Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team plays the first of three straight home games on Saturday afternoon when it welcomes conference rival Purchase to the Kaplan Center. Live Stats and Video will be available for those who cannot attend the 3:00 p.m. tip-off.
 
At A Glance: The Knights, who have dropped four of their last six contests, enter Saturday's tilt with an 11-8 overall record and a 6-5 mark against league rivals following an 88-72 road loss at Yeshiva on Thursday. Junior Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) poured in a career-high 25 points in the win, adding six rebounds and three steals.
 
T.J. Patsalos (Newburgh, N.Y.) finished the game with 12 points and six boards, while Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 points. The Mount shot 40.4-percent overall in the game and finished 6-for-17 from three-point range.
 
Nocera leads the team in scoring heading into Saturday's contest, averaging 15.4 points per contest while shooting 48-percent from the floor. He paces the team in three-point field goals with 22 and is good for 6.6 rebounds per outing for the Knights.
 
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) leads the team with 72 assists, averaging just under four helpers per game, and is converting at 79.5-percent from the free-throw line in 78 attempts. Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) leads the way with 25 steals and is third on the team with 17 three-point field goals. Nicholson trails only Nocera from bonus distance with 19 triples on the season.
 
Mount Saint Mary allowed its second highest point total of the season against Yeshiva on Thursday and allowed its most points on the year, 96, to Purchase in a 99-96 overtime win on December 3. The Knights lead the conference in scoring defense (68.1) heading into the weekend and are tied for first in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.6).
 
Previewing The Panthers: Purchase enters the weekend at 12-8 overall and tied with the Knights in the conference standings with a 6-5 record. Michael Soffer led four Panthers in double figures in a 93-81 loss at Lehman on Thursday, netting 22 points to go along with five rebounds. Kewan Beebe added 14 points and Brian Berrios added 12 tallies. Tarik Allicock led the Panthers with nine rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.
 
Berrios leads five Purchase players averaging in double-figures on the season with 17.1 points per game and has made 65 three-point field goals heading into the weekend. Allicock paces the team on the glass with just under nine rebounds per game and is blocking nearly two shots per contest for Purchase. Deshawn Cann is handing out 4.5 assists per game and is one of three players to take away at least one steal per outing.
 
Entering Saturday's action, Purchase leads the conference in scoring (86.1) and trails only Yeshiva in three-pointers made (170) and three-point field goal percentage (35.6). Berrios is fourth in the conference in scoring, while Allicock ranks fifth in rebounding.
 
Last Meeting: The Knights and Panthers met in a classic on December 3 with the Mount hitting a three-pointer at the second half horn to tie the game and another triple at the overtime buzzer to come away with a 99-96 road win. Bacci knotted the score at the end of regulation, before McDine pulled up for the game winning three-pointer in overtime.
 
Six Knights scored in double-figures in the win, led by 22 points from Nocera. Patsalos chipped in with  16 points with Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y), Nicholson, McDine and Bacci all reaching double-figures in the win.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 45.5-percent overall in the game and made 14 three-pointers in the tilt. Purchase made 16 three-pointers in the game and was led by 21 points from Berrios, who went 5-for-10 from behind the arc.
 
What's Next: Mount Saint Mary will play its second straight home game and close the regular season series with Sage on Wednesday, February 8. Tip-off at the Kaplan Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.