Box Score Boxscore

OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.oldwestburypanthers.com) – The top seeded SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team trailed by as many as 29 in the first half and pulled within four points late in the second half but were unable to defeat the third seeded Purchase Panthers in the Skyline Conference Championship game, falling 92-79 on Saturday evening at the Clark Athletic Center. Old Westbury moves to 20-7 overall while Purchase earns the automatic bid with their first Skyline Conference Championship, improving to 20-8

The Panthers had been 1-1 in Skyline Conference tourney finals, losing to Manhattanville in 2006-07 and defeating Mount Saint Mary in 2003-04. Coming off a 61-46 semifinal victory over Maritime, the Panthers wanted the victory to earn the automatics NCAA tournament berth that goes with the title. Now they will have to wait until Monday for a bid from the NCAA.

Old Westbury got on the board first as Patrick Bonna fed Lester Prosper for a jumper to grab a 2-0 lead with 18:41 left in the first half. Purchase fought back and later tied the game at eight on a three-pointer by Charles Thompson at 16:41. Hakiem George later converted a three-point play to give Old Westbury their largest lead of the game, 11-8, with 16:11 remaining on the first half clock. Purchase responded with a 30-4 run over the next 8:09 to take a commanding 38-15 lead. Corey Orgias extended Purchase's lead to 29 on a jumper with 5:06 remaining to give his team their largest advantage of the game, 46-17. Old Westbury closed out the final 4:17 of the opening half on a 13-6 run to cut the deficit down, 52-30, heading into the locker room at half time.

Both teams traded baskets until Old Westbury went on an 11-0 run from 14:36 to 10:04, pulling within 11 points, 61-50. A pair of made free throws and a jumper by Marvin Billups built the lead back up to 15. Old Westbury countered with a 17-6 run with 4:34 remaining to get within four (71-67). Purchase answered by outscoring Old Westbury 21-12 the rest of the way to claim the Skyline Conference crown.

Hakiem George was one of four Panthers to score in double-digits. He led the way for Old Westbury with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three point range. Patrick Bonna followed with 15 points while Lester Prosper and Bill Reese added 11 and 10, respectively. Shane DeNully handed out a game-high eight assists and nabbed three steals as Jason Kondra came off the bench to score eight points and swept away three steals.

Marvin Billups, who was named Skyline Conference Tournament MVP, connected on 14-of-17 from the stripe and finished with a game-hgih 26 points in 38 minutes of court time. Corey Orgias had 20 points on 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to go with seven rebounds and four steals. Michael McNair scored 17 points off the bench and Charles Thompson went for 12 points and two blocked shots.

Both teams shot the ball well. Old Westbury shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64), including 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from beyond the arc and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the line while Purchase hit 60.5 percent (26-of-43) from the field, 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from long distance and 69.8 percent (30-of-43) from the stripe. Purchase held the 32-20 advantage in board, including 9-7 off the offensive glass. Those nine offensive rebounds for Purchase were turned into nine second chance points. Old Westbury's defense forced 18 turnovers, leading to 25 points while Purchase scored 25 points off 13 Old Westbury miscues.

Please visit www.oldwestburypanthers.com for more information on men's basketball or any of the other Panther athletic teams.