Home Headlines Local Spotlight: Rockland Hawks Soar Past BMCC Panthers!

Local Spotlight: Rockland Hawks Soar Past BMCC Panthers!

The stands filled up for the 8 o’clock tip off of the Rockland Hawks vs BMCC Panthers. Hawks came out looking like a completely different team from what I saw two weeks prior against Sullivan.

Armed with high energy and speed Rockland dominated in the first half. Hawks forward and team captain, Taj Bridgers, questionable to play in last night’s game due to a knee injury, exploded with 21 points and 9 boards. With Jacin Vera and Nikolas Perez in the back court directing traffic, Hawks turned it up forcing turnovers that lead to fast break points. And surely, Hawks were more fluid in transition than what the fans have seen in the past couple of games. Although the Panthers looked very exhausted chasing Hawks up and down the court, they trailed only by 4 points with seconds left on the clock. And just when they thought it was halftime, Vera shoots a fade away at the buzzer adding to the hawks lead of 36-28 at halftime.

It’s common to see teams who come out in the first half with high energy – lose their focus in the second half making it difficult to close out a games. But with highly applauded buzzer beaters, fans sat in anticipation of an even more energized second half. I had my doubts, thought they’d leave their energy in the locker room like they have in the last 2 home games. Did these Hawks shut me up? Absolutely! Rockland came out with the will to close out this game on top. They forced turnovers and co-captain – Mike Braithwaite along with Bridgers worked hard off the offensive and defensive glass as Hawks take advantage of second chance points. BMCC didn’t have an answer to Rockland’s zone defense. And in the end, it was their defense that won the game. Leading by only 1pt with 13 seconds on the clock- Hawks hustled to prevent BMCC from executing the play drawn up for them by their coach moments before their defeat.

When I asked Bridgers what he thought about tonight’s game and his team’s performance, the captain simply said “I’m just happy we won, now we can go and enjoy the holiday break!”

Congrats to Coach Kurisko and the Rockland Hawks on their win and making it a Merry Christmas. Stop by Rockland Community College Field House to watch the Hawks take on Hostos Community College on January 3rd at 8pm.

Mary graduated from Berkeley College with a Bachelor in Marketing. Since graduating, she has worked in the media industry – both radio and television. A sports enthusiast, she wrote articles for KeepingItRealSports.com and aspires to be part of a marketing team in any professional league. Social media savvy, you can find her on twitter talking about the latest and greatest news regarding basketball, baseball, hockey and soccer.

7 comments on “Local Spotlight: Rockland Hawks Soar Past BMCC Panthers!

  1. Angie on said:

    This article was well presented and actually makes me want to go see the next game. The writer seems to know alot about the sport and the teams. Great job. I will be there at the next game and hope to see another amazing article !

  2. C. Warfield on said:

    Reading this made me feel like I was there. Seems like you follow Rockland intimately. Good reporting!

  3. cgnuzback on said:

    Great recap of the game. Captured those highlights that makes a game memorable. Go RCC!

  4. OMG that’s good your following this -Division 3 B ball

  5. Gabriel on said:

    great! J.O.B

  6. Kevin hardy on said:

    It’s good to see that the writer is in tune with the team
    Great info on the gaming stats . Seems like the writer has inside info on the players and teams
    Look foward to seeing the next game

  7. KingSage on said:

    great post…finally a well rounded report on a game from all angles…nice