With the Bearcats trailing 87-86 and :16 seconds remaining on the clock, junior guard Joe Longobardi (Staten Island, NY) nailed a three-pointer on a feed from senior guard John Alesi (Staten Island, NY), who beat the trap up the court to give the host school a victory to end the season for the first time. Alesi, who led the Bearcats with 22 points and six assists earned the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. The 6'2" guard from Xaverian High School led Baruch (25-5) in each of the three games, including a career high 28 points in the quarterfinals.

Following Longobardi's three-pointer, sophomore John Burzo picked up a charge on Mount St. Mary's Brendan Tomey, to give the ball back to the Bearcats. Longobardi then hit 1-2 free throws with seven seconds left to provide the winning margin.

"The coaches knew that we could go to Joe when we needed him," said Rankis, the 2003 CUNY Coach of the Year. "He's in the best condition of anyone on our team and he's fearless."

Baruch's record season began with the opening of the College's ARC Arena in September, providing Rankis, in his 20th season with his first true home contest ever; and ended with a school record 25th win. The Manhattan school finished first in the CUNY Regular Season standings and hosted the CUNYAC/Con Edison Championships for the first time, but fell in the final to #2 CCNY, 84-79.

Sophomore forward Sime Marnika (Long Island City, NY) added 19 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Longobardi finished with 13 points. Junior center Garry Etienne (Jamaica, NY) and sophomore forward Chris O'Connor (Flushing, NY) each scored 10 points in the contest.

"It's great to end my career on a winning note," said Alesi, a CUNYAC all-star, who moved into ninth place on the Baurch scoring list with 1,091 points. We showed a lot of heart tonight gutting out the win. We had great teamwork. It's nice to be singled out, but all twelve guys on this team are responsible for this title."

Mount St. Mary (23-8), the Skyline Conference Tournament runner-up, led at the half, 50-45, but were unable to sustain the pace of the contest, despite boasting two 20-point scorers. Twomey (New Windsor, NY), a junior guard, finished with a game-high 27 points, followed by sophomore forward Robert King (Hempstead, NY) with 23 points. Sophomore center Sergio Guzman (Bronx, NY) added 10 points and 14 rebounds, while senior guard Adam Cash (Washingtonville, NY) and freshman Keith Letendre (West Brighton, NY) each chipped in 11 points for the Blue Knights.

"It's very special! So few teams end their season with a win," continued Rankis,. "We followed a tough physical game last night with an aggressive physical contest tonight. The team showed tremendous poise in figuring out ways to win the game. We made a more concerted effort on the boards and establishing an inside game in the second half. Our resilience paid off with a win."