Box Score
BALTIMORE, Md. – For the third straight game
Warren Wright (Baltimore, Md./Northwestern HS) led the Baltimore City Community College men's basketball team in scoring with 15 points as the No. 4 Panthers defeated No. 13 Harford Community College in the first round of the 2012 Maryland JUCO Tournament on Tuesday night at the BCCC P.E. Center.
BCCC (18-9) advances to Friday's quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. to play No. 12 CCBC-Catonsville. Catonsville (9-18) defeated the Panthers 74-69 in the Nov. 17 meeting.
The game was a rematch of last week's regular-season finale that the Panthers easily won 99-75. But this time Harford (8-19) was prepared for BCCC and kept things close for the entire game.
BCCC scored first on a jumper by Karrell Goines (Baltimore, Md./Patterson HS) with 19:10 left in the first half. The Panthers opened up their largest lead of the half after a jumper in the paint by Theodore West (Philadelphia, Pa./Kensington HS) at the 16:41 mark.
But the Owls rallied and forced four ties, knotting things up at 30-all after a 3-point play by Carlos Brown. But the Panthers hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to take a 35-30 lead into halftime.
Harford went on a 11-6 run to start the second half to force the eighth tie of the game (41-all) after a bucket by Ka-Ron Richardson. A layup by Wright with 11:18 left in the game gave the Panthers the lead for good. They led by 11, 58-47, after a layup by Goines at the 5:18 mark.
Harford would not go away, though, and rallied to get within three, 66-63, after a big 3-pointer by Dwayne McGill with 16 seconds left in the game.
Wright was quickly fouled by Roger Schuman and made good on both free throws to put the game out of reach for Harford. On the final possession, Keegan Harper missed a 3-pointer for Harford, sealing the win for BCCC.
Brown and Richardson each had 14 points for Harford. Brown added 13 rebounds, while Schuman grabbed 11 boards and had nine points. Dimitrious Jelen-Joy contributed 13 points in 35 minutes.
For BCCC, West and Donte Stuckey (Baltimore, Md./Walbrook HS) each had 12 points. Carlos Smith (Baltimore, Md./Forest Park HS) had a game-high four blocks to go with his eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.
For updated bracket and scores for all 2012 MD JUCO Tournament games, log on to www.mdjuco.org or mdjuco.wordpress.com.
