PURCHASE, NY - A SUNY Cortland three-pointer with just three seconds left, sent the Purchase College men's basketball team to a home-opening loss Friday night, as the Panthers fell to the visiting Red Dragons, 87-86.

Senior Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany, NY) played the role of hero, as he drilled the dagger long-ball from 25-feet out off a feed from Austin Grunder (SO/Trumansburg, NY).

After the bucket, junior Elijah Lott (Albany, NY) created one final chance for the Panthers, but his deep three-point attempt missed the mark as the buzzer sounded. 

Schmadel's teammates swarmed him on the court following the horn, while Purchase (0-2) was left in shock.

At the start of the game, it was all Cortland (1-0), as the guests jumped out to their biggest lead of the night, 12-4, with just under three minutes played. Slowly but surely, the hosts chipped away at the Red Dragons' advantage and eventually grabbed the lead on a layup from Jorge Perdomo (JR/Bronx, NY) with 11 minutes to go in the first half.

From there, the Panthers led the rest of the frame, winning by as many as 11 points, before a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Eric Block (Jr/ Warwick, NY) made the halftime score 45-37 for the hosts. 

During the second frame, Purchase continued to control the flow of the game and maintained its advantage. With 13:31 left in the contest, the Panthers' lead grew to its biggest of the game (16 points) on a fast-break dunk by Maxx Miller (SR/White Plains, NY).

However, the Red Dragons did not back down and remained resilient losing, 61-45.

Over the next four minutes, Cortland outscored Purchase, 16-6, to cut the deficit to just five points. Immediately after, the Panthers scored back-to-back baskets to extended the lead to 70-61, but the guests kept scoring.

Despite the comeback effort by Cortland, Purchase continued to maintain its lead, though it was shrinking by the minute. It wasn't until 2:14 remained in the game that the Red Dragons finally tied the contest for the first time since early in the first half. However, even more crushing was the fact that the Schmadel dagger three-point was the guests' lone second half lead in the effort.

For the night, Purchase shot 46% from the field and 38% from three-point range. Cortland finished with totals of 41% and 31%, respectively. The Panthers also dominated in fast-break points (29-9) bench points (36-24) and rebounds (47-39), making the Cortland win even more shocking. 

Lott led the way for the hosts, as he finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds (six offensive), seven assists, two steals and a block. Perdomo added a team-high 22 points, Miller tallied 17 points and Block chipped in 15 points.

As for the Red Dragons, Eric Edwards (JR/Binghamton, NY) led all players with 26 points. Grunder, in addition to his game-winning assist, had 19 points and 18 rebounds, while Schmadel finished with 11 points. 

Up next for the Panthers is another tough non-conference battle, as they host Wesleyan University on November 19th at 7 p.m. You can follow that contest right here.