Boxscore

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Needing a win to stay mathematically alive in the race for the Freedom Conference Tournament, the Manhattanville men's basketball team had their hopes dashed by Delaware Valley College with a 104-92 Freedom Conference defeat at Works Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Although the team's chances of making the tournament were not great, Tuesday's loss officially eliminates Manhattanville (13-11, 5-8 Freedom) from postseason contention for the second straight year. Delaware Valley (14-10, 8-5 Freedom), meanwhile, moves to within a game of first place in the conference with the victory.

In contrast to many games this season, it was not the Valiant offense that was the issue against the Aggies: the Valiants put up a season-high 92 points in regulation. Instead, it was the defensive side of the ball that posed the problems, as the visitors allowed the most points in regulation since giving up 107 to King's (Pa.) College on February 16, 2008.

As evidenced by the score, both teams shot the ball very well on the offensive end, with the Valiants actually ending up with the better percentage. The visitors connected on 56.5 percent (35 of 62) of their shots from the field, but the home team was not far behind at 55.0 percent (33 for 60). The difference came from beyond the arc, as the Aggies shot 12 of 22 (54.5 percent) while the Valiants managed just 3-of-12 success (25.0 percent) from three-point land.

In a game for shooters, each team had three players crack the 20-point plateau. On the Manhattanville side, junior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) had a game-high 29 on 12-of-19 shooting, while senior Peter Mehmel (Queens, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and junior Glen Rodriguez (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Miami (Fla.) LaSalle) each netted 20. Mehmel shot 10 of 14 from the field, while Rodriguez complemented 5 of 10 shooting by going 10 of 11 from the line on the way to a career-high in points.

For Delaware Valley, meanwhile, their three 20-point scorers helped the team's starting five combined for 102 of its 104 total points. James Jones had a team-high 28 points for the Aggies, as he shot just 6 of 15 from the field but also went an incredible 14 for 14 from the charity stripe. Jason Goldheimer added 26 points thanks to six three-pointers, while Jeremy Beckett also chipped in 20 for the home team.

The first half was dominated by the Valiant big men inside, as Mehmel and Rodriguez combined to score 27 points and the visitors went into halftime with a 46-44 lead. Manhattanville scored the first eight points of the game – six from Mehmel, two from Rodriguez and all in the paint – to jump out to an early lead. In the first half, the Valiants had a 34-10 edge in points in the paint, led by 16 from Mehmel and 11 from Rodriguez.

The contrast to that inside domination, however, was Delaware Valley's sharpshooters from the outside, as the Aggies went 7 for 13 beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. Jones and Goldheimer tied for the team lead with 12 points each at the break, with Goldheimer connecting on three three's.

The second half offered no relief for the Valiant defense, as Delaware Valley shot 60.7 percent to Manhattanville's 53.6 percent. The Aggies did a good job of getting to the line in the second stanza, hitting 21 of 25 freebies in the frame to grab the lead and hold on. The home team built its advantage to as many as 17 points with 4:17 remaining and never saw its lead drop below nine the rest of the way.

Manhattanville will look to end its season on a good note on Saturday, when the Valiants will honor their three seniors with Senior Day festivities prior to its 2010-11 finale against Misericordia starting at 3 p.m. The game – as well as the pre-game ceremonies – will be video streamed live on GoValiants.TV.