York Holds off Old Westbury with Balanced Scoring Attack
BOX SCORE
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y.— Six players scored at least eight points or more, led by
Tony Vails who finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, as the York College men's basketball team defeated SUNY Old Westbury by a score of 83-77 in a non-conference matinee on Thursday.
Shamir Wilkinson had 18 points and 11 rebounds and
William Holley added 12 points, eight boards and three assists.
Michael Trowers finished with nine points, while
Omari Phipps scored eight points and had five blocks.
Du'Quan Lawson also had a nice game, as he finished with a line of eight points, six boards and six assists.
The game was very close throughout the entire first half with five ties and eight lead changes. Old Westbury used its three-point shooting to stay in the game as they launched 26 shots from beyond the arc in the opening half, making nine of those. York was able to offset those points by shooting 47 percent from the field in the first half and out-rebounding Old Westbury 24-13.
The Panthers held a six-point cushion, which was the largest of the first half by either team, when Kerel Mitchell connected on a three-pointer to make the score 31-25 with 6:12 to play. However, York closed the half strong, eventually tying the game at 37, following a lay-up by Holley with 40 seconds left. York would close the half with a pair of made free throws by Holley and they took a 41-39 lead going into the locker room.
Early in the second half, York opened up an 11-point lead after a 14-7 run over the course of six minutes put the Cardinals up 57-46. Wilkinson netted six points and Phipps turned away three shots during the stretch.
However, in just over a 1:30, Old Westbury cut the deficit to just three points (59-56) after 10-2 run. Rashawn McCarthy had a dunk and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions to highlight the run. Two minutes later, a lay-up by OW's Joshua Hills made it just a one-point game (61-60) with 7:53 to play.
York would never relinquish the lead though.
Tony Vails hit a jumper on the next possession and then after a defensive stop, Vails converted a three-point play to put York back up by six points. (66-60). A few minutes later, back-to-back lay-ups by Vails and Wilkinson put York up by 12 points (74-62), its largest lead of the game.
Old Westbury did keep it interesting as they closed to within six points in the final minute but York hit its free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Old Westbury (4-4) got a game-high 27 points from Mitchell and 14 points from McCarthy.
York, now 3-9, will host North Carolina Wesleyan on Monday at 6:00 p.m.
