PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Baltimore City Community College men's basketball team opened its season on Friday night with a 102-89 loss to Genesee Community College in the opening round of the Community College of Beaver County tournament in this past weekend.
Led by Domonique Aberdeen's 25 points, Genesee jumped to a 55-43 halftime lead. Overall, Genesee shot the lights out going 10-of-18 from the 3-point line. The Panthers cut the lead to four points with 4:30 left in the game, but were unable to get any closer.
The Panthers were led by freshman Brandon Belt (Odenton, Md./Arundel HS) who contributed 18 points. The lone returner from last year's Maryland JUCO championship team, Michael Henry (Owings Mills, Md./Owing Mills HS), chipped in a double-double of 11 points and 15 rebounds.
On Saturday, BCCC took on tournament host Beaver County in a rematch of last year's Region XX semifinal game, which the Panthers won 85-66. This time around, BCCC needed two free throws by sophomore transfer Micah Fraction (Silver Spring, Md.) with 3.5 seconds remaining to pull out an 83-82 victory. Fraction, a point guard who attended high school at national power Montrose Christian, tallied 25 points on the night, going 13-for-14 from the foul line.
Craig Ryan (Baltimore, Md./John Carroll HS) played a key role in the victory as he came off the bench to score 16 points including four 3-pointers in the second half to help the Panthers rally from a seven-point deficit. Henry dominated the glass with 22 rebounds in the contest.
Head coach Terry Maczko said, “We were better on Saturday than we were on Friday. We played two very good teams in this tournament and had to come from behind in both games. We definitely have some things we can improve upon, but more importantly, I was very impressed with the way the team battled all weekend long. The win against Beaver County was an important game against a Region XX opponent. At the end of the year, this victory will help us with our seeding in the NJCAA Region XX tournament.”
The Panthers return to the P.E. Center for their home opener this Wednesday against conference opponent Montgomery College-Germantown. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. These two teams last met in the Maryland JUCO Championship this past spring. The Panthers won that game 65-57 and their first MD JUCO title since 1998.
