Purchase, NY (Dec. 1, 2016) – Armed with another explosive offensive outburst, Purchase men's basketball not every ounce of it Thursday night in slipping past SUNY Maritime 97-89 at home.

The Panthers, which statistically have the best offense (91.4 PPG entering tonight's action) and the top scorer in the league in playmaking guard Brian Berrios (JR/New York, NY) (105 points scored through the first five games coming in), set the tone early and held on late to roll to 5-1 overall and now 1-0 in the Skyline Conference opener for both teams. The loss drops Maritime to 3-3, including 0-1 in conference. 

After capturing a 13-point, first-half advantage, Purchase forward Nikeem Deleon (JR/Bronx, NY) and the Panthers came out firing early in the second half. Deleon reeled off four quick points, as Purchase outscored the Privateers 13-9 over the first six minutes. 

Berrios and backcourt mate Michael Soffer (SO/Agoura, CA) continued their stellar play from long range and when key reserve Kayvon Reid (SR/Tuckahoe, NY) jammed with a little over 12 minutes to go in the game, the big man extended the lead to 65-46 – the largest of the night to that point.

Berrios and swingman Deshawn Cann (SO/Queens, NY) followed immediately with back-to-back, two-point baskets to make it 69-46.

The Privateers took another timeout in an effort to once again regroup.

Nonetheless, Berrios and company extended further. The standout buried a triple just under eight minutes that increased the lead to 75-57.

Yet, the game was far from over.

Showing its mettle, Maritime did go on another two late runs. The Privateers, anchored by center Patrick MacDonald, outscored the Panthers 17-7 over the first stretch to cut the deficit to 82-74 with under four minutes remaining. 

Following a Panther timeout and some solid play by the hosts, the visitors whittled the score down to four with under a minute on a Tim Hoch layup.

That's when the clutch Cann delivered a slam dunk on a fast break to re-extend the lead to six (92-86).

Deleon made two free throws after for a 94-86 lead, and when he pulled down a rebound with 17 seconds to go was fouled once more, connecting on back-to-back to make it 96-86 with 12 seconds left.

A 3-pointer by Maritime's Tim McQuail closed it to 96-89, but Deleon made one of two on his final trip to seal it (97-89).

For the contest, Berrios paced all scorers with a game-high 24. He was joined by four other double-figure scorers, including Soffer (20 points), Cann (15), Deleon (12) and Tarik Allicock (JR/Brooklyn, NY) (11). Allicock posted a double-double, hauling in 13 boards to go along with his 11 points. Cann and Berrios also starred defensively with five and three steals, respectively.

Maritime had four players finish in double figures offensively, led by Hoch and Isaiah Hayes. Hayes went for 21 and Hoch scored 20 in the loss. Teammates John Liccese and MacDonald added 19 and 12, respectively.

MacDonald had a double-double in defeat, pulling down 13 rebounds to go along with 12 points.  

It was a tale of two halves. Indeed.

In the first half, the Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead behind Berrios. Berrios hit the game's first bucket and later followed it up with a 3-pointer to extended to a five-point margin. The 3 played a big role for Purchase in the opening minutes. Soffer connected on a long ball to push that mark to 14-4 at 13:39, prompting a Maritime timeout.

When Berrios connected once more from behind the arc moments later, the lead now stood at 19-9.

But the Privateers clawed back behind their bench and Spruill, whose score at 8:48 brought Maritime to within nine (24-15).

However, the Panthers regrouped and put together a 6-0 run to reestablish the comfortable advantage (31-15).

As always in a game of runs, Maritime answered back. The visitors put together a small run of their own before Allicock made good on a conventional-style 3-point play. The center's score, complete with the free throw pushed the lead to 40-25.

Maritime outscored the Panthers 5-3 over the final three minutes to close the half trailing 43-30.

Allicock and Berrios led the Panthers offensively in the first half, scoring 10 and nine points, respectively. Soffer added seven, while Jones came off the bench and netted six.

Purchase outrebounded Maritime 35-17 in the first half – a key stat.

The Privateers were paced offensively by starter Hayes and reserve Brendon Halligan, who each scored eight in the first half.

The Panthers, winners of three straight, return to action Saturday afternoon against Mount Saint Mary.