PANTHERS CLIP ST. JOSEPH'S (L.I.) 83-72

JANUARY 5, 2010

BOXSCORE - Old Westbury vs. St. Joseph's (L.I.)

OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.oldwestburypanthers.com) – The SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team used a 22-9 run to close out the final 5:46 en route to a 83-72 Skyline Conference victory over the St. Joseph's (L.I.) Golden Eagles on Tuesday evening at the Clark Athletic Center.  The win brings Old Westbury to 6-4 on the season and 4-1 in conference action while St. Joseph's (L.I.) moves to 7-2 and 3-1, respectively.

In a tight first half that featured 12 lead changes and three ties, Old Westbury opened the game with an early 9-3 lead at the 16:25 mark.  St. Joseph's (L.I.) countered over the next several minutes, as the Golden Eagles were able to take a three-point lead on a pair of made free throws by Chris Jimenez to grab a 12-9 lead with 13:27 left on the clock.  Jiminez sank a jumper with 4:58 remaining in the half to start a 14-4 run, capped off by two made free throws to stretch St. Joseph's (L.I.) largest lead of the half to six, 38-32, with 1:52 left.  A 10-2 run by Old Westbury brought the Panthers within two points, 38-36, to close out strong as the first half came to a close.

St. Joseph's (L.I.) Shahab Syed laid in a pair of buckets in a 9-2 run to open up the second half as the Golden Eagles took their largest lead of the game to nine, with 17:02 remaining.  St. Joseph's (L.I.) was unable to push the lead past nine at the 12:42 mark.  Kristopher Afum hit triple after triple after triple to score nine of Old Westbury's 19 points in a 19-9 run to take a 64-63 lead with 5:46 left on a 3-point play by Lester Prosper.  Old Westbury extended their lead to 12 on a 19-7 run with 16 seconds remaining to seal the 83-72 victory.     

Shane DeNully tied a career-high with 14 assists (originally set 1/17/09 vs. Mount Saint Mary) and also led the team with five steals while Kristopher Afum dropped in a season-high 16 points and 11 boards in leading the Panthers to victory.  Jason Kondra knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points and four rebounds.  Lester Prosper went 5-of-9 from the field to score 12 points and added five rebounds.  Frantz Granjean chipped in with seven points and six rebounds as Bill Reese and Patrick Bonna each tallied eight points.  

Shahab Syed paced a trio of Golden Eagles in double-digits as he led the way with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from inside the arc.  Trey Black followed with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, as well as eight steals, six rebounds and four assists.  Chris Jimenez rounded out the trio with 11 points and three steals. 

Old Westbury won the battle of the boards, 40-25 including a 13-8 advantage off the offensive glass.  St. Joseph's (L.I.) turned 24 turnovers into 33 points while Old Westbury scored 22 points off 21 Golden Eagle miscues.  Both teams shot particularly well from the field, with Old Westbury hitting 47.7 percent of its shots and St. Joseph's (L.I.) going 45.8 percent from the field.  Old Westbury went 7-of-13 (53.8%) from 3-point range and 14-of-14 (100%) from the line, while the Golden Eagles weren't so golden from beyond the arc (17.6%) and at the charity stripe (55.6%).

PURCHASE UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury welcomes conference foe, Purchase College to town in a battle between Panthers on Thursday, January 7 at the Clark Athletic Center.  Old Westbury and Purchase are slated to tip at 7 p.m. in Old Westbury.  Please visit www.oldwestburypanthers.com for more information on men's basketball or any of the other Panther athletic teams.