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111
Winner John Jay JJC 18-7, 11-3 CUNY
78
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR 6-19, 4-10 CUNY
Winner
John Jay JJC
18-7, 11-3 CUNY
111
Final
78
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR
6-19, 4-10 CUNY
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Jay JJC 52 59 111
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR 46 32 78

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Medgar Evers honors four seniors, Evans Jr. reaches 1,000 career points; Cougars lose to Bloodhounds in CUNYAC action

The Medgar Evers College men's basketball team dropped its CUNYAC and regular season finale on Tuesday evening, falling to the John Jay College Bloodhounds by a score of 111-78. With the defeat, the Cougars dipped to a mark of 6-19 on the 2024-2025 campaign, and 4-10 in CUNYAC action. The Bloodhounds improved their record to 18-7, and 11-3 in conference competition.

With this evening's results, the Cougars, who were already locked into the No. 6 seed in the upcoming CUNYAC Men's Basketball Tournament, will travel to No. 3 seeded Lehman College on Saturday for a quarterfinal round contest. Start-time at the APEX Center will be 1:00pm. John Jay improved its positioning for the tournament, bumping up to the No. 2 seed and earning a first-round bye.

Prior to the action, the Medgar Evers Department of Athletics took a few moments to honor seniors Andre Evans Jr., Jason Grimsley, Joshua Jean-Pierre, and Ryan Panagakos in a special ceremony. Assistant coach Brad Oringer spoke glowingly about each standout's accomplishments both on the court and in the classroom. Director of Athletics Chetara Murphy and Head Coach Brian Nigro presented each of the four aforementioned seniors with commemorative action shot posters in a show of appreciation of their dedication to the program during their tenures at the institution. The student-athletes posed for photos with their teammates, family members, and friends, before saluting the crowd at the Cougars Cave in what was an emotional scene.

Despite the loss for Medgar Evers, Grimsley posted game-highs of 37 points (7-8 FT) and 20 rebounds. Four-year Cougars fan favorite Andre Evans Jr., who needed 19 points to reach 1,000 for his career, netted 20 points while snatching seven rebounds, dishing a team-high six assists, tying for the game-high of three steals, and blocking two shots. Finally, it was Panagakos finalizing his evening with eight points and three rebounds.

In the victory for the Bloodhounds, John Jay connected on 15 shots from long range, including six trifectas from Jamir Stewart, as he finished with a team-high 29 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. Isaac Holmes also connected on six triples, finalizing his night with 25 points and three caroms. Keyshawn Miller posted a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, and Omar Calderon contributed 13 points and seven rebounds.

Consecutive triples by Holmes in the opening 38 seconds of action gave the visitors an early 6-0 advantage, but the Cougars kept things tight throughout a large portion of the opening half. Following a converted layup by Grimsley with 12:49 left in the half, Medgar Evers trailed by just one, 19-18. The Bloodhounds would use an 8-0 run (capped by a three-point bucket by Jamir Stewart) to bump its edge back to nine (27-18), but the Cougars continued to inch their way back into the game, outscoring the visitors 20-10 over the ensuing 6:07 to close to within one again (38-37).

The Bloodhounds continued to bend without breaking, as John Jay scored 14 of the game's next 23 points to take a 52-46 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

A converted layup by Grimsley 44 seconds into the second half brought Medgar Evers to within four, but that would be the closest the hosts would get, as John Jay College completed dominated the remainder of the second stanza, outscoring the hosts 59-30 the rest of the period to account for the 33-point margin of victory.

In what was a magical moment at the Cougars Cave, Evans Jr. who could feel the energy and love from the fans with every point he scored, finally reached the 1,000-point mark for his career by sinking the front end of a pair of free throws with 1:57 remaining in the game. The senior guard was then mobbed by his teammates for the accolade, and the usually-chill Evans Jr. cracked a big smile, enjoying the gravity of the moment. He'll now take 1,001 career points with him into the 2024-2025 CUNYAC postseason, where he'll look to continue adding to that total.

John Jay was the much more efficient team shooting the basketball, as the Bloodhounds connected on 45.3 percent of its attempts from the floor (39-86) compared to a 33.7 percent conversion rate for Medgar Evers (29-86). The Bloodhounds held edges in rebounding (59-49), assists (30-16), and steals (8-7). Both teams finished with nine turnovers apiece.

Keep it posted to the official website of the Cougars, MECAthletics.com, for all of the latest information regarding the Cougars' CUNYAC postseason run, which begins this Saturday afternoon at Lehman College.
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