By: Reagan McLean
It has been a very eventful week for the Bulldogs at West Quad Center and away. With wins in basketball and swimming, let’s take a deep dive and recap on how each team did this week.
Women’s Basketball
The Bulldogs continue their win streak to 13 games with their season high score of 98-71 against John Jay on Feb. 11. Brooklyn College improved to 12-0 in the CUNYAC conference and 20-3 in regular play.
In the first quarter, senior Anna Kitch set the tone with a three-pointer within the first two seconds of the game. While leading 5-4, junior guard Brianna Jackson made a jumper and sparked a 15-0 run. With the Bulldogs increasing their lead to 33-11, the first quarter came to a close with a 33-14 advantage. The Bulldogs shot 7-14 from behind the arc in the first quarter.
John Jay outscored Brooklyn 24-15 in the second quarter to cut BC’s lead to 48-38 by halftime, but this would be as close as the Bloodhounds would get to a lead.
The Bulldogs opened up the second half on a 7-1 run. Jackson finished the game with a double-double of 19 points and 17 assists, while knocking down four three-pointers and getting 4 steals. Senior guard Dior Dalsey also scored 19 points, three steals, and five rebounds. Kitch also ended the night with a double-double, scoring 18 points, 12 rebounds, and shooting 4-10 from long range.
On Feb. 13, the Bulldogs clinched their fifth CUNYAC regular-season championship in six years against the York College Cardinals with a score of 102-34 and remained undefeated in conference play with a score of 21-3 in the regular season.
Freshman guard Aaliyah McCalla started the game with a three-pointer nine seconds into the game, sparking a 9-0 run. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 29-6, with 4 straight points made by sophomore guard Ameea Daniel with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. The second quarter began with the Bulldogs scoring eight points. Senior guard Cheyenne Catellano drained a three-pointer, thus giving BC a 46-9 advantage with 3:24 left in the first half. With the Bulldogs taking the lead, they ran and did not look back. BC scored 46 points off 45 turnovers and got 36 steals.
Kitch got a game-high of 18 points and eight rebounds. Jackson added 15 points, six assists, and came up with three steals. Castellano and Victoria Kantzian also had nine points each coming off the bench. The Bulldogs play their next game against Hunter College on Feb. 17, at 5 pm.
Men’s Basketball
The BC men’s basketball team won its third conference game in a row, pulling out a 61-54 victory at City College of New York (CCNY). The Bulldogs are now 7-4 in conference and 9-12 in regular-season play.
Holding on to a 53-52 lead, junior guard Abdoulaye Guye knocked down a clutch three-pointer to give Brooklyn a possession lead with 1:12 remaining in regulation. In the first minute of the second half, the Bulldogs had a six-point lead after sophomore guard Joe Charles scored a three-pointer.
With a deficit of 6-0 to start the game, the Bulldogs tied the game 16-16 after sophomore guard Munner Ibrahem made a three-pointer with 7:50 to go in the first half. Senior Thomas Hall increased the run to 10-0 with another three-pointer to give the Bulldogs the 21-16 advantage with 6:03 left in regulation. The Bulldogs were able to increase their lead to as many as eight points in the first half before heading into half-time with 27-24.
Brooklyn shot 5-10 from behind the arc in the second half while limiting CCNY to 22.7% shooting from long range for the game. Charles was “the head of the snake,” leading with 14 points, and junior forward Altin Kukaj added 9 points while shooting 2-3 from behind the arc. Hall ended the night with 8 points and 7 rebounds. Senior D’aze Hunter had 12 assists.
The win streak comes to an end against St. Elizabeth with a score of 73-62. The men’s team record drops to 9-13 overall. Trailing 8-7 early in the first half, the Bulldogs managed to get their largest lead of the game, 13-8, following a 6-0 run with junior forward Tyler Gordon’s tip-in with 12:14 remaining in the first half-regulation.
With the Eagles responding with a 9-0 run to regain the lead, 17-13, the Bulldogs were able to extend their lead up to four points after Hunter made a three-pointer with 2:12 remaining in the first half,
St. Elizabeth had a 31-28 halftime advantage. In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to cut the team’s lead to as few as four points early in the second half; however, the Bulldogs weren’t able to pull off the win despite scoring opportunities in the second half. Charles had 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Gueye added 13 points while shooting 3/5 from behind the arc.
Hall scored 10 points with six rebounds. The Bulldogs pulled off a win in a very close game against the John Jay Bloodhounds on Feb. 11, 63-61. The men’s team is now 7-5 in conference play and 9-15 overall.
The Bulldogs were trailing the Bloodhounds, 30-28, at halftime. The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 4-0 run. Charles made a layup, giving the Bulldogs a 38-34 advantage with 15 minutes remaining in regulation. The lead was extended to as many as five points, 52-47, as Charles made a three-pointer with 6:35 left in the second half. The Bloodhounds responded with a 7-0 run to retake the lead with 4:41 left in regulation.
Hunter snapped the Bloodhounds’ lead to 62-60 with 1:23 left in the second half. Hall made one of two free throws to make the game closer, 62-61, with 52 seconds left to go. Charles led Brooklyn in scoring with18 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Hunter added 15 points and finished with eight rebounds.
Gary produced a double-double off the bench, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs were able to take care of business at West Quad Center, defeating York College, 82-68 on Feb. 13. BC improves to 10-14 overall and 8-5 in conference play.
The defensive battle began within the first seven minutes, and back-to-back three-pointers were shot by the Bulldogs, giving them a 17-10 lead. Leading with a score of 34-24, Ibraheem made a three-pointer, giving BC a 49-30 lead with another three-point make at halftime. Kukaj played an instrumental role in this run, scoring 11 points in the first half.
The stellar long-range shooting continued early in the second half withGueye’s three-pointer made within a minute of the restart. With Hall’s three-pointer, the Bulldogs were able to maintain another healthy lead of 72-55. Charles led the way for Brooklyn, scoring a team high of 16 points while shooting 3-4 from behind the arc. Hall had the only double-double, scoring 14 points and 10 assists. Hall scored 14 points while knocking down a team-high four three-pointers. Gueye finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
The Bulldogs are going to look to solidify a No. 2 seed with a win against Hunter College at home on Tuesday, Feb.17, at 7:15 pm.