Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team fell at home Tuesday night to Purchase by a final score of 81-67. The Dolphins were paced by senior Dino Johnson's (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) 16 points in his final regular season home game.
The Dolphins came out of the gate red hot on Tuesday and opened a 14-2 lead over the course of the first eight minutes. Johnson led the charge with a pair of three-pointers and the Mount defense held Purchase without a field goal until a Derrick Stanton three with 11:22 left in the first half.
The Dolphins would gain a lead as large as 13 points in the first half, but Purchase would outscore the Mount 20-5 over the final 8:28 of the period. After leading 24-11, Mount Saint Vincent went nearly four minutes without a tally, allowing Purchase to pull in front 31-29 at the half.
Both teams struggled in the first half, with each shooting under 40-percent for the period. Although the Panthers shot just 33.3-percent before halftime, they knocked down five three-pointers and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Michael McNair led all scorers at the break with 10 points.
The opening moments of the second half proved to be a back-and-forth affair, with Dolphins falling behind by five and then six but rallying to tie the score. A Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) jumper with 12:19 left in regulation would give the Dolphins a 48-46 lead, but Purchase answered with a 17-1 run to open a 14 point lead with 8:31 left.
Purchase would not look back after that run and allowed the Dolphins to within just 10 points once the rest of the way. The Panther lead grew to as many as 19 points twice in the final two and a half minutes.
After shooting an even 50-percent from the floor in the second half, the Panthers finished the night converting 42.4-percent of their field goal opportunities. McNair led all scorers on the night with 18 points and knocked down three triples. Marvin Billups and Charles Thompson finished the night with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Mount Saint Vincent finished the night shooting 43.3-percent overall and 41.2-percent from behind the arc. Johnson led the way in his final home game after going 6-for-18 from the field and 4-for-10 from three-point land. He rounded out a strong all-around effort with five rebounds and four assists. His scoring output on Tuesday leaves the senior just 28 points shy of becoming the 12th 1,000 point scorer in program history.
George Naldjieff (Miami, Fla.) matched his career-high with 14 points in the contest to go along with six rebounds and Cunningham netted 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting to go along with five assists.
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 14-8 overall on the season and to 9-8 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins continue the stretch run of the season on Thursday night when they travel to Bard. Tip-off with the Raptors is set for 8:00 p.m.