OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. - Mount Saint Mary College junior Joe Stabach (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored a team-high 14 points and eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark on Thursday evening as the Knights fell to Skyline-leading SUNY College at Old Westbury (18-3, 13-0 Skyline) by a final score of 66-62. The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Mount, who fell to 13-7 overall (10-4 Skyline).
Old Westbury raced out of the gates and scored 13 of the game's first 15 points. A dunk from junior Tyrik Tucker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at the 13:07 mark gave the Panthers a 13-2 advantage and forced the Mount's second timeout. Following an exchange of buckets out of the timeout, the Mount scrambled back into the game with a 13-2 run of its own. Junior Joe Henain (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) knocked down a jumper with 7:31 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to just one, 18-17.
The Panthers answered with another big run, this one of the 10-0 variety. Tyrik's triple with 1:14 remaining in the half pushed the lead back to 11 at 28-17. Mount Saint Mary closed the half with back-to-back buckets and trailed 28-21 at the break.
The Knights closed to within two on a triple and a two-pointer to open the second half, but Old Westbury answered with an 8-0 run. The Panthers would push the lead to as many as 12 and continued to lead by a comfortable margin until the game's final three minutes. With junior Donte Howell (Baldwin, N.Y.) scoring six of the eight points, the Knights rattled off an 8-0 run to close to within four near the two-minute mark.
Down by six inside the final minute, Stabach drained a three-pointer to make it a three-point game with 23 seconds to play. Tucker responded with a bucket at the other end, but Howell answered with a trifecta to cut the lead to just two, 64-62, with 15 seconds to go. Then, with 12 seconds remaining, Old Westbury senior Rashawn McCarthy (Westbury, N.Y.) stepped to the free throw line and sunk both attempts to make it a two-possession game. The Knights fired three shots on their final possession, but none of them would find the mark and Old Westbury emerged with a 66-62 victory.
With only two points at the half, Stabach heated up and connected on four triples to finish with a team-high 14 points. He joined the 1,000-point club with a three-pointer at the 7:11 mark of the second half.
Howell added 13 points on 6-of-9 from the field, while junior Chris Pisciotta (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) fell just shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Henain also just missed a double-double with eight points and 12 boards.
Tucker led Old Westbury with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He hit on 8-of-17 from the field and 4-of-5 from three. McCarthy also nailed four three-pointers and finished with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists.
The Knights return to action on Saturday with a home game against Sage. The tip is set for 3:00 p.m. in the Kaplan Center.