Purchase, NY - The College of Mount Saint Vincent's men's basketball team was looking to right the ship on Saturday when they traveled up the line to take on Purchase College, one of the top contenders in the Skyline Conference. The Dolphins (5-10, 2-4) were hoping to continue their strong play that saw them defeat Farmingdale State College at home two games ago while dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Manhattanville College this past Wednesday. 

Fortunately for the Dolphins, they picked up right where they left off from their last pair of games, as they went into the locker room at halftime up double digits over the Panthers. CMSV converted an impressive 52% of their field goal attempts over the first 20 minutes of play while knocking down seven of their 10 three point attempts. While both sides jockeyed for position for the majority of the half, the Dolphins won multiple battles, including bench points (11-0), points off turnovers (15-2), fast break points (10-4) and assists (12-8). 

With Raiquis Harris out of today's contest, Vinny Tavella took his place in the starting lineup and immediately justified head coach James Mooney's decision. The junior forward led the Dolphins with 16 points, which included going five of nine from deep. Standout sophomore Kalos Evans also impressed with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists while David Collins came off the bench and added eight points of his own. 

The Panthers came into the second half on fire, scoring six straight points to open play and cut the Dolphins' lead to 10. After a CMSV timeout, Purchase added another bucket to make it an eight point game. The Dolphins' lead continued to get smaller, with the Panthers making it a one possession game at the eight minute mark. Purchase took their first lead with six minutes left to play, but the Dolphins continued to battle, which was highlighted by a Makai Johnson steal and layup to make it a two point game in favor of the Panthers. 

While the Panthers continued to add to their lead, the Dolphins fought back. Evans knocked down a big three point attempt at the 2:32 mark to once again make it a one possession contest. The back and forth continued on both sides with seconds remaining. 

When Purchase failed to knock down a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach for the Dolphins, it was Johnson who stepped up big for his team, as the junior hit a contested three to tie the game at 84 with less than 30 seconds on the clock. 

Unfortunately for the visitors, a tough shot with time expiring went in, resulting in a 86-84 loss. 

Tavella finished with a team-high 19 points in an efficient performance. Four other Dolphins finished in double figures, including Evans (18), Collins (12), Mamado Mariko (12) and Johnson (11). Johnson also paced the team with six assists while Qwame Thompson grabbed an impressive 12 rebounds to go along with seven points. 

The Dolphins will look to keep up their strong play and return to their winning ways on Tuesday when they play host to Maritime College.