Box Score Archived Video

BRONXVILLE, N.Y.—The Gryphons led by as many as 10 points but were unable to hold off the charging Panthers, as Sarah Lawrence College men's basketball fell to Purchase College, 66-58, in a Skyline game at Noyes Court at Campbell Sports Center on Wednesday.

IN SHORT
Purchase (9-8, 7-5 Skyline) def. Sarah Lawrence (3-14, 1-12 Skyline), 66-58.

FIRST HALF
Both teams had trouble getting going, and after six minutes of play, the evenly-matched teams had each missed five shots en route to a 7-7 deadlock. Rookie Gabe Eng (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Beacon School) turned things around with a successful three-pointer and added another at the midpoint of the half, giving the Gryphons an 18-12 advantage. With eight minutes remaining, Eng drained a pair of three-pointers 37 seconds apart, sparking a 7-0 run to give the Gryphons their largest lead, 25-15. Purchase whittled the lead to three-points, 32-29, at halftime.

Eng's 12 first-half points led all players at the break. Captain Graham Gilleran (San Francisco, Calif./Archbishop Riordan) and junior Ege Ozcan (Istanbul, Turkey/Andrews Osborne Acad. (Ohio)) scored seven points each. The Gryphons secured their fourth halftime lead in the last five games, and the one-possession edge mirrored SLC's 35-33 halftime lead in the teams' previous meeting on November 24.

SECOND HALF
In the opening minutes, junior Mat Gerak (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) and classmate Stevan Radosavljevic (Lazarevac, Serbia/Grammar School Lazarevac) each made field goals to keep the SLC lead at five points. SLC suffered through a scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes, as PC pulled away, 45-39. Junior Wyatt Rocheleau (San Jose, Calif./Christopher) made back-to-back three-pointers with just under eight minutes to play, tying the game at 47-47.

With five and a half minutes to play, the game was still deadlocked, 51-51. From there, the Panthers went on a 5-0 run that proved to be enough to secure the lead for good. In the end, Purchase's offensive aggression was problematic for the Gryphons, as PC was sent to the foul line 24 times in the period and converted on 17 attempts, including four in the last 20 seconds of play.

Rookie Parker Hagmaier (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) anchored the Gryphons in the half, scoring eight points and collecting seven rebounds.

FOR THE GRYPHONS
Gilleran, Hagmaier and Eng each scored a dozen points to lead the Green and White. Hagmaier finished with an SLC-best 11 rebounds, earning his second double-double of the season.
Ozcan totaled eight points, five rebounds and a game-high four assists. Gerak had six points, four assists and two steals, while Rocheleau recorded six points.

FOR THE PANTHERS
PC's Joel Neri led all players with 17 points and 14 rebounds, notching his seventh double-double of the season. Michael Pelham (13 points), Taylor Foster (12 points) and Max Pearce (11 points) all scored in double-figures.

UP NEXT
SLC next travels to face The Sage Colleges on Friday at 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday but has been moved up in anticipation of inclement weather this weekend. The Gryphons return home Wednesday, January 27, when they host Cooper Union at 7:30 p.m.