Box Score
New York, NY---The Brooklyn College Men's Basketball Team (22-6) won their second straight CUNYAC / Con Edison Championship on Saturday evening as they defeated York College (21-7), 79-68.
"Our energy in the second half was what won the game tonight," said Brooklyn College Coach Steve Podias, after his team, who took a 43-42 lead at the half, would never trail in the second half of play. York would tie the game twice, however an Amil John (South Shore / Brooklyn, NY) lay-up with 12:47 to go would break that tie and mark the closest that York would get for the remainder of the contest.
The first half didn't go as smoothly as the second, as York jumped out to an 18-8 lead, however with 12:08 to go in the period, the Cardinals star center, Marcel Esonwune (Marist Brother / Lagos, Nigeria) picked up his second foul. York Head Coach Ron St. John decided to sit Esonwune for the rest of the half.
Initially York was able to increase their lead with their leading scorer on the bench, going on a 10-5 run to up the margin to 28-13 with 9:31 left in the half.
The Bulldogs did not go away and began to slowly chip away at the Cardinal advantage. Two buckets by John, along with baskets by Richard Jean-Baptiste (St. John's Prep / Queens, NY), Tyshawn Russell (Holy Cross / Jamaica, NY) and Enes Purisic (William C. Bryant / Astoria, NY) added up to a 10-0 run, cutting the deficit to 5 with 5:29 on the clock.
The two teams traded baskets for the next three minutes, until Jean-Baptiste put in a floater, and then Ahmad Hemingway (Curtis / Staten Island, NY) made two free throws to cut the York lead to one. Once again, the teams traded baskets, but then a BC steal and pass ahead to John for the open lay-in with eight seconds to go, gave the Bulldogs the 43-42 advantage at the half.
The second half saw Brooklyn use the momentum they gained in the final minutes of half one to step up their defense and use some timely shooting to hold on to the win.
After falling behind by six, York's Elijah Evelyn (Freeport / Freeport, NY) gave his team some life, getting to the free throw line and knocking down two shots to cut the lead to 64-60. BC's Thomas Guerin (St. Edmund Prep / Brooklyn, NY) answered right back, knocking down a three from the left wing to extend the lead to 67-60 with 7:07 to go.
York would cut the deficit to 71-68, with 2:36 left, but four unanswered points by Jean-Baptiste, and then a basket and foul shot by Daniel Nisbett (Petrides / Staten Island, NY), would up the lead to 10 and end all hope for the Cardinals.
While not winning a championship for 36 years prior to last season's run, Brooklyn has now won two consecutive titles for the first time a conference team has done so since York accomplished the feat in 2006 & 2007.
Jean-Baptiste, who finished the game with 28 points, was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. "I am proud of the way my team fought today," said the two-time All-American. "We gave every ounce of energy that we had to make sure that we won tonight."
John, who was the only other Brooklyn player in double-figures, finished with 18 and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Jean-Baptiste, Purisic and Darnell Cudjoe (Murry Bergtraum / Brooklyn, NY) grabbed seven rebounds a piece to lead the Bulldogs.
Nick Hamilton Lopez (Pfieffer Univ. / Woodside, NY) led York with 23 points.
Brooklyn will be heading to NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Check www.brooklyncollegeathletics.com for the full tournament bracket as it is announced at the weekend's conclusion.
