BRONX – The Monroe College – Bronx men's basketball team suffered a hard-fought Region 15 loss to Hostos Community College, 83-79, at The Swamp on Thursday, January 18. 
 
The game was tied at 71 with less than four minutes remaining but a tip-in layup by freshman forward Myles Day gave the Caimans (11-7, 6-4 Region 15) the lead with 3:47 left. The Express (10-9, 4-4 Region 15) had multiple chances to tie the game down the stretch, but Hostos' strong defense allowed the home team to escape with the regional win.
 
The key was the shooting from the field, as Hostos shot 32-for-70 from the floor (45.7%), while the Express only converted 26 out of 72 shot attempts (36.1%) during the contest. The Express almost overcame that with a strong advantage from the charity stripe, as Monroe shot 23-for-31 from the line (74.2%), while the Caimans only converted 14 out of 21 free throw attempts (66.7%).
 
The Express struggled early on and fell behind by 11, at 32-21, with 9:30 left to play in the first half. Monroe – Bronx countered with six unanswered points, capped off by a jumper from freshman guard Steven McGriff to shrink its deficit to 32-27 with 7:09 left. 
 
After both teams exchanged baskets over the next several possessions, sophomore guard Jovan Young got the Express closer by burying a jumper to pull the Blue and Gold to within one possession, at 39-36, with 2:20 left before the break. Hostos regained the momentum by finishing the opening stanza on a 6-2 run to take a 45-38 benefit into the intermission. 
 
Monroe - Bronx trailed 52-45 with 17:00 remaining in regulation time. However, the Express would not go down without a fight as a pair of free throws from McGriff concluded a 6-0 run to pull his team to within one, at 52-51, with 14:51 to go. 
 
A few possessions later, sophomore forward Abubakar Kromah drew a foul with Monroe down 53-51. He drained both free throws to tie the contest at 53. The Express forced a turnover on the next possession and freshman center Rene Williams drew a foul. He knocked down a free throw to give the Express their first lead of the second half with 13:43 remaining. 
 
A few minutes later, Hostos went back on top, 60-58. Monroe – Bronx countered with five straight points which was topped off by a fast-break layup from freshman guard Jayden Gamory to equal the Blue and Gold's largest lead of the game at 63-60 with 10:03 to go. Hostos responded with five straight points to regain the vantage at 65-63.
 
Later in the second half, Hostos had the ball with a one-point lead. Sophomore guard Vashaun Wallace forced a steal and fed the ball to McGriff who executed a fast-break layup to propel the Express back in front with 6:12 remaining in regulation time. Day answered with a layup to put Hostos ahead again. On Monroe's next possession, Kromah nailed a free throw to even it up at 71 points apiece with 3:57 to go. Hostos broke the tie 10 seconds later, thanks to Day grabbing an offensive rebound and tipping the ball into the basket to give the home team a 73-71 advantage.
 
With the Express down by three (75-72), Kromah deflected an opposing pass, and the ball was picked up Wallace. He threw it to Kromah who executed a fast-break layup to pull Monroe to within one with 2:36 to go. 
 
The Caimans countered with four straight points to inflate their lead to 79-74. McGriff answered with a triple to shrink Monroe's disadvantage to 79-77 with 1:19 left. After a series of turnovers by both teams, Monroe got the ball back down by two with just over a minute to go. Unfortunately for the Express, they could not capitalize on an alley-oop attempt and Hostos got the ball back, 
 
Monroe was able to get a stop on defense and then get the ball back with 25 seconds left. However, the Express committed a turnover by stepping out of bounds with 18 ticks left on the clock. That proved costly as the Caimans drained key free throws to go up by four. Williams gave the Express a spark with a layup to shrink Hostos' lead to two with 10 seconds left. Unfortunately for Monroe, sophomore guard Justice Carrington dunked the ball into the basket with three seconds left to seal the win for the home team.
 
Five players for Monroe – Bronx reached double figures in scoring. Leading the way for the Express was Kromah who scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out eight assists, and forced two steals. McGriff scored 16 points off the bench to go along with five boards and two steals. Wallace generated 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Young scored 13 points, snatched two caroms, and had just as many assists. Williams had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while forcing a pair of steals.
 
For Hostos, rookie guard Tyrese Conway provided 19 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Sophomore guard TeAmo Ebron had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a duo of assists. Carrington also scored 15 points, while snatching three caroms and dishing out two assists. 
 
Monroe – Bronx will conclude its three-game Region 15 road trip with a battle against LaGuardia Community College on Saturday, January 20. Tipoff in Long Island City, N.Y. is set for 2:00 p.m. 

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter/X (@MonroeExpress), Instagram (@MonroeExpress), and Threads (@MonroeExpress).