Box Score

Purchase, NY (Jan. 7, 2012) – The combination of John Pressley and Antonio Johnson was simply too much for a winless-yet-feisty NYU-POLY squad Saturday at Purchase.

The Panther tandem provided 42 points, with Pressley (JR/New York, NY) erupting for 30 of his own and Johnson (FR/Fort Johnson, NY) connecting on three timely 3-pointers, including a couple from NBA range that thwarted the Fighting Blue Jays. NYU-POLY (0-9, 0-5 Skyline Conference) certainly did not have the look of a team still searching for its first win of the season, but backed by the duo, Purchase won 75-60.  

The Fighting Blue Jays did just that – fought to the bitter end – keeping pace with Purchase throughout in a tightly contested ballgame.
Purchase opened down 4-0 in the first and then slowly clawed back. The Panthers made it 11-10 on a D.J. Smith (JR/Saugus, NY) 3 at the eleven-minute mark. The see-saw battle continued for the next few minutes until newcomer Carlton Jay (SR/Bronx, NY) hit a 3-pointer in his first collegiate attempt to push the Panther lead to three (16-13, 6:43). The 3 paved the way for a late nine-point, first half lead.

But NYU-POLY refused to go quietly. The Fighting Blue Jays climbed back to within two, 24-22, with under two minutes to play in the opening stanza. Following a final-second 3-pointer by NYU-POLY star Jethro Auguste, the first half closed with Purchase leading 29-25.
The Fighting Blue Jays fell back again in the second half, but found a way to close the gap to 41-37 nearly seven minutes into the final period.

That's when Pressley and Johnson went to work.

Two 3s from Johnson coupled with a couple of steals and a barrage of scores from Pressley increased the lead to 11.

In an instant, the Panthers had erased any good feelings the Fighting Blue Jays may have had coming down the stretch.

Although the Panthers struggled at times in the defensive matchup, Purchase took advantage of some foul trouble on the visitors' side and began to pull away midway through the second. The lead ballooned to 18 on a Pressley layup (67-49) with 2:27 remaining. Purchase never looked back, winning the game by 15.

Pressley shot 13 of 22, scoring 30. He added two assists, five rebounds and an impressive six steals. Justin Person (JR/Greenburgh, NY) played well, grabbing 11 rebounds. Johnson added 12 points in 28 minutes and Brandon Serrano (JR/Hempstead, NY) finished strong, scoring many of his 11 points off the bench in the second-half push.

The Panthers (6-5, 4-0 Skyline) snapped their mini losing streak and will look to start a winning streak Monday night when they host SUNY Maritime.