NEW YORK, NY -- The men's basketball team won a thriller, 67-66, over the Old Westbury Panthers in a non-conference matchup at the Doghouse on Friday night. With the win, John Jay improves to 2-7 on the season while Old Westbury falls to 4-5 on the year. 

After a slow start, the Bloodhounds came roaring back into the game thanks to a dominant performance from junior Angel Rivera. After John Jay quickly trailed by seven points, the Bayshore product mustered a quick nine points of his own to bring the team back into it and tie the game at 18. The Panthers had a one-point advantage at halftime, and threatened to blow the score open in the early part of the second half, however, Rivera came alive again and hit two consecutive threes to put the Bloodhounds in front, 48-44, with about 10 minutes to go. Old Westbury fought back to tie the game, but four straight points from freshman Jordan Bell had the Bloodhounds in front, 59-54, with under four minutes to play. Once again the Panthers rallied and actually re-took the lead, but a go-ahead layup from freshman Isaac Holmes with 13 seconds left in the game sealed the win for John Jay. 

Rivera finished the game with 24 points and four rebounds. Bell closed out the match with 12 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Sophomore Dan Kenny collected 12 rebounds in the game, including a massive defensive board with three seconds left to help the Bloodhounds earn the victory. Sophomore Mikhail Leston had a career-high seven rebounds in the win. 

The Bloodhounds will take on Hofstra University in an exhibition on Sunday, December 12 at 2 p.m. Then, they will close out the non-conference portion of their schedule (besides a February matchup against Pratt) with a game against SUNY Canton on Wednesday, December 29 at the Doghouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. Stream is available via https://johnjayathletics.com/watch