OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) No. 4 SUNY Old Westbury men's basketball ended their 2019-20 season Tuesday evening with an 82-71 quarterfinal-round setback to the fifth-seeded and defending champions Farmingdale State College Rams (14-12) in Skyline Conference Championship home action inside Clark Athletic Center. The Rams will travel to Manhattan for Thursday's (Feb. 27) semifinal game against top-seeded and nationally ranked #15 Yeshiva University Maccabees (25-1). The Panthers finished the season with a 15-11 record.
16 seconds into the opening quarter,
Pierrce Perry sank a free throw for Old Westbury only lead of the night (1-0). Hunter Schenkel knocked down a three-pointer at the 19:16 mark as part of Farmingdale State's dominating 20-8 run to claim the 11 point lead (20-9).
Pedro Marquez connected from deep to ignite an 11-5 spurt to trim the Panther deficit to five, 25-20, with 8:16 remaining. Anthony Miller Jr. scored the Rams next eight-unanswered points over the next 59 seconds to push the lead to 13 (33-20). From 6:54 to 2:02, Marquez and
Justin Alleyne-Washington combined for eight of Old Westbury's next 10 points to get in as close as seven, 37-30. Farmingdale State used a brief 6-2 run for the 43-32 lead before Marquez drained a freebie to send the Panthers into intermission trailing 43-33.
After a 2:44 scoring drought to open the second half, Alleyne-Washington's free-throw at the 15:15 mark kickstarted a much need 7-0 Panther run to pull within three, 43-40, with 14:00 remaining. The Rams responded with a 20-7 run from 12:59 to 7:21 to extend its lead to a game-high 16 points (61-45). Farmingdale State maintained the double-digit lead over the next 5:08 before a trio of Old Westbury free throws made it a single-digit game, 76-67 with 1:01 left. A
Cameron Winston layup with 21 seconds kept Old Westbury within single digits, 80-71, before a pair of Corey Powell freebies settled the 82-71 final and advance Farmingdale State to the semifinals.
Marquez led all scorers with 25 points (7-of-18 FG, 5-of-12 3FG, 6-of-8 FT) and four assists. Winston followed with 14 points (5-of-10 FG, 4-of-4 FT) and seven rebounds off the bench. Alleyne-Washington chipped in 13 points (4-of-6 FT) and two steals before fouling out with 1:07 left in regulation.
Miller Jr. finished with 19 points (4-of-7 FG, 3-of-6 3FG, 8-of-9 FT), three steals and three assists for Farmingdale State. Schenkel contributed 14 points (5-of-9 FG) and six rebounds. De'Shawn Todman added 11 points (3-of-6 FG, 5-of-9 FT) while Chaz Platt scored 10 points (10-of-12 FT) coming off the bench. Jermaine Fraser pulled down a game high 12 rebounds.
In the end Old Westbury hit on 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from beyond the arc and 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the charity stripe. By comparison, Farmingdale State connected on 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the floor, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from three-point range and 73.2 percent (30-of-41) from the free throw line. Farmingdale State won the boards battle, 40-43, while Old Westbury scored 13 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds. Old Westbury outplayed Farmingdale State in assists (15-10), blocks (3-1), steals (9-8) and points in the paint (28-26). The Rams held the edge in fastbreak points (34-16) and bench points (39-14) while scoring 16 points off 10 Panther miscues.
Old Westbury graduates a two-member senior class consisting of Alleyne-Washington (2018-20) and Marquez (2018-20).
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