Buck (Warsaw, Ind.) became the 23rd player in Kings Point (11-10, 5-5 Skyline) history to crack the 1,000 career points barrier when he knocked down a right-wing 3-point field goal with 8:14 to go in the contest. He is the third Mariners player to reach the milestone this year; and all three individuals accomplished the feat in Liebertz Gymnasium. Senior tri-captain Mark Medvetz (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) scored his 1,000th on a put-back layup in a Jan. 12 contest against Baruch, while senior tri-captain Gabe Whitney (Nashua, N.H./Brewster Acad.) moved into quadruple-digits in a Jan. 17 game against Staten Island.
Notching his ninth double-double of the season with game-bests in points (22) and rebounds (10), Buck netted 14 markers in the opening half to help the host Blue and Gray to a 37-31 halftime advantage. The Mariners never trailed in the first half, and pushed its lead to 17-7 just seven minutes in after a lay-in by Whitney. Old Westbury (13-7, 9-1 Skyline) then scored the next 10 points to knot the game at 17, before Buck hit consecutive jumpers to give KP the lead for the rest of the half.
Kings Point opened up a 14-point lead junior Joe Hart (Frackville, Pa./N.Schuylkill) five minutes into the second half, and held that advantage after a lay-in by Whitney (19 pts., 8-for-10 FG, career-high-tying four assists) opened the Mariners’ lead to 54-40 with 12:55 left. Over the next seven minutes, the Panthers went on a scorching 23-6 run, and held a 63-60 lead at the 5:49 mark after Divine Jackson (16 points off the bench, 7-for-9 FG) netted five-consecutive points.
Down 67-64 with 2:39 to play, USMMA knotted the game on Hart’s (13 points) third “3-ball” of the contest. After empty possessions on both ends of the floor, Jackson two-straight fouls with 1:16 left, which put Medvetz on the line (seven points, four assists). After Medvetz made 1-of-2 at the line, Old Westbury’s Chris Roberts buried a trifecta with 51 seconds to go to give his team a 70-68 lead that it would never relinquish. Within three points of the lead with 17 seconds to go, two offensive fouls were called on the Mariners’ end of the court to kill any thoughts of knotting the score by the end of regulation. The Panthers shot 4-for-6 from the line in the final minute, sealing the victory.
Head coach Chris Carideo’s Mariners will try to get back on the winning track Tuesday night (Jan. 10), when they travel across Long Island Sound to Throggs Neck, N.Y., to face Skyline rival SUNY Maritime at 7:30 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Old Westbury (N.Y.) vs U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 2/7/04 2 p.m. at Kings Point, N.Y. - Liebertz Gymnasium At Kings Point, N.Y. - Liebertz Gymnasium OLD WESTBURY (N.Y.) 74, U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY 70 OLD WESTBURY (N.Y.) (13-7, 9-1) JACKSON, Divine 7-9 0-1 16; WILLIAMS, Dervent 3-8 7-8 14; GARRETT, Michael 5-11 0-0 13; CLARK, Sal 4-7 1-2 9; WEIR, Jared 2-5 4-5 9; ROBERTS, Chris 2-12 0-0 6; DELONEY, Derek 2-3 0-1 5; GERVAIS, Carl 1-3 0-2 2; CANNON, Lovell (III) 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 12-19 74. U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY (11-10, 5-5) Buck, Josh 8-17 3-3 22; Whitney, Gabe 8-10 3-5 19; Hart, Joe 5-12 0-0 13; Tricarico, Paul 2-4 3-3 7; Medvetz, Mark 2-7 1-2 7; McDade, Stephen 1-3 0-0 2; Gartner, Glenn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 10-13 70. Old Westbury (N.Y.)........... 31 43 - 74 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.. 37 33 - 70 3-point goals-Old Westbury (N.Y.) 10-25 (GARRETT, Michael 3-7; JACKSON, Divine 2-3; ROBERTS, Chris 2-6; WEIR, Jared 1-3; WILLIAMS, Dervent 1-2; DELONEY, Derek 1-2; CLARK, Sal 0-2), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 8-21 (Hart, Joe 3-9; Buck, Josh 3-6; Medvetz, Mark 2-6). Fouled out--Old Westbury (N.Y.)-None, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy-Buck, Josh; Tricarico, Paul. Rebounds-Old Westbury (N.Y.) 32 (ROBERTS, Chris 7), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 30 (Buck, Josh 10). Assists-Old Westbury (N.Y.) 11 (GARRETT, Michael 5), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 16 (Wyatte, Zach 4; Whitney, Gabe 4; Medvetz, Mark 4). Total fouls-Old Westbury (N.Y.) 15, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 20. A-197 Skyline Conference contest Buck - 23rd in USMMA history to score 1,000 points (8:14 2nd, rt-side 3-FG) Tricarico - Fouls out with 16.7 left in 2nd half Buck - Fouls out with 6.7 left in 2nd half