PURCHASE, N.Y. – With a 78-73 Skyline Conference victory over Purchase College (9-15, 9-8 Skyline) Thursday evening, the Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team's (8-17, 7-11 Skyline) sixth-year head coach
Ryan Kadlubowski achieved his 100th victory as the Knights' head coach, making him the second coach in program history to reach this milestone.
Kadlubowski's career record after six years at the helm of the Mount Saint Mary men's basketball program stands at 100-64, currently the best winning percentage (.610) for any Knights men's basketball head coach.
The Knights also achieved some vindication on Thursday, completing a season sweep of the defending Skyline Champions with the season-ending victory. The Knights fell to the Panthers in the Skyline Conference Championship finals in 2014, and suffered their only two Skyline defeats all last season to the Panthers.
Junior guard
Stephen Steyer (Staten Island, N.Y.), who had much of his season hampered by a nagging ankle injury, had his best game of the year in Thursday's win. The Knights' captain notched his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while also dishing out a game-high six assists.
It took a few minutes for the Knights to find their rhythm, but once they did, the game was in their control for the rest of the half. Purchase quickly took a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes, but the Knights went on an 8-0 run to take a three-point advantage. Later in the half, a nine-point spurt for the Knights, capped off by a three by Steyer and then a good jumper by freshman guard
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) gave the Knights a 30-16 edge. Steyer drained another three as the half was coming to an end to give the Knights a 40-27 lead going into the break.
The Panthers slowly chipped away at the Knight lead, getting back within one point at 60-59 with 8:09 still left to play. With their hosts right on their tails, the Knights turned the momentum around with six straight points to improve their lead to seven points.
Purchase kept battling, eventually getting back within one with just 1:31 on the clock. McDine was then sent to the line, where he made both shots to give the Knights a three-point advantage. The Knights then elected to foul instead of giving the Panthers a chance to tie the game with a three. Troy Singleton was unable to make either of his attempts, forcing Purchase to foul McDine once again. McDine was good on both chances once again to stretch the lead to five points. Purchase then drew a foul with two seconds left, and Creig Graves made both shots to cut the deficit to three. McDine was sent to the line one last time, making two more free throws to put the Knights up by five. Graves attempted a long three as the buzzer sounded, but it did not go, giving the Knights the victory to close out their season.
McDine's six free throws under pressure gave him a total of 11 points for the evening. Freshman forward
Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) capped off a stellar rookie campaign with a game-high 24 points to go with a team-best two steals. Freshman guard
Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) finished his first year with the Knights with 10 points and three assists.
Taylor Foster came off the bench to lead Purchase with 17 points on the evening. Nicholas Jackson also came in off the bench to score 10 points for the Panthers. Justin Person grabbed a team-high eight boards while scoring nine points.
The Knights shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) in the win, while Purchase made 40.4 percent (21-of-52) of its field goals. The Panthers edged the Knights in rebounding, 32-30. The Knights scored 26 points in the paint, while allowing their opponents to score 22.
The Knights will not be participating in the 2015 Skyline Conference Championship tournament after finishing the year with a 7-11 mark against conference opponents. The Knights will not graduate any seniors after this season, and will return in 2015-16 with a young team with another year of experience under its belt.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights
