NEW YORK --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury men's basketball opened the 2015-16 campaign Saturday evening with a 90-87 double-overtime loss against the Arcadia Knights (4-0) at the NYU Tip-Off Tournament from Coles Sports Center.  Old Westbury (0-1) will now face the Moravian Greyhounds (0-2) in the consolation game Sunday at 5 p.m.

Old Westbury came out firing in the first half, connecting on 8-of-12 from the field to take a 19-14 lead with 11:17 remaining.  The Panthers used a 21-4 run from 12:02 to 4:07 to go up by 17 points (35-18) with 4:37 left on the first-half clock.  Arcadia scored 12 of the final 19 points to close out the opening stanza to slice Old Westbury's advantage to 12 (42-30) heading into intermission.

Arcadia's Phil Pierfy opened the second-half scoring with a jumper to make it a 42-32 game.  The Knights chipped away throughout the second half as Old Westbury's 17-point lead shrunk to three points (53-50) off a triple by John Landro.  Lylle Ryalsanswered for the Panthers with a layup followed by Mark Gjonlekaj's fourth triple of the game with 10:18 remaining to give Old Westbury an eight-point cushion (58-50).  Jamail Stanley laid in two points at 7:13 to maintain Old Westbury's eight-point lead (62-54).  Arcadia answered with a 9-2 run to trim Old Westbury's advantage to one (64-63) with 4:40 left.  Over the final 3:26, the Knights tied the game three times to make it a 70-70 contest.  After pulling down a defensive rebound, Ryals was charged with an offensive foul that would give Arcadia possession with two seconds showing on the clock.  The Knights were unable to get off a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds and would force overtime.  

Ryals dialed in from long distance to put Old Westbury on the board with a 73-70 lead 1:01 into the extra frame.  Moments later, Stanley dropped in a layup to bring Old Westbury's lead back to three points (76-73) with 2:18 remaining.  Brandon Thompson nailed a three ball for Arcadia at 1:47 to make it a one-point game (77-76).  Ryan Kelley would strip Stanley for his fifth steal of the game, and then drained a pair of free throws to give Arcadia its first lead since holding a 12-11 advantage in the opening half.  Following Ryals' missed three pointer, Landro converted a pair of free throws to extend Arcadia's lead to three (80-77).  Old Westbury maintained its cool as Gjonlekaj found Stephon Odle from deep for the game-tying three pointer with 18 seconds remaining to send the game to a second overtime period.            

Arcadia grabbed an early lead to score five unanswered points until Stanley sank a pair of free throws with 33 second left.  Down 88-84, Gjonlekaj connected on a three pointer to make it a one-point game with 16 seconds remaining.  With seconds showing on the clock, Landro hit on two free throws after Gjonlekaj committed his fifth foul for the 90-87 final.  

Gjonlekaj led the way for Old Westbury with a game-high 27 points (8-16 FG) on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range in addition to compiling 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.  Stanley followed with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Ryals contributed 15 points (5-10 FG).  Victor added 10 rebounds, eight points (4-6 FG), one block and one steal.  Odle racked up nine points (3-5 3FG), five rebounds and four assists to direct the offense.  Cody Zafran nabbed three of Old Westbury's nine steals on the day.  

Landro's 24 points paced Arcadia.  Pierfy (20 points), Kelley (14 points) and Thompson (11 points) followed in double-digit scoring while Josh Scott ripped down a team-leading 10 rebounds.

In the end, Old Westbury connected on 47.7 percent shooting from the field (31-65), 42.9 percent from three-point territory (12-28) and 65 percent from the free-throw line (13-20) as Arcadia hit 39.7 percent from the floor (25-63), 29.2 percent from beyond the arc (7-24) and 70.2 percent from the charity stripe (33-47).  Arcadia won the boards battle, 44-43, and scored 37 points off 27 Panther turnovers.  It was the Panthers' highest turnover total versus a Division III opponent since committing 28 miscues against Mount Saint Vincent on December 2, 2010.  

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