BALTIMORE, MD -- The Panthers started off the 2019 Ben Williams Classic with a battle just as they expected.

The 18th ranked team in Division II, Frederick Cougars (9-1, 3-0), came in riding a 7-game winning streak and the Baltimore City Community College Panthers came in as winners in 10 of their last 11 games.
The teams traded basket after basket in the first half that ended with the BCCC Panthers leading by six 32-26, but in the second half the Panthers ended up cooling down from the field as the Cougars begin to heat up. When all was said and done the Cougars escaped with a 75-72 win in a closely contested back and forth battle.

Kobby Ayetey had 20 points and 4 steals and Joe Adedayo had 20 points and 5 steals for the Panthers in the loss.

The Panthers (10-3, 3-1) will take the court again in tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM in the final game of the 2019 Ben Williams Classic. It will be a rematch of last year's NJCAA District C men's basketball championship game that was won by BCCC to advance to the the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. The two teams also faced off two weeks ago in New York at the Monroe College tournament, that game was also won by the BCCC Panthers.