Albany, NY - The men's basketball team opened their season Friday night against the JV Monroe Broncos in a hard fought battle.  

The Panthers started the game a little slow, not scoring until about 5 minutes into the game.  However, they went on to make their next 6 shot attempts led by freshman Brooklyn Davis (Houston, TX) who had three of those six buckets.   Riding the momentum, the Panthers found themselves with a 15-point lead and outscored the Mustangs 26-10 in the paint in the first half, led by Brett Richards who had 12 points on a perfect 6/6 shot selection in the first half.  The Panthers would lead 46-32 at halftime. 

Bryce Hancock (Cohoes, NY) opened the second half with back-to-back threes to push the Panthers lead to 20 points. After that, the Mustangs rallied and hit 9 threes in the second half to cut the lead down to 5 at one point, but the Panthers ultimately pulled away thanks to a clutch jumper from Michael Leak (Delanson, NY) while Jalon Munoz (Helotes, TX) iced the game at the free throw line to win 93-84. 

Munoz finished with a game high 24 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists while Richards finished with 23 points and 12 boards.  Alex Carrillo added an impressive 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists while head coach Robert Coleman had the following to say after the game, "We're still very young; our most experienced guys are only juniors. So learning to finish games and put teams away is something we have to get better at… we're still learning how to win."  

The Panthers' next game will be Sunday evening at 5pm against Columbia Greene Community College. 

How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instgram @ACPHSPanthers or X @ACPHSAthletics. 

Written by Angelo Oddo.