Laurent's Two Free Throws Lead Eagles Past Yeshiva in OT

New York, N.Y. — The Golden Eagles (2-3, 1-0 SKY) have been making strides on the road as they secured their second win of the season on Tuesday with a 68-66 overtime victory against the Yeshiva Maccabees (1-3, 0-1 SKY).  Yeshiva, who split the season series with SJC last year, put up a fight until the end, but Andy Laurent's (Amityville, NY/ Amityville) two made free throws with ten seconds left in overtime won the game for the visiting team. The game also marked their first Skyline Conference win.

The two evenly matched teams began the game just as they would end it; their scoring back-and-forth from the opening whistle. With three minutes left in the half, the Eagles achieved a 35-25 lead but the Maccabees closed the gap to 35-33 by halftime.

The fired up Eagles maintained their lead for most of the second half but the cushion was not large enough for them to get too comfortable. With little over a minute left in regulation, a jumper by SJC's Nick Gallina's (Holbrook, NY/ Sachem North) put the Eagle's ahead by two points but Yeshiva answered seconds later with a shot to tie the game and propel it into the extra session.

The extra five minutes proved to be the most suspenseful of the game, as the score seemed to even out with every other play.  A Yeshiva foul with ten seconds on the clock put Laurent on the line, with the game also on the line and the freshman guard sunk both free throws. 

Darryl Charles (Middletown, NY/ Poughkeepsie) led his team with 21 points and 13 rebounds.  Phil Calixte (Amityville, NY/ Holy Trinity) and Laurent knocked down 17 and 16 points, respectively, while Gallina logged seven points and five assists. The team's free throw percentage for the game was 72.2% while they shot 26.3% from the three-point line.

The Golden Eagles will travel to Old Westbury on December 4 for a 6 p.m. game with the hopes of bolstering their now unblemished Skyline Conference record.