PURCHASE, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) –  The SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team cruised to an 86-75 Skyline Conference road victory against the Purchase Panthers in the "Battle of the SUNY Panthers" Wednesday evening in Purchase, New York.  The win is Old Westbury's (10-2) sixth straight as the Panthers improved to 5-0 in conference action while snapping Purchase's (9-2) five game win streak, dropping them to 3-2 against the Skyline Conference.  Old Westbury hosts Purchase for round two of the "Battle of the SUNY Panthers" on Jan. 26 at 4 p.m.

Old Westbury and Purchase battled it out through the opening 13:36 to the tune of five lead changes and two ties.  Josh Hill gave Old Westbury the lead for good with a jumper at the 6:24 mark for a 19-18 lead to spark a 25-8 run over the next 5:37.  Old Westbury led by as many as 16 points in the first half at 42-26 with 1:09 left and took a 42-30 lead at intermission. 

Rashawn McCarthy drilled a three ball with 12:04 remaining in the game to give Old Westbury a 63-48 lead, their largest of the second half.  However, Purchase cut the lead to 66-62 with a 19-3 run from 11:38 to 7:09.  Old Westbury's lead was at four points at 73-69 with 5:05 showing on the clock and used an 11-6 run to pull away from Purchase over the final 4:43. 

Four Old Westbury Panthers scored in double figures led by Tyrik Tuckers 18 point, 13 rebound effort to record his third double-double of the season.  Tucker added four steals and two blocks in 40 minutes of action.  Kerel Mitchell followed with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.  Rashawn McCarthy added 15 points and seven boards while Omari Trebuse contributed 10 points and three assists.  Ty Moore scored nine points, Joshua Baily registered six points and eight rebounds and Darnell Chavis tallied six points and six rebounds in his Old Westbury debut off the bench.

Justin Person scored 15 points and dished out a game high four assists to lead Purchase.  Craig Davis scored 14 points and blocked four shots off the bench while Ryan Lobban (13 points) and Amar Reynolds (10 points) scored in double figures.

Old Westbury shot 40.5 percent from the field (30-74), 30.4 percent from three point territory (7-23) and 73.1 percent from the free throw line (19-26).  Purchase hit 40 percent from the floor (28-70), 25 percent from three point range (4-16) and 65.2 percent from the charity stripe (15-23).  Old Westbury won the boards battle with a season high 49 rebounds to Purchase's 36.  Old Westbury scored 14 second chance points off 18 offensive rebounds and converted 13 Purchase turnovers into 15 points.    

CORNELL BIG RED UP NEXT FOR OLD WESTBURY: Old Westbury returns to the hardwood for a road battle against Division I opponent, Cornell Big Red, on Saturday (Jan. 12) afternoon from Newman Arena.  Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. in Ithaca, New York.      

For the latest news on the Panthers, log on to www.oldwestburypanthers.com – the official site for Old Westbury athletics. Also, become a follower of the Panthers on Twitter (OW_Panthers) and "LIKE" Us on Facebook (Old Westbury Panthers Athletics / Old Westbury Athletics Alumni).