NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Blue Knights let a winnable game slip away on Thursday night, falling to Purchase College, 65-60, in Skyline Conference action. Mount Saint Mary dropped to 6-10 overall (5-6 Skyline), while the Panthers improved to 11-5 overall (8-3 conference).
With the Blue Knights trailing by eight as the clock dipped under ten minutes, freshman
Lenny Ragaglia (Staten Island, N.Y.) heated up nicely. On back-to-back possessions, Ragaglia drilled three-pointers to bring the Mount within two (51-49), generating the first roar of the night from the Kaplan Center crowd.
Purchase led 55-51 to the four minute mark and then it was sophomore
Carlos Valdez (Slate Hill, N.Y.) who played a pair of strong possessions. Back-to-back layups by Valdez tied the game at 55, but the Blue Knights couldn’t get a key stop, even with chants of “defense” raining down from the crowd. Purchase junior Marvin Billups (Chester, N.Y.) completed a tough three-point play to make the score 58-55.
Junior
Matt Weinberger (Washingtonville, N.Y.) made a strong move to the hoop to get the Blue Knights back within one, but Purchase junior Corey Orgias (Highland Mills, N.Y.) made back-to-back buckets to give the Panthers control. Mount Saint Mary couldn’t get organized down the stretch, turning the ball over three times in the final two minutes, and Purchase escaped with a five-point victory.
Ragaglia finished with 15 points, 12 of them during a strong second half for the rookie. Valdez finished with 13 points and 15 boards, while sophomore
Kevin Milella (Floral Park, N.Y.) tallied 6 points and 18 boards. Junior
Tim Morris (Greenwich, N.Y.) continued his consistent play with 13 points.
Billups, the leading scorer in the Skyline Conference, finished with just 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Junior Charles Thompson (Upper Marlboro, Md.) led the Panthers with 15 points, while Orgias pulled down a team-high 9 rebounds.
It wasn’t a spectacular shooting night for either team, with the Blue Knights clocking in at 36.7-percent and the Panthers at 37.3-percent. Mount Saint Mary owned a 51-35 advantage on the glass, but suffered from 21 turnovers.
The Blue Knights will face another tough test on Saturday when St. Joseph’s College comes to town. Mount Saint Mary will host the Golden Eagles in a 3:30 p.m. start on January 23 in the Kaplan Center.