Darby Scores 24 in Men’s Basketball’s Loss to Purchase

Patchogue, NY| Sophomore Michael Darby tallied a team-best 24 points in the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team's 84-79 defeat to SUNY Purchase inside the Danzi Center on Wednesday evening .

The loss sends the Golden Eagles to 5-14 overall on the year and 0-11 in Skyline Conference play as the Panthers improve to 14-6 and 9-2.

Darby shot 5-for-8 from three and pulled down four rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Senior Frank Basile went for 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Sophomore Matthew Hirdt came off the bench and scored 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three. Senior Jonah Caldwell scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. 

Leading the way for the Panthers was Jorge Perdomo, who shot 10-for-17 from the field and scored a game-high 27 points.

SJC started strong and took a 16-15 lead 6:59 into the contest when Hirdt drained a three-pointer. Purchase went on to score the next eight points and rode a 39-27 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Panthers led by as many as 20 points (8:04), but St. Joseph's came as close as two points away from tying the game when Basile converted on a layup with 20 seconds to play. 

Purchase's Maxx Miller sank a pair of free throws two seconds later and Purchase held off SJC en route to a five-point victory.  

SJC shot 42.0% from the field and 42.9% from three in the contest. Purchase was superior in the paint where they outrebounded (42-38) and outscored (34-26) SJC.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, February 8 when they host SUNY Old Westbury for a Skyline Conference contest at 1:00 pm.