2002-2003 CUNYAC / Con Edison Men's Basketball Championships

Community College - Queensborough & Hostos Advance To Final

Brooklyn, NY - Queensborough Community College advanced to the championship game for the first time since 1999, by beating Borough of Manhattan Community College, 88-79 in the semifinals of the 2003 CUNY Athletic Conference/Con Edison Championships played at Kingsborough CC.

Despite getting down by as many as nine points in the early stages of the game to BMCC, Queensborough, the number two seed, had its largest lead of the game, 44-39, at the half. The Tigers extended the lead to nine points in the second half when freshman Dewayne Thomas (New York, NY) scored the team’s first ten points over four minute span for a 54-45 lead. Thomas finished the contest with 27 points and seven rebounds.

"Dewayne came on midyear for us, and we didn’t miss a beat,” said eighth-year head coach Tom Sinnickson. "He’s a smart player and he carried us over the hump today.”

Freshman center Steve Jean (Brooklyn, NY) was solid in defeat for the Borough of Manhattan (7-15), leading the Panthers with 17 points and eight rebounds. Explosive freshman guard Garnett Wright, a product of Queens, had 14 in the contest along with Emanuel Gnamien (Brooklyn, NY), who also had nine rebounds, and William Smith (Brooklyn, NY). The Tigers (11-11), who won their last championship back in 1998, also benefited from strong performances by sophomores Johann Yorke (Dominica) with 18 points and 17 rebounds and Teron Simpson (Queens, NY) with 15 and eight assists. "It took us a while to get going today,” stated Sinnickson about the early deficit. "I’m disappointed that we weren’t ready from the get-go, but we’ll be ready on Friday. It’s exciting to be back in the CUNY final.”

Brooklyn, NY - In the school’s first season in CUNY competition, Hostos Community College, the tournament’s fourth seed, pulled off a huge upset by beating host Kingsborough 78-74 to gain entry into the 2003 CUNYAC / Con Edison Basketball Tournament final.

After falling behind 19-14, Hostos ended the first half with a 21-6 run over the final nine minutes to go into the locker room with a 35-25 lead. But the regular season champions fought back in the second half with an 18-5 run of their own over the first 4:47 to give KCC a 43-40 lead. It was a dogfight the rest of the way with numerous lead changes, and the score finally knotted at 72-72 with two minutes remaining. Freshman guard Wilfred Moise (Queens, NY) was sharp at the end, going 4-4 at the line to provide the winning margin while finishing with 16 points.

"We knew that they would make a run at us at the start of the second half,” said Caimans’ head coach Robert Holford. "But we were able to sustain tonight. For most of the season, we have not been able to overcome when teams push back. But tonight we stayed solid and adjusted, primarily on defense.”

Not known for his scoring, Haney (New York, NY) poured in a game-high 21 points to lead Hostos (11-17). Forward Sal Clark (New York, NY) and center Juan Ortiz (New York, NY) each had double-doubles with 14 points and 11 rebounds and 10 points and 11 rebounds respectively.”

"Malik and the rest of the guys did a great job on Yeates,” continued Holford. "He’s a great player, the best in CUNY, if not one of the best in the region.”

Kingsborough (12-14) had four players in double figures, as Ronald Williams (Brooklyn, NY) collected team highs of 14 points and seven rebounds, while freshmen Lesley Antoine (Brooklyn, NY) and Jason Senior (Brooklyn, NY) also chipped in with 14 points apiece. Meanwhile, freshman guard Dustin Yeates, CUNYAC’s top scorer (17.9 ppg) at was held to five points on 1-8 shooting by Hostos’ Haney.

Queensborough and Hostos will now face off for the 2003 CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison Championship, played at Manhattan CC on Friday, February 21st beginning at 7:45 pm.