Box Score

Purchase, NY (Jan. 31, 2013) – A feisty College of Mount Saint Vincent men's basketball squad made a surprising comeback in the second half Thursday night at Purchase, but the host Panthers fended off a nice effort by the Dolphins to win, 74-65, earning their second consecutive victory in Skyline Conference play.

Purchase (15-4, 9-4 Skyline) started strong in a week offensive half for both clubs, jumping out to a 30-23 lead at the break. In the second half, the Panthers edged CMSV, 44-42, with the Dolphins shrinking a double-digit lead to single digits inside of 10 minutes.

Purchase answered at every turn. Andre Nixon (JR/Harlem, NY) showed the way, nailing 5 of 6 3-pointers – all in timely fashion – to finish with 19 points. Nixon, who scored 17 at St. Joseph's College-LI last time out, continued his hot shooting of late. He went 6 of 8 from the field and scored a team-high 19 en route to back-to-back wins for the Panthers. Teammate Justin Person (JR/Greenburgh, NY) was equally impressive. He went 5 of 8 from the field and sunk two 3s on the night, totaling 18 points. The standout forward also distributed a game-high eight assists.

Big man Craig Davis (SR/Queens, NY) chimed in with 13 points, including six field goals in the paint. Fellow forward David Haughton (JR/Greenburgh, NY) netted six points and pulled down a game-high 11 boards.

Panther starting point guard Ryan Lobban (JR/Bronx, NY) added eight points, two steals and two assists in 24 minutes.

As a team, Purchase outshot CMSV (48 to 29 percent in the first half) for the game – 49 to 43.9 percent, despite a 61.5 percent clip for the Dolphins (16 of 26 FGs) over the final 20 minutes.

CMSV was paced by sharpshooter Sean Caputo. The diminutive guard scored a game-high 21 points. He connected on five 3-pointers in a sharp effort for the visitors. Teammate Shaquille Cunningham added 10 points in defeat.  

Purchase will return to action Saturday at home, when the Panthers welcome SUNY Maritime for a 3 p.m. tip-off.