OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team nabbed a 72-57 victory over SUNY Old Westbury on Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.
Conn, which never trailed in the contest, closed the first half with a 19-5 spurt to lead 41-26 at the break.
James LaFrance (Guilford, Conn.) supplied seven points during the stretch en route to a game-high 21 points on 9-for-17 shooting.
Dylan Watson (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) recorded his second-straight double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end.
Greg Cantwell (Glen Head, N.Y.) also added 13 points and five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
After a three-pointer by
Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J) gave the Camels a 17-9 advantage at the 14:36 mark, the Panthers steadily clawed their way back over the next six minutes of game time. Taylor Latimer's three with 8:30 to go cut the deficit to 22-21, but Conn responded with 15 unanswered points—including seven straight from LaFrance—to regain control.
Cantwell paced the Camels with 10 points at intermission. Conn shot 47 percent in the stanza and only turned the ball over twice.
Old Westbury didn't go down without a fight in the second half. After an early 9-0 run brought the margin down to seven, the Panthers eventually got as close as 47-45 following a three by Bradley Young with 13:20 left.
Conn righted the ship with buckets on its next two possessions.
Garrett Clar (Victor, N.Y.) found
Robert Blandburg (Kilgore, Texas) for a layup on the first, and Watson grabbed a big offensive rebound and fed
Josiah Wright (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) for a three from the wing on the second.
LaFrance took over for the Camels down the stretch, netting his final 12 points in the last 7:46 of the game. He finished with three triples on the afternoon and added three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Joel Ofori led Old Westbury (1-7 overall) with 15 points while Jermaine King Jr. added 12.
Conn (6-1 overall) will next play at Worcester State University on Monday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m.
