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78
Winner SUNY Old Westbury OW 5-3
68
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR 2-8
Winner
SUNY Old Westbury OW
5-3
78
Final
68
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR
2-8
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
SUNY Old Westbury OW 32 46 78
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR 20 48 68

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Cougars upended by Panthers in opener of Dr. Carol V. De Costa / Go 4 the Goal Tournament

The Medgar Evers College men's basketball team played its first game in 20 days on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Panthers of SUNY Old Westbury on the first day of the Fifth Annual Dr. Carol V. De Costa / Go 4 the Goal Tournament by a score of 78-68. With the defeat, the Cougars are now 2-8 on the 2024-2025 campaign, while the Panthers improved to 5-3.

With today's results, the Cougars will now compete Sunday in the consolation game of the tournament against Colby Sawyer, who lost 74-67 to SUNY Polytechnic in the other semifinal contest. The Cougars-Panthers game tips off at 12:00pm, and it'll be followed by the championship game between the Panthers and Wildcats at 2:00pm.

In Medgar's loss to SUNY Old Westbury, Nicholas Bocharov put forth a career day for his squad, draining six triples on his way to scoring a game-high 22 points. He also collected a pair of rebounds and added two steals. Ahmed Toure contributed 18 points (9-15 FG) while snatching nine rebounds, dishing three assists, and recording two steals, and Michael Perez connected on a pair of shots from long range, finalizing his afternoon with seven points and five boards.

For the Panthers, Joel Ofori led the way for his squad with a team-high 19 points. He also collected 10 rebounds, swatted three shots, and added a pair of steals. Amadi Lee-Kane netted 16 points, posted game-highs of 13 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, and also blocked two shots. Jamari Williams and Kellen Leake recorded 15 points apiece, with Williams snatching 10 boards and dishing six assists, and Leake grabbing seven rebounds.

Medgar Evers struggled mightily in the opening half. After Perez drained a triple to cut his team's deficit from seven to four (16-12) with 10:14 left in the session, the Cougars would score just eight points the rest of the half (converted on only three field goals). SUNY Old Westbury held a respectable 32-20 edge at the break.

In the second half, the visitors took their biggest lead following Williams' converted layup with 18:50 to go put the Panthers ahead 15, 37-22. Medgar Evers would then string together seven consecutive points, courtesy of a pair of converted free throws by Trevonne Tcha, a made layup by Toure, and a successful three-point play by Elijah Paul. That brought the Cougars to within eight (37-29) with 17:29 to go. The pendulum, however, would once again swing towards the visitors.

SUNY Old Westbury would put together a 13-0 run over the next 5:15 to take a commanding 21-point edge (50-29) with 12:14 left. Lee-Kane contributed four points during the spurt, with Leake adding a triple, and Ofori, Williams, and Chris Smith scoring a bucket apiece. The Panthers would eventually push their advantage to 25 (60-35) with nine minutes left, but Medgar Evers would make a late run.

A 10-2 Cougars run over a span of 4:37 pulled Medgar to within 17 points (62-45) with 4:23 remaining on the clock. A red-hot Bocharov highlighted that run by scoring eight of the 10 points during it, connecting on two triples in the process. The Cougars continued to put together quality possessions, slicing into the visitors' edge and eventually getting to within eight (76-68) with four seconds remaining, but Medgar didn't have enough time to pull off the incredible comeback, as the visitors held on for a 78-68 victory.

SUNY Old Westbury connected on 41.4 percent of its shots from the floor (29-70), while nailing 15 of 22 free throw attempts (68.2 percent). The Cougars converted on just 31 percent of their attempts all afternoon (26-84), while also earning a conversion rate of 50 percent from the stripe (7-14). The Panthers held a sizable 58-47 edge on the glass, while also swatting nine shots to Medgar Evers' three. Old Westbury held a 21-17 edge in assists, but the Cougars swiped 16 steals to Old Westbury's 11, and Medgar Evers handled the basketball better, committing 16 miscues, while the Panthers finalized their day with 23.
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