BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The SUNY Old Westbury men's basketball team defeated the Medgar Evers College Cougars 78-68 in the opening day of the Medgar Evers College Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Panthers now advance to 5-3 on the season and hold a Skyline Conference record of 0-1.
 
The Panthers got off to a strong start, taking the early 10-3 lead about five minutes into the game. The offense started out a little slow, but the defense was phenomenal from the get-go. The Cougars then pulled back towards the Panthers with a short run of their own to bring the score to 13-9 in favor of the Panthers.
 
Old Westbury continued its first half dominance all the way until the end of the half leading Medgar Evers 32-20. Throughout the half top players such as Joel Ofori and Jamari Williams performed well. That said, the Panthers struggled from behind-the-arc, only making one of 11 three-pointers. The Panthers' strong field goal shooting made up for it as they went 14-34 in the opening half.
 
In the second half, the Panthers made their second three-pointer of the game right away as it was Kellen Leake hitting a three-pointer in the team's first possession of the half. From there, the Panthers and Cougars started to trade points with neither team going on any long runs until Old Westbury put together another stretch to run away with the game. 
 
The run gave Old Westbury the lead, 50-29 which was just shy of their largest lead of the game of 25 points.
 
At the end of the game Medgar Evers started to make a late push to catch Old Westbury, however, the Panthers held on and defeated the Cougars 78-68. 
 
Joel Ofori led the Panthers in scoring with 19 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Amadi Lee-Kane was right behind Ofori with 16 points while also recording 13 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and three steals. Kellen Leake and Jamari Williams each finished with 15 points.
 
As a team, the Panthers shot the ball 41 percent from the floor, 24 percent from three-point range and 68 percent from the free-throw line. 
 
Next up, the Panthers return to action tomorrow for their second game in the Medgar Evers College Tournament. The Panthers will face the winner of this afternoon's matchup between SUNY Poly and Colby Sawyer at 2 PM.