OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Feb. 9, 2011) - Sophomore Dominic Scurry (Ozone Park, N.Y.) scored eight of the Bears 15 overtime points to lead NYIT men's basketball to an 80-75 victory over Queens College in East Coast Conference action Wednesday night. With the win, the Bears even to 8-8 in league play and improve to 10-11 overall. The Knights, who were tied for second place in the conference, dropped to 12-4 and 15-6 on the season.

 

Scurry netted 16 points off the bench of NYIT, while classmate Kayvon Roberts (Corona, N.Y.) led the team with 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Senior Eric Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) and junior Russell Holloway (Budd Lake, N.J.) added 12 and 10 points, respectively. 

 

For the Knights, Khalil McDonald scored a game-high 25 points, while Lamonte Lans added 18 points and Anderson Labase posted 10 points and seven assists.

 

Regulation was highly contested as the score was tied a total of nine times. After Queens opened with a 12-7 edge in the first half, NYIT fought back to knot the score 12-12 on free throws from Scurry at 13:48. However, the Bears would have to wait four more minutes before producing a 10-1 run that put them on top 29-21. NYIT held the advantage through the end of the first half, leading 36-32 at the break.

 

The Bears picked up right where they left off in the second half and controlled the scoreboard through the 11 minute mark. But, the Knights were not about to give up and rallied back knot the score 49-49 at 10:56 on free throws from Jeremiah Mordi. Queens went on to claim a five-point edge, 63-58, on a layup by Terrell Simmons with 3:58 left in regulation. Yet, the Bears kept fighting and went on a 7-2 run to knot the score and send the game in to overtime. Junior Jahari McKnight (El Sobrante, Calif.) sparked the rally with a three-pointer at 3:43 and Roberts nailed his free throws to put the Bears within two-points, 65-63. Scurry then sent the game into extra minutes with a crowd pleasing dunk with 1:02 to go.

 

In overtime, the Knights quickly scored but Scurry knotted the game back up, 68-68. The two teams then exchanged points before NYIT pulled ahead 74-70 on a layup from Scurry and a three-point play from Roberts. The Bears held onto the lead for good with a layup by senior Daniel Berg (Osteras, Norway) and pairs of free throws by Scurry and Rodriguez.

 

NYIT returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 12 on the road at neighboring C.W. Post. Tip-off against the Pioneers is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Old Brookville, N.Y.