Kings Point, NY (Nov. 21, 2017) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team started Skyline Conference play Tuesday night with an 83-71 win over Purchase College.

The victory starts the Mariners off 1-0 (1-0 Skyline) on the year, while the Panthers fall to 2-2, including 0-1 in league play.  

For Purchase, Nikeem Deleon (SR/Bronx, NY) led four players in double-digit scoring with 16 points. Michael Soffer (JR/Agoura Hills, CA) added 14, while Brian Berrios (SR/New York, NY) contributed 11 and Deshawn Cann (JR/Queens, NY) had 10. Tarik Allicock (SR/Brooklyn, NY) chipped in nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. 

Four players scored in double-figures for USMMA, with David Washington leading the way with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Robbie Kennedy contributed 17 points and tied for the team-best with five rebounds.

Merchant Marine took advantage of 26 Purchase turnovers and turned that into 30 points in total on the night. 

Purchase started the game with five-straight points, but the Mariners responded with the next seven to take their first lead of the night.

Play was back-and-forth and USMMA's lead hovered around four or five points for most of the half until it hit eight points (28-20) at 3:56.

The Mariners held on to the advantage, despite a late run by the Panthers, and they finished the half on a 6-1 run, and took a 36-29 lead into halftime. 

A 10-0 run to start the second half by Purchase forced the Mariners to burn a timeout, trailing 39-36 at 16:25, to try and halt the visitors' momentum.

Out of the timeout, Merchant Marine rattled off a 14-3 run to take a 53-42 lead at 10:52 of the second.

After the two teams traded the next three baskets, the Mariners' lead never dropped below double-figures the remainder of the affair.

-USMMA Sports Information Contributed to this report