CUNY / Con Edison Community College Men's Final

Kingsborough Rides Caston's Wave To CUNYAC Three-Peat

Friday, February 15 - Kingsborough Community College sealed its third consecutive CUNYAC Tournament Championship, beating the host BMCC Panthers, 81-66. It took a 21-2 late second half run by the Wave to roll to the victory, powered by CUNY Tournament MVP Charles Caston.

The Panthers fell behind early, as BMCC used a 9-0 run at the 7:03 mark of the 1st stanza to pull ahead 27-18, en route to a 36-26 halftime lead. But the Wave more than doubled their offensive output in the 2nd half, as Caston dumped 21 of his game-high 33 points in Kingsborough's 55-point 2nd half onslaught.

"At halftime we had to focus on what we came in here to do," explained head coach Dominick Chiodi. "We needed to put the pressure on them for a change."

Kingsborough (15-9) did just that in the second half, as Caston's running layup with 8:33 remaining started a 21-2 Kingsborough run that didn't stop until the Wave had secured a 72-62 advantage with just 3:27 to play. Caston's display during the run included an alley-oop dunk off an inbounds play and a three-pointer.

"We decided at halftime to take it to this team," said MVP Caston. "Once we went on the run our adrenaline was pumping."

Caston's assault on the Panthers began early in the second half, as KCC hung around thanks to his 8 straight points, keeping the game close at 46-41 with 13 minutes to play. "He's been the big fella all year long," Chiodi said of his star. "When you can't ride your horse in the finals, you shouldn't be here."

Caston left the courts at BMCC to chants of MVP, all too fitting for the man who led KCC to its third straight title. He was aided by teammates Chad Jones (13 points) and Imbert Prosper (11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists). "Knowing I've been a part of two championships here," Carsten said, "It's beautiful."

BMCC (11-13) was paced by All-Tournament selections Roderick Stevens and Shayne Smith who chipped in with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Jones and Prosper were also selected from KCC along with Shabron Bridges (Bronx) and Jeffrey Boone (Queensborough).

By Dave Pizzuto