BCCC Panthers defeat Riverhawks 95-70

The+Riverhawks+lost+earlier+tonight+95-70+to+the+Baltimore+City+Community+College+Panthers.+Shown%2C+left%2C+Forward+Matt+Kostacopolous.

Dan Elson

The Riverhawks lost earlier tonight 95-70 to the Baltimore City Community College Panthers. Shown, left, Forward Matt Kostacopolous.

Dan Elson, Sports Editor

Riverhawks men’s head basketball coach Joe Snowden said earlier tonight he was “not pleased” the Riverhawks had 25 turnovers in the 95-70 loss to the Baltimore City Community College Panthers.

“We’ve been turning the ball over all season,” Forward Matt Kostacopolous, a second-year transfer studies student, said. “So we just got to be more careful with the ball, cherish our possessions and stop turning the ball over so much. We’ve been doing that the whole season.”

The Panthers improve to 10-12 on the season and the Riverhawks move to 4-24 with a .143 win percentage—the lowest since the 2018 campaign when the squad finished 2-21.

The Riverhawks shot a team 42.2% from the field and the Panthers made 40.7% of their buckets as a squad. Both teams had 14 assists in the game. The Riverhawks shot 29.7% from three and the Panthers shot 28.6% from deep. 

Forward Malik Carroll led the Riverhawks with 15 points and nine rebounds. Guard Jeremiah “Scoob” Stroman scored 10 points and had four rebounds. Off the bench, forward Nicholas Augusterfer scored 10 points and rebounded seven. Guard Truth Norton led the team with six assists. 

Guard Michael Duffy, a captain, said the squad “fell apart at the wrong time.”

“We were only down one going in the half and we fell apart there,” Duffy, a third-year kinesiology student, said. “We just got to stick together better.”

Snowden said the returners need to “step up more.”

“They need to show better leadership,” Snowden noted. “They need to start scoring better [and] … they need to be effective.”

Panthers forward and Center Albright Obode contributed a double-double—scoring 14 points and rebounding 11 shots. First-year student Jo-Nathan Kelly added 15 points, three rebounds and four assists. Jason Ogbolu, a first-year student, pitched in 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Second-year student Thomas Reid scored 12 points.

The Panthers scored 33 points off of turnovers. Panthers head basketball coach T.J. Prioleau said he would like a higher number.

“We try to get to that 40 [point-mark] every game,” Prioleau said. “We don’t always reach it, but that’s the plan [and] that’s the standard for ourselves.”

Abode, a first-year general studies student, said the conversation in the locker room at halftime was to pick up the energy. 

“We brought the energy out in the second half and got the win,” Obode said.

The Riverhawks, who are 3-2 in Division III games, will travel to Westmoreland County Community College on Feb. 25 to compete in the playoffs. The squad will play the Prince George’s Community College Owls who are 23-3.

Guard Jack Taylor said the Riverhawks can “definitely make a run.” 

If “we play a full 40 minutes [and] play our game, I think we can be any team in our region,” Taylor, a second-year transfer studies student, said.

The Riverhawks will play their final game in the regular season on Feb. 21 against the Howard Community College Dragons at 7 p.m. The Panthers will close out their regular season against the Chesapeake Community College Skipjacks at 5 p.m.