The Baruch College Bearcats lost 79-75 to the Panthers of SUNY Old Westbury on Tuesday night in Old Westbury, New York on Long Island. 

The visiting Bearcats struggled early and trailed 38-21 with 4:51 left in the first half, but managed to close the deficit to 10 points (44-34) at the halftime whistle. 

They started the second half with better momentum and came all the way back to tie the contest at 58 on a layup by Chimaechi Ekekeugbor with 11:48 remaining.

The Panthers quickly responded with a 7-0 run to go back up 65-58, forcing the Bearcats to play catch up again.

The Bearcats found their shots and rallied to take their first lead 73-72 after a three by Ekekeugbor and a free throw by Long Island native Andre Harris with 2:44 left. 

The Panthers responded by scoring seven of the final nine points to walk away with their season-opening win.

Ekekeugbor led the Bearcats with another double-double of 21 points (8-8 FT), 17 rebounds and four blocks. Bryler Paige was perfect at the free throw line (12-12) to total 15 points. William Sixsmith had 13 points.

Alan McDonald led five-players in double-figure scoring for Old Westbury with 15 points.

Baruch will be away this weekend at the Carnegie Mellon University Doubletree Invitational in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They will open play at the two day invitational on Saturday with a contest against the University of Mary Washington at 1 p.m. The second contest at 3:00 p.m. will pit the hosts Carnegie Mellon against Chatham.