NEWBURGH, N.Y.— Trailing by four at halftime, Purchase College came out firing in the final 20 minutes, nearly upending Mount Saint Mary College Monday night at the Kaplan Center before falling short, 62-59.

Purchase (4-15, 4-8 Skyline) was down 30-26 and outscored the host Knights 33-32 in the second, coming close in a late battle that saw eight lead changes and six ties. Mount Saint Mary (6-12, 4-6 Skyline), however, had a solid third scorer—something the Panthers would lack on this particular night.

The hosts were paced by the trio of Chris Yearwood (21 points), Jayden Figueroa (13) and Connor Cyran (10). Figueroa and teammate J.P. Egan combined for 5-of-6 free throws in the final seconds of the game, playing a big part in MSMC's win.

Trailing 34-27 in the second half, Purchase rattled off a 10-2 run capped by a Malcolm Hansford-Whyte (SR/Queens, NY) three-point play to take its first lead of the game at 37-36 with 15:52 left in regulation time.
 
The Knights would later pull back ahead and stretch their advantage to 50-45 on a pair of made free throws from Paul Sienke.

Purchase answered back with a pair of their own from Terrence Mason (JR/Greenburgh, NY) before Justin Mason (FR/Staten Island, NY) knocked in a triple, giving the visitors a 52-50 edge with 5:24 to go.

Mount Saint Mary evened the score again (52-52) but Panther forward Elijah Holmes (SO/Brooklyn, NY) fired back with a jumper to push Purchase back out in front.

The Knights countered with five unanswered points to take a 57-54 advantage with 2:30 left on the clock. Hansford-Whyte, however, snapped the hosts' rally and tied the game at 57 apiece with a 3-point bucket at 2:01.

On Mount's next possession, Figueroa drew a foul and went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to give the Knights at 59-57 edge.

With less than a minute to go, Justin Mason connected from inside the paint to keep the Panthers alive. Purchase would miss its final two scoring opportunities though, while MSMC continued to find success from the free-throw line—ultimately tagging PC with the 62-59 loss.

Justin Mason led the Panthers with 15 points. Hansford-Whyte recorded the first double-double of his Purchase career with 12 points and 12 rebounds.  

The Panthers return home on Wednesday when they play host to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at 8 p.m.