New Rochelle, N.Y. - The Hostos Men's Basketball team faced off against cross borough rival Monroe-Bronx in the Championship game of the Region XV Basketball Tournament with a bid to the NJCAA national tournament on the line. The Caimans came out on fire starting the game on a 15-2 run over The Express. The Express eventually settled in and responded with a 8-2 run to make it 17-10 with 8:02 left in the half. The Caimans would head into the half with a 29-23 lead. 

The second half belonged to The Express who came out of the locker room on fire making a statement with a 11-2 run to take the lead 34-31. The game from this point was a back and forth affair that saw multiple ties and lead changes. With the game knotted at 47 apiece with 2:20 left Isiah Stone stepped to the free throw line for the Express and knocked down two free throws giving Monroe the lead for good 49-47. Monroe would hold on from there to win by a final score of 54-49 capturing the 2022 Region XV Basketball Championship securing a bid to the 2022 NJCAA National Tournament. 

Leading the way for the Caimans was freshman guard Onias Outlaw who posted a 11 point and seven rebound night. Freshman forward Ashunate Manuel scored 10 points while hauling down six rebounds while blocking four shots. Freshman forward Tionne Palmer had a solid night with eight points and eight rebounds and freshman guard Marquis Paulin posted eight points and five rebounds while battling foul trouble all night. 

With the loss the Caimans finish the season with a 21-11 overall record and will now wait to hear from the NJCAA selection committee for word of an at-large bid to the 2022 NJCAA National Tournament in Rockford, Illinois. The selection show will air on www.NJCAA.org on Wednesday, March 2 at 2:00pm. 

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