December 6, 2006
KINGS POINT, N.Y. - The Old Westbury men's basketball team was unable to grasp the lead in the final minutes of the game, securing the Merchant Marine with their first conference win 96-91, over the Panthers, Wednesday night in Liebertz Gymnasium.
With the win, the Mariners advance to a 3-1 overall record and a 1-0 Skyline Conference record. Old Westbury falls to .500 at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in Conference play.
Old Westbury allowed the Merchant Marine to open the game with a 17-6 scoring run, sparked by four three-point shots from sophomore Pat Grace. For the game, Grace was 5-for-7 from behind the three point arc, scoring all five shots in the first period, ending with a career high 17 points. At the half, the Mariners led the Panthers 47-33.
The Mariners had control for most of the game tying their largest lead of the game three times at 22 points. Down by 22 with 8:50 left in the second half, the Panthers suddenly went on a scoring rampage putting up twice as many points as the Mariners, a 24-12 run brought the Panthers with in 10 points with just under a minute to play.
With 45 seconds left, sophomore Matt Oaks kept the Mariners' lead to double digits with two important foul shots, keeping the score in favor of the Mariners 92-80. The Panthers kept at it, with a made three pointer by Kenneth Eusey shrinking the Mariners' lead to five with twenty seconds to go. Freshman Ryan Samuel brought the lead back up to seven with two made foul shots, and senior Stephen McDade increased the lead to eight with a shot of his own. Eusey dropped in a three pointer at-the-buzzer to end the game, 96-91 Mariners.
The Panthers allowed six Mariners to score in double digits and shot 54.2% from the field. Grace and sophomore Alex Loepker led the Mariners with 17 points each. Grace also had seven assists. Oaks was second in scoring with 15 points, going 3-for-5 from behind the three point arc, 4-for-8 in field goals and 4-for-7 from the foul line.
Josh Frazier's career high of 21 points came on 9-for-15 shooting, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks along with Kenneth Eusey's 21 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 4 rebounds weren't enough to overcome the Mariners in a hard fought Skyline conference showdown. Ian Johnson followed with 16 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Next up for the Panthers is a Skyline match up against Centenary College at the Clark Athletic Center on the campus of SUNY College at Old Westbury. Tip off time is slated for 4:00 PM on Saturday, Dec. 9.