Men’s Basketball Downed by Old Westbury in Skyline Shootout

Patchogue, NY| Junior Doug Niblock scored a career-high 23 points as the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team dropped an 86-74 decision to Skyline Conference rival SUNY Old Westbury in the Danzi Center on Thursday evening.

The loss sends the Golden Eagles to 5-15 overall and 4-10 in Skyline play as the Panthers improve to 12-8 (10-5 Skyline).

Niblock's 23 points came off of 9-for-13 shooting from the field in 39 minutes of action. The guard also dished out a team-high five assists and grabbed three rebounds.

Junior Frank Basile led all scorers and matched a career-best with 35 points. He and junior Jonah Caldwell (12 points) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds apiece.

The Panthers scored four players in double-digits including Justin Alleyne-Washington, who scored a team-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting.

SJC matched Old Westbury's energy early on and took an 11-9 lead 5:22 into the contest when Basile drained a three-ball. The guests parried, retaking the lead moments later (14-11) and eventually carried a 39-28 lead into the break.

Old Westbury blew the game wide open early in the second and went up 24 points (30-36) at 14:54, but SJC wouldn't go quietly and clawed back to within eight points (75-67) with 3:29 to play in regulation. The surge came too late, though, as the Panthers warded off SJC's advances en route to an 86-74 win.

Both teams were hot from the field, but Old Westbury held the advantage in shooting percentage, 54.5% to 50.0%. Though the guests held a 28-26 edge in points in the paint, St. Joseph's recorded 14 points to the Panthers' seven in the category of second chance points.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, February 2 when they host the College of Mount St. Vincent for a Skyline Conference contest at 3:00 pm.