NORTH EAST, Md. – The Baltimore City Community College men's basketball team fell 78-72 at Cecil College on Saturday afternoon at the Cecil College Gym. Cecil improved to19-4 overall and 13-1 in the MD JUCO Conference, while BCCC dropped to 16-9, 10-5.

The Panthers got on the board first with a jumper by Carlos Smith (Baltimore, Md./Forest Park HS) 18 seconds into the game. But the Seahawks answered on the other end with a jumper by Thomas Sharkey at the 19:26 mark to tie the game at 2-all.

The game went back and forth through most of the first half with five ties and eight lead changes. A 3-pointer by Warren Wright (Baltimore, Md./Northwestern HS) with 1:22 left in the first half forced the fifth tie of the period (34-34), but Donn Hill put Cecil up by two with his bucket with 45 seconds left.

Not to be outdone, Zafir Williams (Philadelphia, Pa./Vaux HS) ran the clock down to about one second and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send BCCC into halftime with a 37-36 lead.

The Panthers got their largest lead of the game (seven points) after the second of two free throws by Smith with 16:05 left in the game to bring the score to 43-36. But the Seahawks rallied and tied it up again at 47-all after a 3-pointer by Charles Burley.

There were two more ties along the way. The Panthers got within two, 70-68, after a three-point play by Karrell Goines (Baltimore, Md./Patterson HS) with 1:11 left in the game. BCCC went 2-for-8 over the final 42 seconds of the game, scoring just four points, while the Seahawks connected on all six of the free throws they attempted to seal the win.

Khaalis Coppock-Bey led Cecil with 21 points and had seven rebounds. Hill added 18 points and Thaddeus Fauntleroy had14. Brandon Bobb-Jones had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with his seven points.

Wright dropped 21 points for the Panthers and Smith contributed 16. Williams had 14 points and Sean Farr (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar HS) had 10 points. Smith and Theo West (Philadelphia, Pa./Kensington HS) blocked two shots each. 

The Panthers return to the BCCC P.E. Center for the final home game of the regular-season on Tuesday. The host Harford CC at 7:30 p.m. Sophomores Christian Diboko (Kinshasa, Congo), Daron Jenkins (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton HS), Donte Stuckey (Baltimore, Md./Walbrook HS) West and Williams will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.