November 7, 2022
Valhalla, NY – Men's Basketball bounced back from a tough loss on Day 1 of the Johnny Jones Memorial Tip-Off Tournament, to beat (RV) Hostos 80-73.  The win marks the first of what the SUNY Westchester community hopes is many for Coach Andre Pennicooke, who took over as Head Coach last spring. 

For much of the first half, the teams matched up evenly with scoring varying by a couple of points either way.  Though the Vikings held the lead for much of the first half, turnovers prevented them from extending any sort of sizable lead.  A late half push gave Westchester a 39-33 lead headed into the locker room.  The 2^nd half played out much like the first, with the Caimans immediately tying the game at 39 with 4 unanswered points. 

The teams traded buckets for the better part of the second half and the Caimans took the lead with 7:20 to go off of a made free throw.  A three pointer by Jonattan Rodriguez (Bronx, NY/Luis D Brandeis HS) gave the Vikings the lead just 10 seconds later, a lead they would not relinquish from there, as a 12-0 run gave Westchester a 10 point cushion with under 4-minutes to play.  Hostos was able to cut it to 5 with 1:50 left on the clock, but hat was as close as they would get as the game wound down.

Ed Beqiri (Yonkers, NY/Archbishop Stepinac HS), and Rodriguez led the scoring for Westchester with 14 points apiece with Beqiri pullind down 9 rebounds.  Omar Nkonke posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards to go with 2 blocks.  Kishaun Cole (Sleepy Hollow, NY/Sleepy Hollow HS) chipped in with 10 points of his own. 

With the victory, the Vikings pull even at 1-1 on the season.  They return to action on Tuesday, November 8^th as they travel to Dutchess Community College to take on the Falcons at 7pm.