Old Westbury, NY (Feb. 3, 2018) – Two hot teams collided Saturday at SUNY College at Old Westbury.

The host Panthers earned their third straight win in a 78-66 final over Purchase, which lost for the first time in five games.

Purchase had won four in-a-row. OW has now won four-of-five, improving to 10-11 overall and 9-7 in the Skyline Conference. Purchase is now 13-7, including 9-6 in league play.

Both teams combined for five lead changes and five ties in a fast-paced opening half. 

After Purchase used a 6-0 run to break an 11-all tie, Old Westbury answered with seven-straight points capped by Michael Samuel's layup at 10:16 to take its first lead of the game, 18-17.

Purchase quickly regained the lead and played ahead for a stretch of 5:37 of play with a pair of 6-0 runs.  

But OW responded once more. David Rodriguez' 3-pointer with 1:56 remaining sent the hosts into intermission with a 34-31 advantage. 

A 3-pointer at 16:47 of the second half sparked Old Westbury's 9-0 run (16:47 to 13:57) that built the lead to 12 (50-38).  

Purchase answered with eight-straight points as Nikeem Deleon (SR/Bronx, NY) opened the spurt with six tallies to trim the deficit to four (52-48) with 11:24 left.  

Old Westbury countered with a 14-4 run from 10:29 to 7:31 as Rodriguez' three-point play closed out the scoring spree to make it a 66-52 game.  

Playing with the lead for the final 24:08, Preston Powell's triple extended Old Westbury's advantage to a game-high 16 points (70-54) with 5:41 showing on the second-half clock.  

Trailing 71-55, Purchase outscored Old Westbury by four (11-7) over the final 4:16 to settle the 78-66 decision.  

Alan McDonald's 22 points led a pack of five double-digit scorers for Old Westbury.   

For Purchase, two starters recorded double-doubles, including Deshawn Cann (JR/Queens, NY), who totaled 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Tarik Allicock (SR/Brooklyn, NY) finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
 
-OW Sports Information Contributed to this report