York College Holds on for Win over Old Westbury
Box Score
JAMAICA, NY— The York College men’s basketball team defeated Old Westbury, 64-59, in a hard-fought game on Tuesday evening. With the win, York improves to 4-3 on the season.
After leading the entire game, York found themselves down by two points, 59-57, when the Panthers Ian Johnson connected on two free throws. However with just 50 seconds left, the Cardinals Michael Salamanca (Hollis, NY/ Cardozo) drained a three-pointer to put York back up 60-59.
York then made two defensive stops forcing both Johnson and Garthlette James to miss three pointers on their final two possessions. In the final seconds, Salamanca hit three free throws and Omari Phipps (Laurelton, NY/ St. Johns Prep) added one to seal the victory for York.
In the first half, York looked to be in control the game when Mark Hill (Ozone Park, NY/ Longwood) connected from beyond the arc to give the Cardinals a 31-16 lead with 7:47 left before halftime. However, Old Westbury rallied and cut the lead to seven and went into the locker room trailing 38-31. In the second half, the Panthers stayed with York and then tied the game at the 2:56 mark when Alanzo Phillips hit a lay-up.
Salamanca scored a team-high 14 points for York and handed out eight assists. Phipps added 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Rodney Bennett (Corona, NY/ Chaparral) netted 12 points and had six rebounds. Marcel Esonwune (Nigeria/ Marist Brothers) paced York with 11 points and six boards and Jonathan Winns (Elmhurst, NY/ Newtown) netted seven points and dished out six assists. James led Old Westbury, 1-3, with a game-high 17 points.
York will visit SUNY Potsdam on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
