Gladiators Boys Basketball Out-Dueled By Westbury, 62-55

The (5-4 in Conference A-I, 7-7 overall) hustled into Westbury (6-3 in conference play, 7-5 overall) Tuesday evening coming off a big win against Jan. 28, but despite their best efforts the Gladiators came up short against the Green Dragons 62-55.

Heroes: Junior guard Kevin Towey bookended the game by scoring 10 points in the first quarter and 12 in the fourth. He hit his first three-pointer with 4:45 left in the first quarter, then followed up with another at the 1:00 mark in the same quarter.

After lying dormant for the next two quarters, he exploded in the fourth. Just as someone in the Westbury cheering section remarked that “number 14 has gone cold,” Towey buried a three at the 7:22 mark and another a minute later. In a Sportscenter-worthy highlight, the junior bombed two more back-to-back at the 3:42 and 3:30 marks, bringing the Gladiator deficit to two points.

While Towey owned the first and fourth quarters, the second and third were all about senior center Greg Simeon. The tallest member of the team faced a great deal of opposition in the paint from the Green Dragon defense, but he still managed to score inside via a put-back and a pass from Towey with 2:10 left in the second quarter. A nifty short jumper at the 3:27 mark likened his slickness to that of a point guard and a steal that turned into a fast break with 50 seconds left was a nice way to end the quarter.

The half-time break did not seem to cool the big man down as he proceeded to score eight more points mostly from offensive boards and one drive with 15 seconds left in the third. He finished the game with 18 points in total.

Turning Point: The Gladiators ended the first quarter on top 18-14 but the Green Dragons came out swinging at the start of the second, scoring nine points within just over a minute and a half of play. Senior center Luckens Victor and senior forward Chanse Watson acted as monsters on defense by putting increasing pressure against the Gladiators’ drive. Likewise, freshman guard Tim Quashie led the offensive charge by shooting outside and driving with accuracy. Simeon’s eight points in the second quarter kept New Hyde Park in the fight but he could not do it alone and Westbury built up an 11 point lead at the end of the third.

Quotable: “We played our hearts out,” said a proud New Hyde Park Head Coach Don Rood. “I can’t ask my boys to do anything more than they did tonight.” 

He added, “Westbury’s size got to us a little bit. They are a good team and there is a reason why they are the defending Nassau County champions.”

Bottom Line: Towey was money outside the arch and Simeon did his thing under the net but Westbury kept him from doing the amount of damage that would have brought the win to New Hyde Park. They also neutralized one of the Gladiators’ top offensive weapons - senior forward Joseph Justice, who was coming off a 19 point game against Garden City. They managed to hold Justice to four points.

Key Stat: Foul shots. Westbury managed to keep New Hyde Park off of the foul line; the Gladiators only accumulated three points from free throws.

Who’s Next? New Hyde Park will prepare to host Roslyn Friday at 4:30 p.m. “If they play the way they did today, then they will be fine,” Rood said.

Team                                  1                   2                  3                   4                     F

New Hyde Park            18                  11                10                 16                    55

Westbury                        14                 20               16                 12                    62

NHP: Towey 2-2-22, Simeon 18-0-18, Faizal Hussein 6-0-6, Dan Justice 4-1-5, Joseph Justice 4-0-4.

Three pointers: Towey 6.