RIVERDALE, NY - The Purchase College men's basketball team had its fair share of obstacles to overcome Thursday, if it wanted to punch its ticket to the Skyline Conference Championship Final.
The Panthers would need to beat a team in Sarah Lawrence College, which won the two regular season contests between the squads, and deal with a last-minute location change that cost Purchase a home playoff game, all while head coach
Kyle Martin battled losing his voice on the court.
In the end, none of it mattered.
The Panthers came out on fire and lead nearly the entire night, topping the Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence in the Skyline Conference Semifinals, 81-67.
The game was played at the College of Mount Saint Vincent after the Purchase College Physical Education Building suffered a massive power outage earlier in the day. As a result, the Panthers and Gryphons played a neutral-site game, though fans from each side made the journey to Riverdale, NY.
Despite the lack of a huge home crowd, Purchase jumped in front early and never let up. After Sarah Lawrence nailed the opening basket of the game, a 3-pointer from Omar Jamaleddine (SO/Middle Village, NY), the Panthers answered with a 3-pointer of their own, courtesy of
Jorge Perdomo (JR/Bronx, NY), who finished with a team-high 23 points.
The two sides then traded points to a 5-5 tie score with 17:28 remaining, before the floodgates opened for Purchase. Over the next six minutes, the Panthers exploded for a 15-0 run to put Sarah Lawrence in a big hole early.
The lead continued the rest of the half, growing to as many as 18 points, before Purchase settled for a 13-point halftime advantage, 37-24.
The dominating performance from the Panthers continued in the second half, as the team picked up right where it left off. During the first four minutes, Purchase outscored Sarah Lawrence, 9-2, to extended its lead to 46-26 with 16:04 to go.
Purchase continued the onslaught, pushing its lead to 27 points, 58-31, just minutes later as the hosts cruised to the win on the night.
Despite the major deficit, the Gryphons, who picked up their first-ever Skyline Conference Playoff win Tuesday over Manhattanville, never game up in the loss and battled all the way to the end.
On the night, the Panthers shot 48.5 percent overall and 40 percent from long-range. Meanwhile, the Gryphons finished with totals of 32.4 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively. Purchase also dominated its favorite categories, points in the paint (46-28), second-chance points (24-17) and fastbreak points (24-12).
Additionally, the hosts limited Sarah Lawrence to just 12 points off turnovers, which was down from 24 points and 26 points in the regular season losses.
Individually, Purchase was fueled by its starting five, as the quintet scored 73 of 81 points on the night.
Perdomo led everyone with 23 points, while
Elijah Lott (SR/Albany, NY) and
Maxx Miller (SR/White Plains, NY) each added 14 points. As a result, Miller joined Lott and
Elijah Harris (SR/Flushing, NY) as the third member of the Panthers to reach the 1,000-point career mark this season.
Meanwhile, Harris finished with 12 points and
Andre Peguero (JR/Boynton Beach, FL) recorded his second-straight double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
As for Sarah Lawrence, Jamaleddine tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds, while BJ Sanders (SR/Silver Spring, MD) finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
With the victory, No. 2 seed Purchase will now move onto the Skyline Conference Final against No. 1 seed Yeshiva University on Sunday, March 1st at 1 p.m. In their only matchup during the regular season, the No. 15-nationally ranked Maccabees of Yeshiva topped the Panthers at home, 86-73.
Purchase will enter the contest with a record of 18-9 overall and 11-5 in the Skyline. Meanwhile, Yeshiva enters on a 26-game winning streak and 26-1 record on the year.
A limited amount of tickets will be made available to Purchase College students beginning Friday, February 28th in the morning. If you don't secure a ticket, make sure you follow along online right here.
