BRONX, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) –The SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team rolled to an 88-77 road victory against the Lehman Lightning Thursday evening from the APEX Center. With the win, Old Westbury improved to 6-2 on the season, recording head coach Bernard Tomlin's 300th career win. Tomlin, in his 22nd season (12th at Old Westbury) as a head coach, joins the 300 win club with a record of 300-267, including 174-132 at Old Westbury. The setback moved Lehman to 5-4.

Lehman took control of the game early on with a brief three-point advantage in the opening minutes. Kerel Mitchell drained one of his three first-half long balls with 14:45 remaining to give Old Westbury the lead for good (14-12). Old Westbury used a 21-9 run from 14:45 to 3:14 to take a 35-21 first-half lead. Old Westbury took a 40-32 advantage into the half, with Mitchell's 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting sparking the Panther offense.

Old Westbury used the long ball to open the second-half as Rashawn McCarthy connected from downtown to give his team a 43-32 lead. Old Westbury built up a 17 point lead (67-50) by outscoring Lehman 18-10 from 15:01 to 8:33. Lehman responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:31 to make it a single-digit game (67-59). Lehman outscored Old Westbury 11-4 over the final 2:06, pulling within four-points on a triple by Erasmo Soto with 18 seconds remaining. Josh Hill converted one-of-two from the line to close out the scoring at 82-77 with three seconds left on the clock.

Kerel Mitchell finished with a career-high 31 points on 12-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Tyrik Tucker (15 points) and Rashawn McCarthy (13 points) followed by scoring in double-digits. McCarthy dished out a team-best five assists while recording three steals. Mitchell and Rob Sanders paced Old Westbury with seven rebounds while Sanders tallied three steals.

Kelvin Gil was one of four Lightning to score in double-figures, finishing with 22 points and five assists. Erasmo Soto (19 points), Quaseem Weems (15 points) and Stanley Stephens (10) followed in the scoring department. Weems pulled down a game-high 12 boards and Soto grabbed eight.

Old Westbury shot 52.3 percent (34-65) from the field, 33.3 percent (7-21) from three-point territory and 63.6 percent (7-11) from the free-throw line. Lehman connected on 44.6 percent (29-65) from the floor, 30 percent (6-20) from beyond the arc and 65 percent (13-20) from the charity stripe. Lehman won the boards battle, 38-34, of which 12 offensive boards were converted into 17 second chance points. Old Westbury turned 20 Lehman turnovers into 19 points.

MISERICORDIA COUGARS UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury returns to the hardwood for the St. Mary's College of Maryland Comfort Inn Classic on Friday (Dec.28) afternoon, taking on the Misericordia Cougars in St. Mary's City, Maryland. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. from the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics and Recreation Center Arena.