PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College men's basketball team suffered a loss Saturday afternoon, falling to Mount Saint Mary College by the score of 65-59.

With the defeat, the Panthers dropped to 5-5 overall and 1-3 in the Skyline Conference. For the Knights, the win pushed them to 3-7 and 1-2, respectively. 

Despite the close nature of the final score, the contest actually favored one side most of the day. 

Initially, Purchase jumped out to an early advantage, going up 7-3 with just over three minutes played. But the guests responded with a 7-0 run and never looked back.

From that moment on, the Knights held the lead all but twice the rest of the day, as the two sides were tied at 10- and 12-all.

Over the course of the first half, Mount's lead never grew bigger than single digits until the final minute, when a 3-pointer pushed the advantage to 10 points.

That margin stood at the break, as the guests led Purchase, 41-31. Even in the face of the double-digit deficit, the Panthers continued to fight.

After falling behind by a game-high 14 points early in the second period, the hosts responded by cutting the margin to just three points on three separate occasions midway through the frame.

Sadly, Purchase couldn't trim the margin any further, and Mount Saint Mary did enough to maintain at least a two-possession lead the rest of the day.

The Panthers were hampered by shooting woes in the loss, making just 36.2% of their shots. The squad was also out-rebounded and lost the turnover battle, which proved costly in the tight affair.

Individually, five players provided nearly all the Panthers' points on the day, as the quintet combined for 53 of 59 points.

Leading the way was Mark Morgan (SR/Bronx, NY), who scored a game-high 15 points.

Isaac Johnson (JR/Bronx, NY) and Elijah Holmes (SO/Brooklyn, NY) each added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Terrence Mason (JR/Greenburgh, NY) and Matthew Phillips (SO/Bronx, NY) each chipped in nine points for Purchase.

Up next for the team is the final home game of the semester, as the Panthers welcome Hunter College on December 13th at 7 p.m. You can follow along here.