Box Score OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Felician College erased a 12-point second-half deficit before suffering a 75-72 non-conference men's basketball loss to host New York Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon at Recreation Hall. The match-up was the fourth and final game of the two-day, four-team Bears Invitational.
NYIT senior guard Darian Hooker (Washington, D.C.) led all players with 22 points. Senior forward J.R. Pringley (Elizabeth, N.J.) tallied 18 points and matched a career high with 10 rebounds for Felician (0-5). Both players were selected to the event's All-Tournament Team.
NYIT (1-4) extended a 39-35 halftime lead to 47-35 on a three-point field goal by Hooker with 17 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in regulation. Still trailing by 10 at the 16:04 mark, Felician embarked on a 14-3 run, capped by a jumper and a three from freshman Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y.), to take a short-lived one-point lead.
Bear junior Jerrel Green (Stockon, Calif.) snapped a 58-58 tie by throwing down a dunk with 10:01 to play. The bucket touched off a wacky stretch where neither team scored for the next five-plus minutes of game action. Golden Falcon sophomore Damiun Moore (Manchester, N.J.) finally broke the spell on a driving lay-up with 4:42 to go to tie the game for the ninth time.
The lead changed hands six times in the ensuing 3 ½ minutes of play. Senior Jahleel Felix (Flushing, N.Y.) canned a three to give the Bears the lead for good at 0:50. NYIT went 4 for 4 at the foul line down the stretch, and led, 75-72, with five ticks on the clock. The hosts elected to foul intentionally. Moore missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation, but the rebound caromed to Kozul, who stepped back behind the arc and had an open look at a potentially game-tying jumper. However, it clanged off of the back rim as time expired.
NYIT received 16 points from freshman guard Kayvon Williams (Bronx, N.Y.). Classmate Fred Rivers (Boston, Mass.) amassed eight points and 12 rebounds.
Pringley led four Felician scorers in double figures. Jeyvi Miavivululu (Paterson, N.J.) posted 16 points and seven rebounds, while Kozul earned his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 boards in 21 bench minutes. Senior center Will Thompson (Teaneck, N.J.) scored 10 points for the Golden Falcons, and Moore finished with seven points and a career-best seven assists.
The game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes.
Felician returns to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play when it hosts Caldwell University on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
