Feb 25, 2014
Skyline Conference Championship Central
ALBANY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team captured an 81-69 victory as the No. 5 seed over the No. 4 seeded Sage Gators (15-11) Tuesday evening in the Skyline Conference quarterfinals in Albany, New York. Old Westbury (15-11) advances to take on top-seeded Purchase (23-2) on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Purchase.
ALBANY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team captured an 81-69 victory as the No. 5 seed over the No. 4 seeded Sage Gators (15-11) Tuesday evening in the Skyline Conference quarterfinals in Albany, New York. Old Westbury (15-11) advances to take on top-seeded Purchase (23-2) on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Purchase.
Old Westbury sizzled out of the opening gates, connecting on 7-of-10 from the field; including 5-of-5 from three point territory to take a 19-10 lead just 4:35 into play. Sage cut the deficit to six (27-21) with 8:13 remaining. Old Westbury answered with a 17-8 run over the next 6:46 to go up 15 points (44-29), its largest lead of the game. At the end of 20 minutes, the Panthers took a 46-34 lead into intermission.
However, the Panthers cooled off in the second half by missing its first shots from the field as Sage capitalized with a 12-1 run to trim the deficit to one, 47-46. Ray Parker drained a three ball to spark an 8-3 Panther run from 13:23 to 12:21 for a 55-48 advantage. Sage responded with 10-2 run to take a 63-62 lead, its first advantage since going up 1-0 to start the first half. Andrew Andries stopped the run with a jumper to put Old Westbury back up 64-63. Moments later, Floyd Leroy's triple put Old Westbury up 69-64 with 2:33 remaining. Melvin Ford dropped in a layup to bring Sage within three points before Parker drained a pair of free throws to maintain the five-point land. The Panthers pressured Sage's Jeff Stopera into a costly turnover, which allowed Leroy to put Old Westbury up, 75-68. Omari Trebuse then drained a pair of free throws for a 77-68 lead and coasted to an 81-69 victory.
Leroy poured in 23 points, hitting on 4-of-5 from three point territory to lead the Panthers offensively. Leroy added nine rebounds and five assists. Parker followed with 19 points and three steals off the bench. Omari Trebuse went for 11 points and five rebounds while Andries and Mark Gjonlekaj each chipped in with two blocks. Andries also pulled down nine rebounds.
Kai Deans led Sage with 23 points and Ford followed with 20 while Ryan LaBelle contributed 13.
Old Westbury shot 45 percent from the field (27-60) 52 percent from three point territory (13-25) and 82.4 percent from the free throw line (14-17) while Sage landed 39.3 percent from the floor (22-56), 23.5 percent from beyond the arc (4-17 and 71.8 percent from the charity stripe (21-34). Old Westbury's 13 three-pointers tied a season high and have now landed 38 over the past three games. Sage won the boards battle, 39-33, scoring just 13 second chance points off 17 offensive rebounds. Old Westbury scored 18 points off 13 Gator miscues.
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