Purchase, NY (Nov. 29, 2016) – To the victor goes the Anderson Hill Road spoils.

And this time around, the men's basketball bragging rights belong to host Purchase.

For the second time in their last three meetings, the Panthers upended non-conference rival Manhattanville College. This installment – a see-saw affair that came down to the final seconds – saw the Panthers hold off the Valiants, 64-61.

After building a six-point halftime lead and a six-point, second-half margin late, a clutch three-point play from Purchase guard Brian Berrios (JR/New York, NY) with three seconds to go sunk Manhattanville. The timely hoop came after the Valiants put together one final run. Berrios' drive and soft layup bounced around the rim and in, while also drawing the foul. The sweet left hander then softly rolled the free throw around the rim and in for the three-point lead.

The Valiants would have to go the length of the floor in one last attempt to tie on a 3, but the Panthers sealed the victory on one final defensive stand to improve to 4-1, while dropping their Purchase rivals to 2-3. The two teams did not meet last season. Manhattanville won the 2014-15 edition 70-65 at home, while the Panthers captured the 2013-14 meeting 82-64 on their home floor.       

Manhattanville showed its mettle in a contest that was decided late. The Valiants cut what once was a double-digit deficit to single digits, including three midway through the second period, and as close as four with under five minutes, three under two and then by one in the last minute before tying the game on a Willie Britton free throw in the closing seconds. After missing the front end, Britton went 1 of 2 with 17 seconds remaining to knot the score. The Valiants closed the run behind their bench, in particular Britton, outscoring Purchase in that category 15-4 in the second half. 

But the free throw paved the way for Berrios to play hero. The transfer guard sliced to the rim and delivered the knockout blow, adding the free throw for good measure.     

For the contest, Berrios finished with a game-high 22 points – 18 in the second half. Deshawn Cann (SO/Queens, NY) added 15 points and 12 rebounds in a double-double effort.

The Valiants were led by Britton and his team-high 21 off the bench. Alex Tuci contributed 15 points.

The second half was highlighted by several plays from Berrios, including a notable 3 with a little over 13 minutes to go to push the lead back to six (50-44), and a coast-to-coast hoop from Cann that followed right after. A Givvion Jones (JR/Mount Vernon, NY) jumper extended the score to 56-48 before the Valiants went on a run of their own, highlighted by 11 points from Britton and eight from Tucci in the second stanza.  

A back-and-forth first half, that included a 10-7 advantage early for the Valiants, was highlighted by the 3-pointer for Purchase. With the long ball anchoring their efforts, the Panthers seized a 36-30 halftime margin.

Kalyn Credle (SR/Queens, NY) turned the game in the Panthers' favor. He connected on a four-point play at 10:45 following a sluggish start for the hosts. Credle's 3, coupled with the made free throw handed Purchase a 15-10 lead.

The sharp-shooting guard came right back and nailed another 3 at 10:15 to bump the lead to 18-10.

Purchase would increase its lead to 10 with under 10 minutes to play in the opening period.

Baskets by Jones and Cann highlighted that stretch, including a baseline floater for Cann, who was among the Skyline Conference honor roll selections on the week.

But relentless Manhattanville would cut the deficit back to six on a layup by Tuci, rallying over the final five minutes of the first half. Tuci and Britton sparked the visitors. Britton finished with a first half, game-high 10 points, while Tuci added seven.

The Panthers were paced offensively by Credle and Cann early, as the two capped the first half with nine points apiece. The hustling Panthers utilized 12 second-chance points, and nine points off turnovers to capture the lead. To boot, Purchase also outscored Manhattanville's bench 15-12 in the first half.

NOTES: Manhattanville shot 33.8 percent (25 of 74) while Purchase shot 29.7 percent (22 of 74) from the field ... The Panthers won the game at the charity stripe, where they hit 15-of-21 attempts (71.4 percent), whereas the Valiants hit on 47.1 percent (8 of 17) of their shots ... Seniors Kayvon Reid (SR/Tuckahoe, NY) and Michael Pelham (SR/Spring Valley, NY) made some solid contributions on the night, totaling six points between the two ... Big man Tarik Allicock (JR/Brooklyn, NY) shared the rebound game-high (12) with Cann ... Fellow frontcourt standout Nikeem Deleon (JR/Bronx, NY) finished with six points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists in 22 minutes for Purchase.