OLD WESTBURY, NY --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury men's basketball suffered a 91-64 setback at home to the Brooklyn Bulldogs on Monday evening in non-conference action from Clark Athletic Center. With the loss, Old Westbury moves to 1-3 on the young season as Brooklyn advanced to 6-0.
Lylle Ryals broke the scoring ice 21 seconds into play to give Old Westbury's its lone lead of the game (2-0). Brooklyn then used an 18-7 run from 18:52 to 11:43 to take a nine-point lead (18-9). Following one of three Mark Gjonlekaj triples on the day, Brooklyn answered with a 14-4 run from 11:19 to 6:10 to double its advantage (32-16) for a 16-point cushion. Brooklyn scored 10 of the final 16 points to hold a 42-22 lead at intermission.
Old Westbury closed the gap to 18 points at the start of the second half off a Luckens Victor jumper to make it a 42-24 game. Brooklyn then put together a 19-7 scoring spree from 19:18 to 12:23 to extend its lead to a game-high 30 points (61-31). The Panthers brought the deficit back to 18 points with a 12-0 spurt to make it 61-43 with 10:13 remaining.
Gjonlekaj scored 12 points and Ryals added 11 to pace the Panthers' offense. Victor and Jamail Stanley each went for nine points and Stephon Odle chipped in with four assists. Victor added a team-leading eight rebounds and two blocks to his stat line.
Egzon Gjonbalaj poured in a game-high 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists to lead Brooklyn. Edon Gjonbalaj followed with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Lorenzo Williams and Jamel Gist contributed 15 points apiece.
Old Westbury shot 31.5 percent (23-of-73) from the field while connecting on 16.7 percent (5-of-30) from three-point range and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the free-throw line. By comparison, Brooklyn shot 50 percent (33-of-66) from the floor, 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc and 57.7 percent (15-of-26) at the charity stripe. Brooklyn also held the advantage in rebounds (53-38), assists (22-11), points in the paint (40-26) and fast-break points (20-8) while Old Westbury scored 19 points off 18 Bulldog turnovers.
ST. JOSEPH'S (BROOKLYN) BEARS UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury returns to Skyline Conference action on Wednesday (Dec. 2) from The Hill Center in Brooklyn at 7:30 p.m. versus the St. Joesph's (Brooklyn) Bears.
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