By Yuki Elkotby
The men’s basketball team shattered their streak of three losses as they favored to win at home court against the United States Merchant Marines Academy (USMMA) on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
BC won the game with a total score of 66-50. Bulldogs’ No. 3 Malik Dale led the team by setting the standards by scoring 22 points in total through six three-pointers and eight field goals 30 minutes into the game. The Bulldogs’ No. 11 David McFadden scored 11 points in total from field goals of three, scoring three-pointers three times within the playtime of 35 mins.
BC ended the first half in the lead with a score of 36 points and seven fouls, while USMMA had 25 points and three fouls. Coming in the second half, the Bulldogs made sure to not lose the thirst for winning as Bulldogs’ No. 22 Gabriel Barker led the team with nine points in total through three field goals and three free throws made within 26 minutes. The highlight of the night was an insurmountable dunk with only 3:45 minutes left with the assistance of Bulldogs’ No. 22 Gabriel Barker with assist to No. 1 Joe Charles.
Bulldogs’ No. 2 Stephon McGill came fifth as the leading scorer of the night with a total of eight points, made up of three field goals and three free throws made in 29 minutes. Coming in the last couple of minutes, coaches switched the five players on the court with Bulldogs’ No. 0 D’aze Hunter, No. 4 Luqman Ahmed, No. 5 Muneer Ibrahem, No. 13 Abdoulaye Gueye, and No. 31 Altin Kujak. The team made sure not to let the clock end unless BC was out of reach to USMMA.
BC ended the second half with 30 points and six fouls, while USMMA ended the half with 25 points and five fouls to USMMA. The game ended with the Bulldogs scoring 66 with 10 steals, 37 rebounds, three blocks, and 10 turnovers, while USMMA owned 50 points with four steals, 34 rebounds, and 17 turnovers.
The Bulldogs carried the momentum created by them throughout their game with USMMA into their game against Old Westbury on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Bulldogs’ No.2 McGill led the game with six field goals, one three-pointer, and four free throws culminating in 17 points in 32 minutes. Dale scored 17 points, seven field goals, one three-pointer, and two free throws in 36 minutes. Bulldogs’ No. 20 Serge Thraysbule scored 11 points, as he scored four field goals and three free throws in just 19 minutes.
Lastly, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer was No. 30 Jaden Casanova as he scored four field goals and one three-pointer in 14 minutes, making him possess nine points. The Bulldogs fell a little behind the Panthers in the first half, as the Panthers were leading with scores of 41 and 38.
In the second half, BC was able to show up and bring their best performance, making the second half end with 41 points for the Bulldogs and 27 points for the Panthers. The game ended with BC possessing 79 points along with nine steals, 17 turnovers, 54 rebounds, and two blocks. As for the Panthers, they ended 68 along with 10 steals, 11 turnovers, and 36 rebounds. The end of this game created a streak of two wins for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs had their first CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) game of the season against John Jay College on Friday, Dec. 7 in Bulldogs’ home court. Lead scorers were McFadden with 14 points, five field goals, three three-pointers, and one free throw made in 34 minutes, and Thraysbule with 12 points in total, built through five field goals and two free throws made in 20 minutes. Charles scored a total of 11 points through three field goals, three three-pointers, and two free throws made in 19 minutes. Lastly, McGill scored nine points through four field goals, and one three-pointer in 27 minutes.
The Bulldogs fell just points behind in the first half, culminating in 35 points and eight fouls for the Bulldogs and 43 points along with nine fouls for Bloodhounds. In the second half, the Bulldogs fell behind once again, scoring 33 points with eight fouls while the Bloodhounds scored 41 points with nine fouls. The coaches switched the five players on the court for the last couple minutes and the squad of Hunter, Ahmed, Bulldogs’ No. 12 Admond Ruci, Gueye, and Kujak helped aid the second half.
The second half saw a total score of 68 points and 16 fouls for the Bulldogs. On the other side, the Bloodhounds possessed 84 points and 18 fouls in total. BC had a total of three steals, 40 rebounds, 13 turnovers, and four blocks, while the Bloodhounds had in total 10 steals, 34 rebounds, and seven turnovers. Even though the Bulldogs had a tough loss that night, their first CUNYAC game is one of the team’s highest in games so far in their season with many rebounds. Barker had seven rebounds, McFadden had four total rebounds, and Bulldog’s No. 34 Mekhi Barlow had four rebounds.
It remains to be seen if this will be another setback for the team’s sixteen players, its three captains Dale, McFadden, and Thraysbule, head coach Jeffrey Jean-Baptiste, associate head coach Albert Barbosa, and assistant coaches Jose Rivera and Joshua Wizwer.
The Bulldogs’ next game will be against William Paterson University on Saturday, Jan. 4, at the Bulldogs’ home court.