Riverdale, N.Y. – College of Mount Saint Vincent senior
Sean Caputo finished with a career-high 20 points, including a career-best six three-pointers, but the Men's Basketball team was upended on Wednesday night by Purchase 86-73.
In a game that featured scoring runs for each squad, the Dolphins battled back from an early 10-2 deficit with an 8-2 spurt to slice their disadvantage to two.
Gerard Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) sparked the run with four points to get the Mount to within 12-10 with 13:41 left in the opening frame.
The Dolphins would tie the score for the first time on the night following a
D'Andre McPhatter (Bronx, N.Y.) three-point play with 10:38 left before the break, but quickly fell behind after nine straight points from the visitors. Andre Nixon hit a three-pointer and hit a pair of free-throws to ignite the run.
Mount Saint Vincent would use a spurt of its own to grab its first lead of the night with just under six minutes left in the period. After falling behind by nine, the Dolphins ran off 10 straight tallies to edge in front 29-28 with 5:51 on the clock. Caputo knocked in one of his six triples over the stretch and
Michael Knott (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) pushed the Mount in front with a free-throw.
Just 21 seconds after Knott gave the Dolphins their first lead, David Haughton got the Panthers back in front with a jumper that started an 8-0 stretch for the Panthers. Caputo would get six of the seven point disadvantage back with a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:14 that sent the Dolphins to the locker room down 38-37.
Mount Saint Vincent finished the half shooting 48.4-percent from the floor, but the Panthers used two more field goal makes, 26 points in the paint and 10 second chance points to build the slim halftime advantage. Haughton led all players with 12 points and nine rebounds after 20 minutes.
The Dolphins would not be able to pull back even with the Panthers in the second half but got to within three points twice after Purchase built a seven point lead on a Nixon jumper at the 17:28 mark.
Following a Caputo triple for the Dolphins to within 57-54 with 10:39 left in the contest, Purchase went on a 14-6 spurt to spread its advantage out to 12 points on a Joel Neri three-point play with 4:55 remaining.
An Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) jumper would get the Dolphins back to within nine points at the 4:09 mark, before the Panthers took an 81-64 lead on a Ryan Lobban conversion in final minute and a half.
The Panthers shot better then 53-percent in the second half and knocked down three of their four three-pointers. Haughton finished the night with a game-high 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting, while Neri and Nixon each chipped in with 17. Justin Person led the Panthers with five assists and Lobban totaled 12 points.
Caputo rounded out the career-night going 7-for-11 overall and 6-for-9 from three-point range. He knocked in six of the team's seven triples and also added three rebounds. Over the last five games he is averaging 12.6 points per outing and has raised his season scoring average to 8.4 points per game.
Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting and also handed out four assists. Johnson posted a career-best 13 points and dished out a game-high six assists.
James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) added five steals for the Dolphins.
Overall, Mount Saint Vincent shot 42-percent from the floor, but struggled from the charity stripe after going just 8-for-16. The Dolphins were outscored on the night 44-38 in the paint and surrendered 16 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second chance points for Purchase.
Wednesday's loss sends Mount Saint Vincent to a 4-10 overall record and a 2-5 mark in league play. The Dolphins will be in search of a Skyline Conference victory on Saturday when they travel to Farmingdale State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
