York Rallies from 17 Down to Top Old Westbury 66-64
Box Score
BRONX, NY– The York College men's basketball team erased a 17-point first-half deficit and defeated SUNY Old Westbury 66-64 in a thrilling game at the CUNY Coaches vs. Cancer Classic held at Lehman College Sunday afternoon.
York (3-8) came into the game in desperate need of a win, after dropping eight of its first ten games this season, and it appeared that they would come out on the losing end on Sunday. Trailing 21-13 with seven minutes to play in the half, York saw the deficit swell to 31-14, after Old Westbury (2-5) opened up a 9-1 run thanks in large part to a technical foul on the York bench. With the score 24-13, a technical foul put the Panthers Jamal Little on the line. He made both free throws and followed that up with a three-pointer to put Old Westbury up 30-13.
The Cardinals were able to cut the deficit nearly in half before halftime. York's Marcel Esonwune put in a lay-up with two seconds remaining to make the score 38-29 after 20 minutes of action.
In the second half, York quickly opened play with an 8-0 run to close within a point, 38-37. William Holley had four points during the run for the Cardinals. After the two teams went back-and-forth for a few minutes, York opened up another run, and found themselves up by seven points, 50-43, following a Shamir Wilkinson lay-up with 10:43 remaining.
Old Westbury responded right back, scoring nine unanswered to re-take the lead, 52-50. It was Little again who came up big on the run, scoring five points, including a three-point play. The game would be tight the rest of the way, with each team exchanging leads several times.
The Cardinals found themselves trailing by four points, 64-60, after a lay-up by Old Westbury's Jefferson Guillame with 1:19 to play. On York's next possession Esonwune was fouled and he made both free throws to cut the lead in half. Esonwune then came up with a steal on the Panther's next possession and was fouled once again. Esonwune drained the pair of free throw again and evened the score at 64-64 with 37 seconds to play.
On the ensuing Old Westbury possession, Little was fouled on the floor and was sent to the line for a one-and-one. Little missed the first and York came up with the defensive rebound. With eight seconds remaining Holley was able to put in a lay-up and give York a 66-64 advantage. The Panther's Scott Arias was able to get off a three-pointer on Old Westbury's final possession but the shot was off the mark.
Esonwune had a big game for York, scoring a game-high 27 points, while also grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds and blocking three shots. Holley added 12 points and eight boards and David Simon chipped in with eight. Old Westbury was led by Frantz Granjean, who finished with 21 points and ten boards. Little added 13 points and Letser Prosper netted 11.
York will now be idle until December 30th, when they host Manhattanville at 5:00 p.m.
