Box Score Skyline Conference Bracket

ALBANY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team captured their second Skyline Conference regular season championship in four years.  However, the Panthers were unable to complete their perfect conference season slate after the Sage Gators grabbed a stunning 98-96 double overtime victory on Saturday from Kahl Gymnasium to hand the Panthers their first Skyline loss of the season. 

Old Westbury's (22-3) 18 game win streak ends and now stand at 17-1 in conference play while Sage (13-12) improved to 8-10 in conference action.  Top-seeded Old Westbury will play host on semifinal Thursday to the winner of Tuesday's No. 4 Farmingdale State/No. 5 Sage.

From the opening tip, Sage had something to prove to Old Westbury.  Sage broke the scoring ice with a Ryan Sager layup to take an early advantage just 1:06 into play.  Following a pair of Tyrik Tucker made free-throws; Kerel Mitchell landed a three ball to put Old Westbury in front by three.  Sage answered with a 14-5 run from 17:51 to 11:49 to grab a 17-10 lead.  Over the final 7:13, both teams combined for five more ties.  Josh Hill's layup with 2:59 left broke a 34-34 tie to put Old Westbury up for the remainder of the half, taking a 39-36 lead into the locker room. 

Mitchell connected on a three-pointer to give Old Westbury a 46-38 lead 2:18 into the second-half.  Eight lead changes occurred in the final 10:19 of regulation, with neither team going up by more than three points.  With 2:10 left, Darnell Chavis' layup put Old Westbury up 78-75.  Sage's Jeff Stopera connected from beyond the arc to knot the game at 78-all with 1:47 remaining.  Both teams combined to miss all three shot attempts over the final 1:18 to send the game into overtime.  Ryan LaBelle's missed jumper as time expired could have won it in regulation for Sage.

After Sager opened the scoring in overtime, Hill matched him with two of his eight points in the first extra frame to knot the game at 80-all with 4:14 remaining.  After four lead changes in the first overtime, Old Westbury took an 89-86 lead off a pair of Hill free-throws with 18 seconds left.  With 15 seconds showing on the clock, Stopera struck again from deep, connecting on a three-pointer to knot the game at 89-all.  Old Westbury's Omari Trebuse missed a three-pointer with 13 seconds left and Mason Horne misfired a jumper for Sage with three seconds left, resulting in a second overtime.

It took 2:14 into the second overtime for either team to light up the scoreboard until Sage jumped ahead with a free-throw to grab hold of a 90-89 lead.  Trebuse dialed in from long distance to put Old Westbury up 92-90 with 2:16 left.  Horne answered with a jumper followed by a Will Hennep three-pointer to give Sage a three point lead.  A layup by Hill sliced the deficit to one while Sager hit the backend of a trip to the line to make it a two point game.  Chavis sank a jumper with nine seconds left to make it a 96-96 game, the 18th tie of the game.  Old Westbury's perfect conference season was spoiled when Horne drained the game winner with four seconds left.    

Old Westbury posted five players in double-digit scoring.  Josh Hill's career-high 31 points led all scorers, connecting on 11-of-12 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.  Tyrik Tucker registered 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals.  Omari Trebuse finished with 10 points, six steals (tied career-high) and five assists.   Kerel Mitchell (4-8 3FG) and Rashawn McCarthy both scored 13 points.  Darnell Chavis added nine points and two blocks.

Matt Farbotko led the way for Sage with 26 points (8-10 FG).  Mason Horne followed with 23 points, five assists and six rebounds.  Will Hennep tallied 15 points and four steals and Jeff Stopera had 14 points and eight assists.  Ryan LaBelle chipped in with 12 points while Ryan Sager contributed 14 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. 

Old Westbury shot 49.3 percent from the field (33-67), 47.6 percent from three-point range (10-21) and 76.9 percent from the free-throw line (20-26).  Sage connected on 55 percent from the field (33-60), 50 percent from beyond the arc (10-20) and 61.1 percent from the charity stripe (22-36).  Sage won the boards battle, 43-29, scoring eight points off 11 offensive rebounds.  Old Westbury scored 29 points off 22 Sage turnovers. 

Old Westbury is now 6-2 all-time against Sage, with both losses occurring on the road.

SKYLINE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS UP NEXT FOR OLD WESTBURY:  Old Westbury returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 21) for the semifinal round of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament in Old Westbury, New York.  Old Westbury will take on the winner of No. 4 Farmingdale State / No. 5 Sage from the Clark Athletic Center.  Game time has not yet been announced.  

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