Purchase, NY (Dec. 2, 2017) – Purchase men's basketball reeled off its third straight victory Saturday. The Panthers defeated Sarah Lawrence, 80-72, in their home opener to improve to 5-2 overall, and 2-1 in the Skyline Conference.

The loss drops SLC to 1-7, including 1-3 in the league.

But despite their record, the Gryphons showed plenty of fight today in the conference matchup of local rivals. 

Purchase stormed out of the gate on a 6-0 run, but SLC's long ball shooting got the visitors back in the game quickly. Fueled by two early 3s, SLC closed to 11-8 and then tied it 11-11 before opening up a 13-11 lead with just under five minutes played in the first half.    

Deshawn Cann (JR/Queens, NY) tied the game at 13-all, but the Gryphons managed another mini-run behind Enike Anyia, taking an 18-13 lead on his basket.

The see-saw first half continued. A Tarik Allicock (SR/Brooklyn, NY) jam from a Max Pearce (SR/Tuckahoe, NY) assist made it 18-15. Shortly after, Brian Berrios (SR/New York, NY) tied it at 20-20 on a 3-pointer.

Trading baskets, Allicock provided his second dunk before intermission, fueling a 26-22 lead, as Purchase went on a mini-run of its own.

However, the three-point shooting of SLC lingered. Malin Segal connected to put SLC back on top 29-28 with four minutes to play in the period.  

That's when Nikeem Deleon (SR/Bronx, NY) went to work. He tied it at 31-31 off a pretty assist from Cann, and after the two teams traded another hoop, replicated the play to knot the game at 33.

Cann free throws made it 35-33 with 37 seconds left, but a 3-pointer from Segal handed the visitors back a brief one-point lead before Purchase sunk the final basket of the half, courtesy of Cann. He led paced Purchase with 13 first-half points. SLC's Anyia netted 14 in the first.

Backed by 53 percent shooting, Purchase led 36-37 at the break.

Although SLC opened with the first basket out of halftime, the Panthers went on a nice run in the first five minutes to seize a 53-40 advantage.

Deleon started the run with a hoop, and then Allicock followed with another score. Pearce buried a 3-pointer to make it 44-40 and Deleon scored again to bump the lead to 46-40.

The Panthers followed with another 10-point spurt. Moments later, Berrios hit a 3 to extend the lead to 56-41.

Purchase stayed hot and the lead ballooned to 64-52 with nine minutes to play.

SLC's three-point shooting, specifically Segal, helped them stay in the game. The visitors cut it to 10 with under a minute to play, but the Panthers got a huge lift from Cann down the stretch, highlighted by a dunk by him that made it 74-58.

The hosts would go on to outscore SLC 43-36 after leading by one at the break.

Segal finished with 24 points on eight 3-pointers, including 12 second-half points. Three players finished in double figures for the Gryphons, who shot 45.8 percent for the game. Anyia totaled 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Purchase also had three players in double figures offensively, including Cann, who finished with 19 points, seven boards and two steals. Deleon was the team's leading scorer with 20 points. Allicock went for 14 points and 18 rebounds in a double-double effort. The team's center also added three blocks in 34 minutes of action. Pearce and Berrios chipped in nine apiece.