Purchase, NY (Jan. 14, 2017) – Up double figures at halftime, Purchase men's basketball needed some sharp shooting down the stretch in a hard-fought matchup to earn its third straight victory.  

The Panthers edged St. Joseph's College-LI 73-70 Saturday at home, building on wins over Sarah Lawrence and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in the past week. Purchase is now 10-4 overall, including 4-2 in Skyline Conference play. SJC-LI fell to 3-11 on the season and 2-4 in the league.

Purchase built a 10-5 lead in the opening minutes and then stretched the margin on a 3-pointer by Nikeem Deleon (JR/Bronx, NY) to 13-5. Shortly later, a put back by Givvion Jones (JR/Mount Vernon, NY) made it 19-10.

But the Golden Eagles tried to keep pace with the 3-pointer. Frank Basile connected from deep and cut the deficit to 24-18.

That's when the Panthers started to spread the floor and utilize the 3 themselves. Reserve Kewan Beebe (JR/Glen Cove, NY) connected from NBA range, as the margin quickly soared to 38-27 and then 41-30 on a 3 by Deshawn Cann (SO/Queens, NY) with under six minutes to go in the half. Guard Michael Soffer(SO/Agoura, CA) buried a 3 of his own to extend the lead to 48-36.

The hosts held a 52-38 lead at the break.

Cann led Purchase with 13 first-half points. Beebe added nine off the bench, highlighted by three 3s. SJC-LI was paced offensively by Andy Laurent and Isaiah Moore, who capped the half with 12 and 10 points, respectively.  

In the second half, Deleon reestablished the 14-point halftime lead on a layup early in the period (54-40). 

A Moore 3 at around 14 minutes in the second half brought SJC-LI back to within seven (54-47).

But the Panthers regrouped and reeled seven of the next nine points scored, backed by 3s from Cann and Jones (61-49). The Golden Eagles took a timeout at 11:14, trailing by 12. 

However, the gap was closed again by the feisty visitors. On consecutive trips down the floor, Moore's back-to-back 3-pointers between six and a half and just under six minutes brought SJC-LI to within one (63-62).

The back-and-forth, second-half contest came down to the final three minutes.  

Purchase pushed the lead back up to six on a 3-pointer by Beebe just under two minutes (70-64), but Basile was clutch in sinking two free throws and a layup over the next minute to bring the Golden Eagles back to within two (70-68).

Beebe emerged the hero on the day, sinking the dagger 3 with a half minute to go. His shot from deep made it 73-68. Despite a layup score by SJC-LI to make it 73-70 and then a Purchase turnover, the visitors had multiple chances at tying the game in the closing seconds, but couldn't do so thanks to Purchase's defense and the team's timely scoring. Beebe finished behind Cann's 20 team-leading points with 15, including five 3s – his two in the second half sealed the victory. Deleon added nine points. Soffer and Brian Berrios (JR/New York, NY) contributed eight apiece.

Moore totaled the game-high with 25 points in the loss. Basile finished with 16 off the bench.