The SUNY Old Westbury men's basketball team erased an 11-point second half deficit to force an overtime Wednesday evening at St. Joseph's Long Island. Trailing by one with under 20 seconds in the extra frame,
Imole Akinwale accounted for five-straight points to seal an 80-76 victory for the Panthers. The win sets Old Westbury at 4-11 on the season and 2-3 in Skyline competition while SJLI fell to 7-7 (3-2 Skyline).
Jermaine King Jr. led the Panthers with 27 points and six assists. Akinwale and
Christian Thomas each tallied 11 points with Thomas adding three blocks and two steals. Taylor Ltimer Jr. rounded out the top scorers with 14 points.
Joel Ofori topped the team with 11 rebounds and added two steals.
Stephon Rosch Kouassi had five assists to go with seven boards.
The contest opened in a close back-and-forth nature with neither team able to pull ahead by a significant margin. Tied at 24 with just under seven minutes left in the first half, the Golden Eagles fired off a run of 12-straight points for a double digit lead that they would carry into the final minute of the frame. The Panthers closed the half with five points, three from Rosch Kouassi and two from King, to make it a 40-33 contest at the break.
The Panthers' scorers continued to be a threat into the second half. Trailing by 11 after the opening two minutes, Old Westbury would spend the resulting two minutes on a 10-1 run, erasing the lead to just 47-45. A Golden Eagle layup disrupted the run briefly, but three points from Ofori paired with a jumper from Latimer put Old Westbury back in front, 50-49. The score would go on to be tied four more times, including a foul shot from Rosch Koussi that would knot the score at 67 with just under three minutes to play. Neither side would sink a basket in the final minutes, forcing overtime.
Back-to-back treys from Thomas and King gave the Panthers an advantage in the opening two minutes of the extra frame, 73-69. SJLI would briefly claim a 76-75 advantage with 19 seconds on the clock before a three-pointer and two foul shots from Akinwale clinched the victory for Old Westbury.
The team will return to action on Saturday, January 17 at 12:00 PM at Purchase College.
