Box Score

Purchase, NY (Nov. 29, 2011) – Longtime coach Dr. Jonathan Halpert and his Yeshiva men's basketball team has always tendered a competitive tilt for Purchase. You may even say that the rival Maccabees have been a proverbial “thorn in their side” – winning a pair of games two seasons ago before the Panthers skated to their first Skyline crown and then by presenting a consistent challenge in every meeting since.

That was the story until tonight, when the Panthers flashed an impressive, cohesive unit – supremely strong in depth – in soundly defeating Yeshiva, 69-50, in their home and conference openers. Although the Macs dropped to 0-5 and 0-1 in league play following the loss, Yeshiva has lost two contests at the buzzer and still came into the matchup as a formidable opponent, especially with 40 years of top-flight coaching on the side of Dr. Halpert.

Nonetheless, Purchase (2-1, 1-0 Skyline Conference) dominated the visiting Macs, outscoring their rivals 34-21 in the first 20 minutes after a bit of a slow start. Head coach Jeff Charney would later clear his bench and give everyone an opportunity in the second half. Purchase still outscored Yeshiva 35-29 in the final 20 minutes, asserting its dominance in the first step toward a league three-peat. The Panthers are coming off back-to-back conference crowns and two consecutive NCAA DIII Tournament appearances, but only return one player – B.J. Warrington (SR/Bronx, NY) – from last year's championship team.

Tonight was about the new faces. Starting with John Pressley (JR/New York, NY), who yielded several spectacular plays, including a few highlight reel jams en route to a game-high 18 points. Pressley added six rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes.  

The Panthers trailed 0-2 and later 4-2 roughly five minutes into the game before newcomer Antonio Johnson (FR/Fort Johnson, NY) lit up the floor with a barrage of 3s. Johnson made it 12-8 on a 3 at 13:58 in the first, sparking the Panther takeover. Johnson would connect on three 3s and score 10 points in his home debut.

Elon Howard (SR/Brooklyn, NY) opened with a score in the second half to make it 36-21 and the Panthers never looked back, despite asserting several role players into the lineup. Purchase didn't skip a beat. Amar Reynolds (JR/Bronx, NY), another key transfer, scored 13 points off the bench, while fellow newcomers Justin Person (JR/Greenburgh, NY) (six points), Christopher Fazio (FR/Moehan Lake, NY) (six points), D.J. Smith (JR/Saugus, CA) (four points) and William Williams (JR/Bronx, NY) (two points, one steal) also made contributions in the victory.

Person was particularly impressive on the defensive end, while Williams guided the offense at point guard and Fazio and Smith played well up front. Howard finished with five points and four boards, adding three blocks in a strong effort as well.
Offensively, Pressley, Johnson and Reynolds stole the show. Pressley was simply uncontested driving to the basket and Johnson and Reynolds combined to go 6 of 7 from 3.

Purchase shot 46.4 percent from the field, while holding Yeshiva to 38.3 percent. The Panthers also won the rebounding margin (34-26) and forced 17 turnovers, while holding themselves to nine on the night.

The Maccabees were led by Dovie Hoffman and his 16 points. Chen Biron and Gil Bash added 10 apiece.

The Panthers will look to keep things rolling Thursday night when Purchase hosts Mt. St. Mary in its final home game before the Christmas break.