WESTBURY, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence men's basketball team defeated the Old Westbury Panthers by a score of 69-62. The victory gave Sarah Lawrence head coach
Chris Ehmer his 100th career victory with the Gryphons, as the former Skyline Coach of the Year has the team rolling through their Skyline slate. The team will face one of their toughest tests of the year on Saturday, traveling to Maritime to take on the Privateers, who sit atop the Skyline standings with a 9-0 conference record.
Notable Performers
- Eamon Kelly led the team with 17 points, connecting on four triples while pulling down eight rebounds
- Braden Burman scored 15 points, going 4-for-4 from the line in the final minute of play to secure the victory
- Thomas Matonti connected on three triples for nine points, adding in steal that led to a transition score by the Gryphons
How it Happened
The Gryphons' offense got going early, as
Chris Dougherty powered through the defense for a layup, getting Sarah Lawrence on the board. Moments later,
Lemar Fulmore Jr. cut through the lane for a driving layup to even the score. After a score from Burman and a putback by Dougherty, Matonti checked in and made an immediate impact, draining a three-pointer to put Sarah Lawrence ahead. Just a minute later, he connected on another three, stretching the lead and putting the Gryphons up by four points. The Panthers responded by taking the next seven points, but a triple from
Aiden Morel with six minutes remaining tied the contest at 17. Fulmore Jr. continued his strong play as of late, with a three-point play giving SLC a lead before an OW answer from deep and Matonti's third triple of the game that kept SLC ahead by three. OW took five of the next six points to steal the lead back from the Gryphons with two minutes remaining, but a last-second
John Kairouz layup gave SLC a one-point lead heading into the halftime intermission.
Coming out of the break, the Gryphons wasted no time extending their lead.
Andrew Kim found an open lane and finished a layup, followed by Burman sinking two free throws to build the momentum. Kelly then buried a three-pointer, extending the lead and energizing the team with a 7-0 run to open the half. The Panthers would finally score, but Burman and Kelly were relentless, both scoring inside before a triple from Burman gave SLC a double-digit advantage. Kelly would hit from deep three more times in the half, with Kim, Fulmore Jr. and Dougherty also getting in on the scoring efforts to keep the Gryphons ahead by double-digits throughout much of the second half. With under five minutes remaining, the Panthers would go on a 7-0 run to bring the lead down to five, but Kelly and Burman would combine to go 7-for-8 from the line in the final minutes to keep the Gryphons ahead and get their coach his 100th win.
Up Next
The Gryphons (12-6, Skyline 8-1) will return to play on Saturday against Maritime as mentioned above. The game will tip off from the Riesenberg Gymnasium at 1:00 p.m. as two of the top teams in the conference face off in a 2024 Skyline Quarterfinal rematch. The team will then host Farmingdale State on Wednesday, February 5th in a rematch of last season's conference semifinal game, this time being played in Bronxville.
