NEWBURGH – Mount Saint Mary College men’s basketball was defeated by Purchase College Saturday afternoon.
Still without a win in conference play, Mount Saint Mary was hoping to get in the win column against Purchase College at home. Ryan Graham, who had one of his best offensive performances of the season, scored the first bucket for the Knights. The Panthers held the lead, but the Mount stayed right with them. A Soren Holmbo three followed by a Ryan Graham layup off a beautiful assist from Matt Monaco cut their deficit to just one, 14-13, with 10 minutes remaining in the half. A late spurt from Purchase gave them a commanding 40-22 lead heading into halftime. Mount Saint Mary got the looks they wanted but shot just 1-14 from beyond the arc, while the Panthers shot 55.17% from the field and 42.86% from three in the first 20 minutes of play.
Purchase came out the half with a 7-0 run before a Connor Cyran mid-range jumper got the Knights on the board. The Mount seemed to have no answer for the Panther’s offense as they trailed by 32 at the midway point of the second half. Every active player for Mount Saint Mary saw action today as they continued to play hard to the final whistle. Liam Lynch, who had a career-high five assists today, stayed aggressive scoring 8 points, getting to the line five times. The Knights would ultimately lose this match with the Panthers by the score of 87-64.