Bronx, NY - Men's and Women's basketball hosted the Cumberland County College Dukes on Saturday while honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Men, who came back to The Swamp after a perfect 3 game road trip hoping to continue their 3 game winning streak.  After getting the 101-54 win over the Dukes the Caimans, the 9th ranked team in the country, now stand with an overall record of 17-2 for the season. For the Women, who were coming off two tough games during the week, hoped to get back on track but the Dukes out played the Caimans winning 70-60. The tough loss for the Caimans brings their record to 7-11 overall but they remain 4-1 in CUNYAC.
 
For the Men, going in to the game on Saturday, it figured to be a good game with the emergence of Tyler Hillgrube and Dontae Sterling for Cumberland. This proved to be wrong as the Caimans took the early lead and dominated throughout the game never giving up the lead. Hostos pushed the lead to double digits with the help of freshmen Tyree White (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Chris Van Buren (7 points).  Maverick Hodge added 4 steals and 4 assists to help give the Caimans a 45-24 lead going into half time.
 
The second half remained in favor of Hostos as they continued to execute with team offense and defense.  With victory in sight, Hostos was able to play all 12 student-athletes.  Eight of those twelve scored 5 or more points. Chad Coachman returned to score 12 points and hand out 5 assists, White finished with 14 points, Rishawd Hendricks added 11points, and Jeremiah Brown chipped in with 10 points. Chris Van Buren led the way with 26 points for the team along with 3 assists. For Cumberland, Sterling had 20 points and NJCAA top ten leading scorer Hillgrube was limited to 10 points.
 
For the Women, Melsha Messam led the team with 29 points and 18 rebounds, Kristina Shcherban put up 15 points while Justina Davis and Mecca Norfleet each added 8 points. The Caimans played a controlled game only turning over the ball 17 times while picking up 37 rebounds and racking up 5 steals but were unable to pull off the win.
 
Up next for the Men is a rematch of a thriller against Suffolk County CC from earlier this season. Hostos was able to capture the 57-54 victory at Suffolk but the Sharks were up 16 points in the first half and as many as 12 in the second half before Caimans fought back for the win. Game time is 7:00 PM on Tuesday January 29^th for the big NJCAA Region XV contest. For the Women the Monday evening contest against Sullivan County CC was POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER but they will return to The Swamp on Wednesday January 30^th to host Dutchess CC at 6:00 PM. See you there. Let's Go Caimans!
 
In addition to Saturday's contest, the Men's Basketball Program would like to take the time to recognize the efforts made by Coaches vs. Cancer in hopes to find possible breakthroughs in cancer prevention and research. As this weekend is a moniker of the program, the basketball team supports all activities.