Late Heroics by Laurent Lift SJC Past Old Westbury, 68-67

Patchogue, N.Y. - Guard Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y./ Amtiyville) led the St. Joseph's College men's basketball team (12-7, 9-3 Skyline) with 16 points, including a three-point near buzzer beater to stun the Old Westbury Panthers in a 68-67 victory Tuesday evening in the Danzi Center.  The Golden Eagles triumph keeps SJC in a three-way tie for first place in the Skyline Conference standings.

Both teams came into the tilt explosive from beyond the arc, as each team exchanged three three pointers to start the game.  Old Westbury and St. Joseph's went bucket-for-bucket with each other for the first 10 minutes of action, until the Panthers hit a deep bucket to take a 24-22 lead. Old Westbury kept their foot on the pedal, going a quick 8-2 spurt.

The Golden Eagles were able to trim the Panther's lead after scoring deep three balls from Joseph Savaglio (Centerport, N.Y./ Harborfields) and Laurent.

At 2:35 Billy Heenan (Amityville, N.Y./ Amityville) completed a strong hustle play after wrestling a ball away from a Panthers' shooter, which led to an Evan Mohammed (Bayside, N.Y./ Holy Cross) three-pointer, that overtook the visitors lead, 36-35.

The Panthers were able to get the ball back and scored their own deep field goal and a free throw to take a 40-36 advantage into halftime.

St. Joseph's shot 57.1% from beyond the arc in the first half led by guard Fernando Vazquez (West Babylon, N.Y./ West Babylon) who connected on 3-of-4 shots from the distance.

The Golden Eagles entered a shooting slump to begin the second period, failing to connect until seven minutes into action after Laurent drove past a defender for a layup.

Down by eight points, SJC got help from Isaiah Moore (North Babylon, N.Y./ North Babylon) and Nick Gallina (Lake Grove, N.Y./ Sachem North) who both made free throws and a jump shot each to cut the deficit to five points.

Moore's shot was made possible after Sean McCarthy (Kings Park, N.Y./ Kings Park) made a monstrous block at 10:19, when he went up and rejected a Panther scorer.  With fifty-one seconds ticking on the clock the Golden Eagles were down by four points.

At 0:48, Gallina forced a turnover that transitioned for a three-pointer by Mohammed. The Golden Eagles then picked up a quick foul to force the Panthers to the line where they made one of two.

Laurent grabbed the rebound, sprinted down the court, launched one final deep shot and connected with two seconds left to take the lead from the Panthers, 68-67.

On the evening, Laurent was virtually perfect from the field, going 6-for-8 including 4-for-4 on three-point shots, while adding four rebounds, two steals, and an assist.

Mohammed and Vazquez had identical scoring totals, tallying 13 points each; with Mohammed gaining two rebounds and a steal as Vazquez had four boards and an assist.

Gallina moved the ball around efficiently for St. Joseph's by dishing six assists, scoring five points, nabbing four boards, and stealing a game-high five balls.

The Golden Eagles next contest will have strong Skyline Conference playoff implications as SJC faces-off against the second place Yeshiva Maccabees (11-5, 8-3 Skyline) this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. in the Max Stern Athletic Center.