Men’s Basketball Falls to Old Westbury on Thursday

Patchogue, NY| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team suffered an 85-70 defeat to Skyline Conference rival SUNY Old Westbury inside the Danzi Center on Thursday evening.

The loss sends the Golden Eagles to 4-15 on the year (4-10 Skyline) as the Panthers improve to 9-11 overall and 8-7 in conference play.

Three Golden Eagles scored in double-digits, including junior Eddie Higgins who posted team-highs in points (12) and rebounds (6).

Sophomore Frank Basile contributed 11 points (4-for-8 FG) off the bench and senior Jarred Marrow went for 10 points (4-for-7 FG), four rebounds and two assists.

Senior Stephen Cohen dished out a game-high five assists and tallied seven points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field.

Old Westbury's Preston Powell scored a game-best 24 points (10-for-14 FG).

A furious start saw the teams play to a 22-19 scoreline in favor of the guests at 12:04, but, despite their attempts to keep up, the Golden Eagles could not maintain the Panthers' pace and entered the break down 12 (42-30).

Higgins and Marrow tallied inside the first minute of the second half to cut the deficit to eight points (42-34), but an 8-0 run by Old Westbury helped the guests establish a 16-point lead (50-34) 4:38 into the period.

The Panthers would go on to hold advantages as great as 23 points en route to a convincing 85-70 victory.

Old Westbury was dominant from the field, outshooting SJC 56.4% to 45.9% and was even better from three where they held a 60.0% to 33.3% advantage.

St. Joseph's outrebounded the Panthers, 32-30, but was outscored 36-34 in the paint.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, February 3 when they host the College of Mount St. Vincent in a Skyline Conference contest at 1:00 pm.