Box Score OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.oldwestburypanthers.com) - Senior
Patrick Bonna (Brooklyn, NY) tallied a game-high 18 points and connected on a game-winning three-pointer with seven seconds left in overtime to lead SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball to a 70-69 win over The Sage Colleges Saturday afternoon on the road. The Panthers have now won five in a row to improve to 10-4 overall and 8-1 in Skyline Conference play. The Gators, which now lost its last eight, falls to 2-11 and 1-8 in league play.
The Gators took its first three-possession lead when freshman Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY) grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup to take a 6-0 lead with 18:34 left in the opening stanza. A pair of made free-throws by Marcus Hunter gave Sage its largest margin of the game, 12-5, with 16:05 on the clock. Old Westbury countered with a 13-4 spurt to take their first lead (18-16) of the game on a three-pointer by senior
Bill Reese (Selma, AL). Old Westbury extended its lead by scoring 12 of the next 16 points to take a 30-20 lead with 6:28 on the clock. Sage responded with a 12-4 scoring outburst to head into the half down, 34-32.
The Panthers built their largest lead, 53-42, midway through the second half as
Patrick Bonna hit one of his two triples on the game. Freshman Mason Horne (Albany, NY), who led Sage with 18 points, dropped in a layup to chop the deficit to two, 55-53, on an 11-2 run with 6:32 remaining. Sage continued its run, closing out the second half with a 13-11 scoring advantage, capped off by a made free-throw by Mason Horne with 17 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
The extra frame was a battle of offensive struggles, with both teams combining for seven points. Senior
Hakiem George (New York, NY) put Old Westbury on the board first, connecting on the backend of a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 67-66 lead with 37 seconds left. After freshman Marcus Hunter (Ridge, NY) missed both free-throws, freshman Alex King (Saratoga Springs, NY) came down with the offensive board and stepped back and nailed the go ahead three-point to give Sage a 69-67 advantage with 15 seconds on the clock. Senior
Shane DeNully (Bronx, NY) pushed the ball with seven seconds remaining and found
Patrick Bonna, who drained a long three to make it 70-69. Following the Bonna trey, Sage was unable to get off a shot attempt due to the Old Westbury defensive pressure to secure the win.
Bonna led the squad with 18 points, hitting on 7-of-16 from the floor in addition to nine rebounds. Junior Frantz Granjean (Brooklyn, NY) also had a big game, posting a double-double, combining 16 points and 12 rebounds in addition to four steals and three swats in 30 minutes off the bench.
Hakiem George had 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and finished with seven rebounds and three steals.
Bill Reese followed with 12 points and
Shane DeNully registered a game-high seven assists and nabbed two steals.
Mason Horne paced the Gator offense with 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, followed by Marcus Hunter with 16 and Matt Farbotko added 12. Farbotko pulled down a game-high 14 boards and Hunter added 12. Alex King contributed nine points and eight rebounds off in the bench in 17 minutes.
The Panthers ended the night shooting 34.5 percent from the field as Sage finished 37.7 percent. Old Westbury went 5-of-7 from the free-throw line and pulled down 46 rebounds on the afternoon, and Sage went 15-of-24 from the line and pulled down 60 boards. Old Westbury converted 22 Gator turnovers into 17 points while Sage turned 11 Panther miscues into 10 points. Old Westbury also held a 13-12 advantage in assists and a 12-5 margin in steals.
NYU-POLY UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury returns to the hardwood for a Skyline Conference road contest with the NYU-Poly Fighting Blue Jays Tuesday evening in Brooklyn, New York. Panthers and Blue Jays tip at 7 p.m. in Jacobs Gymnasium. Please visit www.oldwestburypanthers.com for more information on men's basketball or any of the other Panther athletic teams.
