Box Score ECAC Metro Region Championship Tournament Bracket l ECAC Championship Central

GALLOWAY, NJ (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) -The No. 2 seeded SUNY College at Old Westbury men's basketball team used a 66-52 victory over the New Jersey City Gothic Knights Saturday afternoon to advance to the ECAC Metro Region Championship game on Sunday in Galloway, New Jersey.  Richard Stockton will be providing both live streaming video (Click here) and live stats (Click here) for tomorrows championship game.

The win improved Old Westbury to a program best 24-4 on the season, resetting the 23-5 mark that was originally posted by the 1985-86 squad.  Old Westbury, without an ECAC title since 1987, will take on the top-seeded Richard Stockton Ospreys at 2 p.m. from the Sports Center.  Both teams last met in the opening round of the 2007 ECAC Championship Tournament, with Richard Stockton claiming a 78-73 win at Old Westbury.    

Old Westbury jumped ahead with a pair of Tyrik Tucker buckets in the opening 1:21 to grab a quick 4-0 lead.  Tucker's dunk with 7:55 left counted for two of his 13 first-half points, giving Old Westbury a 23-14 advantage, their largest lead of the half.  New Jersey City scored 12 unanswered points over the final 7:37 to take a 26-23 lead into the break.  Over the final 7:22, Old Westbury committed nine of their 13 first-half turnovers and missed four shot attempts from both the field and the free-throw line.  Both teams were unable to find the basket over the final 3:49, combining to shoot 0-for-10 from the field. 

After starting out the second-half converting just 1-of-5 from the floor, Old Westbury found themselves down by 12 points (39-27) with 15:26 left on the clock.  New Jersey City used a 13-4 run out of the second-half gates to take their largest lead of the game.  Darnell Chavis' layup at the 15:09 mark sparked a 16-4 Old Westbury run that gave the Panthers a slim 44-43 lead with 10:03 remaining.  Drew Marley knocked down a New Jersey City jumper to reclaim a brief 46-45 lead.  Old Westbury answered with a quick 6-1 run (50-46) to grab the lead for good with 7:50 showing on the clock.  Marley converted a three-point play with 5:24 remaining and Old Westbury responded with a 12-0 run to close out the final 5:02 to land in the championship game. 

Old Westbury's Rashawn McCarthy scored 14 of his game-high 16 points (9-15 FT) in the second-half.   Tyrik Tucker followed with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals while Ty Moore's 11 points and two steals in 16 second-half minutes provided a boost for Old Westbury.  Darnell Chavis added nine points, seven rebounds and two steals off the bench. 

Drew Marley's 11 points off the bench paced New Jersey City while Asmar Edwards followed with 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals. 

Old Westbury shot 52.3 percent from the field (23-44), including 61.9 percent in the second-half (13-21).  The Panthers also connected on 21.4 percent from three-point territory (3-14) and 61.5 percent from the free-throw line (16-26).  New Jersey City struggled shooting the ball, hitting just 32.3 percent from the field (21-65), 13.3 percent from beyond the arc (2-15) and 50 percent from the charity stripe (8-16).  New Jersey City won the boards battle, 39-32 while scoring just 12 second chance points off a +14 offensive rebounding edge (20-6).  Old Westbury scored 25 points off 21 New Jersey City miscues. 

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