NEWBURGH, NY – Purchase sophomore Marvin Billups (Chester, N.Y.) scored 30 points on 14-of-27 shooting from the field, leading the Panthers to an 82-70 victory over Mount Saint Mary College on Thursday night. Purchase improved to 10-7 overall and to 6-5 in the Skyline Conference while the Blue Knights dropped to 3-15 overall and to 3-8 in the conference.

Senior Chad Charney (Port Chester, N.Y.) hit two three-pointers in the opening eight minutes and Billups capped an opening 16-7 run with a dunk at the 11:49 mark. Back-to-back three pointers from senior Matt Cunningham (Roswell, Ga.) put the Mount back within three at the 9:21 mark (16-13), but the Panthers pulled back away with a 9-0 run. Purchase led 39-29 at the close of the first half.

Junior Chris Kingly (Washingtonville, N.Y.) narrowed the gap to five with a three-pointer at the 16:37 mark, but that would be as close as the Mount would get until the final minute. Trailing by eleven with under two minutes to play, senior Alex Kuchar (Rutherford, N.J.) scored five points during a 7-0 run that cut the Purchase lead to just four. After a quick foul, sophomore Corey Orgias (Highland Mills, N.Y.) sank a pair of free throws with thirty-two seconds remaining, effectively putting the game out of reach.

In addition to the 30 points from Billups, Purchase received 15 from senior Kazeem Famuyide (Staten Island, N.Y.), 12 from Orgias, and 11 from Charney. The Panthers shot 45.3-percent from the field in the game.

Kuchar led the Mount with 18 points and Kingly chipped in with 16. Senior Chris Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) had just 7 points but pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. The Blue Knights shot 40-percent from the floor.

Up next for the Mount is a trip to the College of Mount Saint Vincent. The game on Saturday, January 31 is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. tip.