NEW LONDON, CT - The Purchase College men's basketball was defeated in a non-conference matchup Wednesday night, falling to Mitchell College by the score of 81-76.

With the result, the Panthers dropped to 3-3 overall, while the Mariners moved to 6-2.

In the opening half, the Blue and Orange trailed nearly the entire way, though managed three tie scores over the first 20 minutes.

For the hosts, they pushed their lead to as many as 12 points, before settling for a 10-point margin at the break, 48-38.

Following halftime, Mitchell continued to control the tempo as the Panthers slowly but surely started to trim the lead down.

Eventually, with just over eight minutes to go, Purchase grabbed its first advantage of the night off a layup from Rashid Nikiema (JR/Winooski, VT).

From there, the guests grew the margin to as many as five points, before the Mariners fought back. Mitchell finally managed to tie the game up once more at 76-all with just 90 seconds to go.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, they didn't score again, as the hosts did just enough down the stretch to prevail, 81-76.

On the night, Purchase shot the ball well, making 48.2% from the field and 43.5% from long range.

While the shooting numbers easily favored the Blue and Orange, turnovers were the opposite story as they committed nearly double the amount Mitchell did (25-13).

In the end, points off turnovers favored the hosts and were the difference in the win.

Individually, Nikiema continued his dominating start to the season, as he finished with a game-high 36 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Chad Duke (JR/Brooklyn, NY) added 13 points and six rebounds, while Wesley Fulcher (SR/Fishkill, NY) totaled 12 points and four rebounds.

Up next for the Panthers is another non-conference road matchup, as they face Elms College on December 7th at 2 p.m.