BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The Purchase College men's basketball team was defeated at Sarah Lawrence College Saturday afternoon, falling to the Skyline Conference foe by the score of 74-68.

With the result, the Panthers dropped to 5-7 overall and 1-4 in the league. For the Gryphons, they jumped to 4-10 and 2-2, respectively. 

While the final score between the two sides ended up being close, it was the hosts that controlled the action for much of the day.

Outside of the initial 2-0 score for the Panthers to start the game, Sarah Lawrence held the lead the rest of the time.

In the first half, the Gryphons pushed their advantage to as many as 11 points, before settling for a seven-point lead at the halftime break, 35-28.

Despite trailing for nearly the entire frame, the Panthers trimmed the margin to just a single point twice in the opening half, but were unable to jump in front.

As the action moved to the second period, the hosts quickly pushed their lead to double-digits and lead by a 10-plus point margin for much of the time. The biggest lead of the day came with just over 11 minutes to go, as the Gryphons paced Purchase by 21 points, 58-37.

Despite the deficit, the Panthers never quit in the contest and actually managed to make it a game late. During the final two minutes, the guests cut the margin to single digits and got it to as few as four points, before ultimately running out of time.

For the game, Purchase was outshot 41.8% to 36.8%. While the team lost the shooting battle, the Panthers were better on rebounds (44-41) and turnovers (14-11).

Individually, Kamar Thomas (JR/Elizabeth, NJ), appearing in his first game for Purchase, finished with a team-high 16 points. Rashid Nikiema (FR/Montpelier, VT) was the only other Panther in double digits, scoring 12 points. 

Up next for the Panthers is a return to their home court as the squad welcomes Manhattanville College on January 11th at 6:00 p.m. You can follow along here.