Boxscore

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville men's basketball team, ranked 25th in Division III in the latest D3Hoops.com National Poll, held an eight-point lead with seven minutes remaining but could not hold on as Wilkes University dealt the Valiants a tough-to-swallow 74-68 defeat in a Freedom Conference battle on Saturday afternoon at the Marts Center.

Matt Mullins was the key player for Wilkes (7-5, 1-2 Freedom) in their upset bid, going for a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and also adding five rebounds and six assists. Chris DeRojas (17 points), Kendall Hinze (13 points) and Paul Huch (12 points) also reached double figures as well for the Colonels, who received all but six points from their starters.

Senior Peter Mehmel (Queens, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) had a perfect day offensively for Manhattanville (10-3, 2-1 Freedom), netting 20 points on perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the field – including doubling his career output from beyond the arc with a pair of three-pointers. Junior Glen Rodriguez (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Miami (Fla.) LaSalle) also had a good day with 16 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Junior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) was limited to just nine points on 4 of 11 shooting, missing double digits for the first time all year and for the first time in his last 19 games.

The shooting percentages were very close for both teams, as Manhattanville finished at 48.2 percent (27 for 56) from the field and Wilkes ended up at 47.5 percent (28 for 59).

The first half was a very tight contest, as neither team gained a lead of more than four points and the score was tied on nine separate occasions. Pointer had seven of his points in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Mullins and Hinze carried their squad to the tune of a combined 23 points. Manhattanville had a chance to head into the half up by one after a three-pointer by junior Felipe Vargas (Miami, Fla./Miami Christian), but a three by Mullins with seven seconds left send the Colonels into the break up by two at 37-35.

Manhattanville used an 11-3 run out of the break to regain the lead at 46-40 five minutes into the second half, capped by four points from freshman Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) and five from Mehmel. The Valiants sustained their lead for almost the entire half, building their advantage to as many as eight points with 7:10 left on a layup by Mehmel.

However, Wilkes went on a 7-0 run to get back into the contest, with no possession more important than when the Colonels were down 60-54 and corralled three straight offensive rebounds before Hinze scored on the team's fourth opportunity to get back within four with 5:10 left. The visitors still kept the lead until 2:19 remained, when DeRojas stepped to the line and sunk a pair of free throws that gave Wilkes a 65-64 lead.

Rodriguez got to the hoop on the Valiants' next possession to put the visitors back up by one, but rebounding haunted the Valiants again on Wilkes' next possession, as two offensive rebounds eventually resulted in a layup by Cliff Richardson to put the Colonels back up one, 67-66, with 1:32 left.

A Valiant turnover gave the ball back to Wilkes with a minute remaining, and after a DeRojas miss another offensive board forced Manhattanville to foul. Some great shooting from the charity stripe then carried Wilkes to a win, as the home team went 7 of 8 from the line in the final 22 seconds to pull out the victory.

The Valiants actually held a 33-30 edge on the boards over the course of the game, but Wilkes had 11 offensive boards to keep plays alive late. The Colonels also turned 16 Valiant turnovers into 23 points, while Manhattanville forced 12 miscues but only converted them into eight points.

Manhattanville returns to action on Wednesday night, when the Valiants host FDU-Florham in another Freedom Conference matchup at Kennedy Gymnasium starting at 8 p.m. Fans that can't make the game can watch all the action live on GoValiants.TV starting at 7:50 p.m. Wilkes will travel to Eastern University on Wednesday at 8 p.m.