic Complex.
Rockland 71 Queensborough 64 - Leading by as many as 19 points midway thru the second half, Rockland held off a late surge and defeated Queensborough 71-64 Tuesday evening at the Hennessy Center at Dominican College. Nanuet graduate Christine Brezovsky had a game high of 23 points for the Lady Hawks. Pearl River's Melissa Loughhane added 15 points and teammate Samantha Gabriel collected 17 rebounds in the victory. Region XV Player-of-the-Year Sabrina Rodriguez led Queensborough with 22 points and five assists. Fellow forward Jaclyn Torres dropped in 21 points and grabbed 8 boards. Rockland (20-10) now plays top-seeded Nassau, who scored an 84-36 victory over Hostos, Friday (March 2) at 8:30pm at the Monroe College Athletic Complex in New Rochelle.
FRIDAY, MARCH 2
Division III Men’s Quarterfinals (CUNY Teams only)
#2 Bronx 100, #7 Rockland 78 • Boxscore
Bronx opened up 54-29 halftime advantage and for the game shot a sizzling 48% from the field in their 100-78 victory over Rockland. Claude Blue had 27 points and Ernest Quaye had 23 points (which included five three-pointers) for the Broncos. Bronx will face Ulster in the tournament's semi-final round on Saturday. Tommie Starkes provided a Rockland spark by netting 27 points in the loss.
#6 Ulster 63, #3 Hostos 62 • Boxscore
In a game between two teams that split the regular season series, Hostos and Ulster needed 40 minutes to decide the outcome of the quarterfinals in the NJCAA Region 15 Tournament in the Monroe Athletic Complex (MAC) in New Roc City. Ulster triumphed at the buzzer 63, 62.
With six lead changes in the last four minutes (the most since the beginning of the game), Ulster regained the lead by one thanks to freshman point guard Christopher Austin's floater in the lane with 26.2 seconds remaining. On the other end, Hostos sophomore Brandon Stolz was fouled with 5.9 seconds but came up short at the charity stripe, and Ulster grabbed the defensive rebound. After two quick Hostos fouls, Austin missed a free throw and Stolz snatched the board and connected to point guard Maverick Hodge who passed to a streaking Charles Jackson downcourt. A First Team All-Region 15 selection, Jackson (16 points) saw the ball go in-and-out of the rim as time ended, and the Caimans fell short, 63-62. Jackson finished with 16 points and shot 45% from the floor.
SUNDAY, MARCH 4
Division III Men’s Final
Stay tuned to CUNYAthletics.com for the latest developments!