Purchase, NY (Nov. 22, 2016) – The Purchase College men's basketball won for the third time in four tries Tuesday night, topping visiting York College, 94-88.

The Panthers, who navigated around two second-half surges by the Cardinals, including a late scare, closed out the pre-Thanksgiving Break at 3-1. 

York raced out early in the second half, turning around a strong first half by the Panthers. The Cardinals outscored the hosts 15-5 out of intermission. Purchase head coach Kyle Martin took a timeout at 15:58, with the Panthers holding a 56-54 advantage following a 51-39 lead at halftime.

The timeout helped. Purchase recovered and outscored the Cardinals 6-0 over the next minute and a half.

The game would see-saw between six and 10 points over the next seven minutes.

York's Moore connected on one of two free throws under seven minutes to close within five points (75-70).

The Panthers continued to counter as they have all early season. Michael Soffer (SO/Agoura, CA) hit a key 3-pointer with four and a half minutes remaining to bump the score to 83-75.

When York took a timeout with a little more than three minutes to go, the Panthers held a six-point lead (85-79) – a mark they would not relinquish, although the Cardinals pushed them to the limit.

The visitors connected on a 3-pointer by Brett Walker at 1:05 to close the gap to 85-83 following back-to-back scores.  

Not to be outdone, the Panthers reeled off another spurt, outscoring their non-conference CUNY rivals, 9-5 over the last minute of action. Four free throws over that stretch by Deshawn Cann (SO/Queens, NY) and two from Givvion Jones (JR/Mount Vernon, NY) helped seal it.  

For the contest, Cann finished with a team-high 17 points, while also adding seven rebounds and four assists. Nikeem Deleon (JR/Bronx, NY) was strong on the boards, finishing second on the team with nine rebounds. He also added four points, three assists and one block.

Purchase center Tarik Allicock (JR/Brooklyn, NY) netted 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, posting a double-double (10 rebounds). Jones and Kalyn Credle (SR/Queens, NY) finished with 15 points.

York was paced by Ryan St. John, who finished with a game-high 25 points. Ryan Smart added 20 in the loss.  

An early back-and-forth first half saw York take a 6-5 lead before the Panthers started to turn things around in the first five minutes. Purchase regrouped and took a 20-12 advantage, prompting a Cardinal timeout at 13:48.

But York answered back with a spurt of its own. The Cardinals reeled off eight of the next 11 points to cut the deficit to 23-20 before a Credle 3-pointer stretched the lead back to six points, 26-20.

The high-scoring affair continued for the remainder of the opening 20 minutes, with the long ball playing a big role.

The Panthers extended the lead to eight (34-26) at 7:14 on a Jones bucket and then to nine at 6:01 on another 3 by Credle. The lead would hit 12 on a Brian Berrios (JR/New York, NY) hoop from the beyond the arc at 3:56 and would be further extended behind another score by Credle to make it 14.

The feisty Cardinals continued to stay in the matchup. Reserve Sasha Clarida came off the bench and netted 10, sharing the first-half lead with teammate Shahiem Greene, another reserve. Smart led the starters for York with eight first-half points.

The Panthers had three players in double figures in the opening half, with Credle scoring a game-high 15 points. He nailed five 3-pointers. Cann and Berrios contributed 10 points apiece, as the trio combined for 35 of the team's 51 points.

Purchase led 51-39 at the break.

The Panthers return to action Tuesday night at home (7 PM tip-off), when they welcome neighboring rival Manhattanville for the "Battle of Anderson Hill Road."