The SUNY College at Old Westbury men’s basketball team defeated the first-place Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins on Saturday afternoon with an 86-78 Skyline Conference home win from Clark Athletic Center.
With Old Westbury’s third-straight win, the Panthers improved to 3-2 in conference action while handing Mount Saint Vincent (8-3) its first league loss, dropping them to 4-1.
Omari Trebuse put Old Westbury on the scoreboard first with a pair of free throws just 27 seconds into play to grab the early lead. Moments later, Mount Saint Vincent used a 12-3 run to go up 17-11 for its largest lead of the game. Westbury native Lukens Victor answered for Old Westbury with a jumper to spark a 19-3 Panther run from 12:11 to 5:32 for a 10-point lead (32-22).
Roslyn High School alum Mark Gjonlekaj sparked Old Westbury in the first half with 16 points off the bench, including a three pointer with 2:50 remaining to put the Panthers back up by double digits.
Old Westbury scored 11 points off 11 Dolphin first-half turnovers to contribute to the Panthers’ 43-31 halftime lead.
Old Westbury maintained a double-digit lead for 15:41 of the game as the Panthers went up by 20 points (59-39) during that span. Mount Saint Vincent trimmed its deficit to five points with a 25-11 run from 12:26 to 2:12 to make it a 72-67 game. Old Westbury regained its composure down the stretch, knocking down 12-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final minutes to hold off the Dolphins’ late charge.
Gjonlekaj finished with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, along with seven rebounds and three blocks to pace Old Westbury. Great Neck resident Nat Vaughan scored 11 of his career-best 17 points in the second half while Victor and Trebuse scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. Trebuse added five assists and two steals while Jaquan Potter chipped in with nine points, three assists and two steals.
The Panthers fell victim to a late 17-0 rally by the Sage Gators in Monday’s 88-71 Skyline Conference road setback from Kahl Gymnasium in Albany, New York. The loss snapped Old Westbury’s (3-10) three-game win streak, which moved the Panthers to 3-3 in conference play as Sage (8-3) improved to 4-2.
