JAMAICA, NY—The regular season is finished and its now playoff time. The York College men's and women's basketball teams will be in action this weekend with hopes of taking home the CUNY Athletic Conference crown. The men's team has earned the fifth overall seed and will visit arch-nemesis Brooklyn College in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 1:00 p.m, while the women, who also earned the fifth seed, will travel to John Jay College to take on the Bloodhounds on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Men's Preview
The Cardinals will take on an all too familiar foe Sunday when they take on the Bulldogs. York has met up with Brooklyn in the playoffs the past two seasons. Last season they faced off in the championship game, in 2009 the semi-finals and now this year in the quarters. Brooklyn has had the edge thus far, winning both of those games, en route to back-to-back CUNYAC titles. Brooklyn also got the best of York in the regular season, defeating the Cardinals 75-71 on January 5th and 78-71 in overtime on February 9th.
The Cardinals are led by their reigning All-American and two-time CUNYAC Player of the Year Marcel Esonwune. The senior center from Nigeria has been a force once again and is second in the country in rebounds (13.8 per game), blocked shots (4.5 per game) and double-doubles (21). York has also got major contributions from junior transfer William Holley. Holley is fifth in the conference in scoring (16.8 ppg), sixth in assists (3.6 apg) and seventh in rebounding (7.7 rpg).
The Bulldogs have been led by CUNYAC All-Star Tyshawn Russel who leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.8 points per game. Junior Amil John (14.2 points per game) and senior Ahmad Hemingway (12.2 points per game) have once again been key players for Brooklyn.
Should York advance they would take on the winner of the College of Staten Island— who earned the top overall seed— and City Tech. The other two quarterfinal matchups feature #2 Medgar Evers College entertaining #7 Lehman College and 3 Baruch College playing host to 6 Hunter College. The semi-finals will be played on Wednesday, February 23rd at 6 and 8 p.m. at the City College of New York.
Women's Preview
The Lady Cardinals got off to a hot start this season, but struggled down the stretch and dropped to the fifth seed in the conference playoffs. York will now have to go on the road in the opening round to take on the Bloodhounds of John Jay, who beat York at their place earlier in the season by a score of 74-69. CUNYAC All-Stars, Dominique Grice and Jessica Lirio each came up big for the Bloodhounds in that game, scoring 19 points and 15 points respectively. Lirio is second in the conference in scoring this season (18.9 per game), while Grice ranks eighth in the conference (14.2 per game).
The Cardinals will need another solid game from CUNYAC All-Star Shadae Rice, who scored a career-high 26 points in the last meeting. This season, Rice is leading the team in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per contest. Seniors Maimouna Dabo (11.3 ppg) and Elizabeth Padilla (10.6 ppg) have also played well for York.
Should York win, they will take on the winner of the #1 Baruch College/ #8 CCNY game. The other two quarterfinal games are #2 Brooklyn hosting #7 Staten Island and #6 Hunter visiting #3 Lehman. The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday, February 22nd at 6 and 8 p.m.
Admission to both contests are free. If you can't make it out to the women's game, John Jay will be providing live stats by clicking here right before tip-off. Live stats for the Brooklyn game will not be available.
