Purchase College Athletics

The third men's basketball team to win a Skyline Conference Championship and the first program to win more than two overall.

For the season, the Panthers finished 22-6 overall and 14-4 in Skyline contests. They entered the playoffs as the No.2 seed and promptly dispatched their foes.

In the semifinals, the Blue and Orange slipped past No.3 Mount Saint Mary College, 57-48, before besting their fiercest rival, No.4 Farmingdale State College, 71-48, to win their third title in four years.

The history of that rivalry began the year prior, in 2011-12, as the Panthers graduated nearly their entire roster from the back-to-back winning teams.

Despite the massive roster shift, Purchase still competed just as tough, not only making the Skyline Playoffs once again, but the championship game as well.

However, the 3-peat dream was dashed by those pesky Rams of Farmingdale, as the Panthers fell 83-64.

Fast forward one year to 2012-13, and Purchase was out seeking revenge. 

In the title game, the first half was a tight affair, but the second half saw the Panthers outscored the Rams, 52-28, to claim the victory in epic fashion.

Following the win, Craig Davis '13 was named the Skyline Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
 

The squad also competed in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years following the conference title, but lost in the opening round to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on the road.

The 2012-13 champs are interesting group for the Purchase history book, as they featured the most diverse group of the four squads.

Offensively, three guys averaged double-digit points (Davis, Joel Neri '16 and future Hall of Famer Andre Nixon '14), but no one averaged more than 13.7 per game as it was a total team effort.

On defense, the Blue and Orange were even more dangerous, as this squad allowed by far the fewest points of any of the four champs, thanks in large part to their massive size.

While the previous teams were tall, this iteration saw three starters standing 6'6" or taller, including Neri at a whooping 7'1".

Over the course of the season, the Panthers collected countless accolades, including:

• Davis being named to the D3Hoops.com All-Atlantic Region Second Team and the All-Skyline Conference First Team after averaging 12.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
• Nixon landed on the All-Skyline Second Team after career totals of 13.7 points and 4.6 rebounds.
• Also received numerous weekly awards from the Skyline.

When looking back at this Purchase squad, its hard not to think of the USA Redeem Team.

A squad that was simply put together to get back to where they want to be - winning championships. And that is exactly what the 2012-13 squad did.

They rebounded from heartbreak the year prior and never looked back as head coach Jeff Charney continued bringing in more and more talent.