NEW YORK, NY - 13 lead changes. 12 tie scores. And the biggest lead for either side during the first 36 minutes of action was six points.

With these conditions, the conclusion of the Skyline Conference battle Tuesday night between the Purchase College men's basketball team and the Rams of Farmingdale State College was setup to be epic. 

It didn't disappoint.

The Panthers' defense stood tall during the final seconds of the game and forced the Rams into two tough shots that missed the mark, as the hosts edged the defending Skyline Conference Champions, 80-79.

With the victory, the Panthers moved to 12-5 overall and 7-1 in conference play. As for the Rams, they dropped to 9-9 and 5-4 respectively.

Purchase started the night off slowly on the offensive end, as the hosts trailed or were tied the first six and half minutes of action. Finally, a layup from Andre Peguero (JR/Boynton Beach, FL) gave the Panthers their first led at 11-10, before Farmingdale responded with a layup on its next possession to retake the advantage. 

Another layup and a made free throw by the guests edged their lead to 15-11, which turned out to be their biggest of the night. Over the next four minutes, Purchase again trailed or was tied with Farmingdale and just couldn't get over the hump.

However, with 8:07 remaining in the half, a fast-break dunk by Maxx Miller (SR/White Plains, NY) seemed to energize a struggling Panthers' offense and change the script. Over the next four minutes, Purchase outscored the guests 10-5 to grab its biggest advantage of the first half, 31-25. 

But just as quickly as the Panthers built up the lead, the Rams charged right back. On back-to-back possessions, the Rams converted an and-one and a 3-pointer to tie things at 31-31. 

Purchase then responded with five-straight points, only to see the guests do the same exact thing. Just before halftime, Elijah Harris (SR/Flushing, NY) drilled a jumper in the paint to give the hosts their 38-36 margin at the break.

But once the second half began, it was more of the same. Over the first 15 minutes of the frame, neither side lead by more than six points.

It wasn't until Jorden Means (FR/New York, NY) converted an and-one with 3:49 remaining in the game that the Panthers pushed the lead to nine points, 74-65.

The Panthers remained ahead heading into the final two minutes up 78-71, but as you can tell by the final score ... Farmingdale kept things very interesting throughout. It started with 1:11 left, when Hunter Schinkel (SR/Sayville, NY) finished off his own and-one play to make it 78-74.

Means answered with a jumper to push Purchase's lead back to six, 80-74, before a 3-pointer from Corey Powell (FR/Valley Stream, NY) with 40 seconds left made it a one-score game.

After the Panthers missed a layup, the Rams made it a one-point game at 80-79 with a layup of their own.

With only 19 seconds left to play, the guests were forced into fouling and sent Miller to the line for a one-and-one opportunity. The Rams got exactly what they needed though, as he missed the first shot and they collected the rebound with 13 seconds to go.

On the ensuing drive down the court, the Rams setup a chance 15-feet out at the foul line with what initially looked like a wide-open shot. However, Harris closed in with incredible speed from the wing to get his finger tips on the ball, blocking it with five seconds to go. The Rams and Panthers both grabbed the ball forcing a held-ball situation, which went Farmingdale's way. 

As a result, the Panthers needed to play lockdown defense one more time. They answered the call.

Miller and Peguero swarmed Jermaine Fraser (SR/Valley Stream, NY) as soon as he received the ball and forced him into a tough, turnaround jumper. The shot airballed over the rim and landed right in Harris' arms as the buzzer sounded. 

The Panthers on the court celebrated with hands in the air and fist pumps as they secured the tough win over the defending conference champions.

Shooting percentages between the two squads were virtually identical at 45.5% for Farmingdale to 44.9% for Purchase. The hosts did enjoy a slight advantage in total rebounds (43-38), with 17 of those boards coming on the offensive end. 

Purchase easily won the points off turnovers (16-7), points in the paint (54-34) and fast-break points (19-8) battle, while bench points (36-14) were dominated by the guests.

Individually, Miller finished with 21 points, six rebounds and two steals. Elijah Lott (SR/Albany, NY) also recorded 21 points in the win and just missed a triple-double finishing with 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Pegeuro was the only other player in double figures for the Panthers, as he finished with a career-high 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

For Farmingdale, four players finished in double-digits with Schenkel leading the way with 19 points. 

Up next for the Panthers is their toughest test of the season, a road matchup with Yeshiva University on January 30th at 8 p.m.

Yeshiva enters with an 8-0 mark in the Skyline Conference and the winner of the matchup would be in the driver's seat to host the conference playoffs come February. You can follow that matchup right here.