PURCHASE, NY – Trailing by two with five seconds remaining, the Maritime College men's basketball team had the ball and a chance to tie or win at Purchase on Tuesday night.  Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) was fouled and went to the line, but missed the first free throw, allowing the Panthers (10-10, 4-7 Skyline) to come away with a 67-64 victory over the Privateers (12-8, 7-4 Skyline) at Purchase College Gymnasium.

Maritime led by as many as 17 points before Purchase came storming back to tie the score at 59-59 with 6:04 remaining.  After the teams traded buckets, Jake Murphy (Rockville Centre, NY) hit a pair of free throws to put the Privateers back in front, 61-59.  However, the Panthers got layups from Matthew Phillips and Rashid Nikiema to take the lead, 65-63, with under a minute to go.  Purchase increased its lead to three points, 67-64, on a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining, and Maritime wasn't able to get a final shot off.

Murphy finished with a game-high 21 points, his fourth consecutive 20-point outing.  Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) tallied 14 points and eight rebounds, while Anderson had 13 points and eight assists.  Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) added eight points and seven boards for the Privateers, who shot a combined 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the field.  Maritime was 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) from three-point land and 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) at the charity stripe.

The Privateers jumped out to an 11-5 lead after less than four minutes, but Purchase responded with six straight points to tie the game.  A Rob Guilday (Wallingford, PA) jumper put Maritime back in front and sparked a 10-3 run that gave the Privateers a 21-14 advantage.  The Panthers rallied within one at 21-20 before Maritime ended the first half on a 22-9 spurt to take a 14-point, 43-29 cushion into the locker room.

That margin extended to 17 points when a Murphy trey made it 51-34 with 17:19 left in the contest.  After each team made a layup, Purchase went on a 16-2 run to pull within three, 55-52.  Anderson hit a pair of foul shots to extend Maritime's lead to five, 57-52, but the Panthers scored seven of the next nine points to force a 59-59 deadlock with 6:04 remaining. 

Mahmadou Nimaga led three Panthers in double-figures with 17 points.  Nikiema registered 16 points and seven rebounds, while Phillips posted 13 points and six boards.  As a team, Purchase shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the floor, 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from downtown, and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) at the free throw line.

On Saturday, the Privateers welcome rival Merchant Marine (8-12, 5-6 Skyline) visits Riesenberg Gymnasium at 1 p.m.  When the sides met in Kings Point on Jan. 6, the Mariners earned a 60-54 win.