Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team will open play in the Skyline Conference Tournament on Tuesday night as the third seed in the six team event. The Dolphins will host Purchase, who earned the sixth seed, at 7:00 p.m. at the Peter Jay Sharp Center. For those who cannot attend the game, Live Stats can be found here.
 
History
Mount Saint Vincent will make its first appearance in the Skyline Conference Tournament since the 2011-12 season when it earned the sixth seed and made a trip to third seeded Mount Saint Mary. The Dolphins dropped the quarterfinal matchup to the Knights 84-52.
 
The Dolphins will play in their fourth conference tournament under head coach Brian Nigro '00 and will host an opening round game for the first time in seven seasons under Nigro. The Mount posted an impressive 11-2 record at the Peter Jay Sharp Center during the 2014-15 regular season and went 6-6 on the road, including an 83-69 loss at Purchase on February 17.
 
A Look At The Dolphins
Mount Saint Vincent enters tonight's action at 17-8 overall, posting the most wins overall and most conference wins (13) in seven seasons under Nigro. The Mount opened the season with six straight wins, posting the best start to a season since going 10-0 to start the 2010-11 campaign. The Dolphins finished that season 15-11, the last winning season for the Mount prior to 2014-15.
 
The Dolphins are led by seniors James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) who combine to score over 30 points per game through 25 contests. Zuccaro leads the team in scoring at 17.4 points per outing and sits atop the team leader board in rebounding with 7.4 caroms per night.
 
Johnson is shooting 42.4-percent from three-point range coming into tonight's game and is the team leader from the free-throw line, converting at a 82.8-percent clip. Johnson is good for 13.0 points per game and is third on the team with 49 assists.
 
Freshman Ammad Alkhulaidi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is in the midst of a strong rookie season and has been the only player to start all 25 regular season games for the Dolphins. He is averaging 9.5 points per game while shooting 47.6-percent from the floor. Alkhulaidi is also shooting better than 44-percent from bonus distance and is the team leader in blocks (38) and assists (54). Alkhulaidi sits second in rebounding at 7.1 per game and is tied with Zuccaro for the team lead in double-doubles with five.
 
Entering the conference tournament, Mount Saint Vincent is outscoring its opponents by 3.5 points per game and holds a +2.2 turnover margin. The Dolphins are currently shooting 42.3-percent from the floor as a team and 70.5-percent from the free-throw line.
 
Scouting Purchase
The Panthers enter the league tournament at 9-16 overall and have won each of the last two conference championships and four of the last five. Purchase opened the season 1-9 before rebounding to close out the regular season with eight wins in its last 15 contests.
 
Purchase is led by three players who score in double-figures, led by 13.7 points from Troy Singleton. Creig Graves is good for 13.1 points per night and Taylor Foster is averaging an even 13.0 points per game through the regular season.
 
Kendall Felix leads five players who shoot better than 40-percent from the floor at 50.3-percent for the season, while Justin Person paces the team with 7.5 rebounds per night. Graves leads the way, converting 89-percent of his free-throw attempts and Jose Reyes is shooting just under 34-percent from three-point range.
 
The Series
Mount Saint Vincent and Purchase have met twice a season since the start of the 2007-08 year. The Panthers have won 12 of the 16 meetings, including six straight wins from 2008-09 through 2011-12. Tonight's contest will be the first meeting between the two programs in the conference tournament.
 
What's Next
The winner of tonight's tilt will travel to St. Joseph's-L.I. on Thursday to take on the second seeded Golden Eagles in the semifinal round. In the other quarterfinal tonight, the winner of Yeshiva and Old Westbury will head to the top seed Sage on Thursday. For updated scores and statistics you can check in to the Skyline Conference's Championship Central page.