Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville men's basketball team may have been out of playoff contention heading into the final game of the season, but the Valiants still put on a show on Senior Day, as the home team sent their three seniors off with an impressive 83-51 victory over Misericordia University in front of a packed Kennedy Gym crowd on Saturday afternoon.

In their final game of the year against a playoff-bound Cougar squad, the Valiants looked like the first semester team that started the year 10-1. The Valiants shot 48.4 percent (30 of 62) from the field and scored 51 second-half points to frustrate a Misericordia squad that was held to just 27.6 percent (16 for 58) shooting from the field.

Junior Felipe Vargas (Miami, Fla./Miami Christian) led a balanced Manhattanville attack with a game-high 18 points on nearly perfect 7-of-8 shooting. Freshman Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) came off the bench to chip in 11 points and six rebounds in just 15 minutes of work, while senior Peter Mehmel (Queens, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) had another solid outing with 10 points and seven rebounds. Fellow seniors Jay Ferriere (Melbourne, Australia/Emerald Secondary) and Lamar Glass (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) also made big impacts in the final home game, as Ferriere dished out a game-high six assists and added six rebounds while Glass swatted away a career-high five shots to go with six points and six rebounds.

The Valiant lead was four points at 15-11 at the midway point of the first half, but eight straight points by the home team gave the squad a comfortable 12-point edge with 5:52 on the clock. Four different Valiants scored during the run, which was capped by a jumper from junior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) that put MVille up, 23-11.

Manhattanville maintained its double-digit lead for the remainder of the half, getting it up to 13 points on a three-pointer from junior Jeff Ventura (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cypress Bay) and again on a pair of Pointer free-throws that sent the Valiants into the locker room with a 32-19 advantage.

The Valiant bench played a big role in the first half lead, scoring 20 of the team's 32 points. Vargas led all players with seven points at the break on 3 of 3 shooting, as Manhattanville as a team shot 40.0 percent (12 of 30) from the field and held Misericordia to just 26.9 percent (7 of 26) shooting.

The Valiants kept the pressure on the Cougars in the second half, building up a 20-point lead for the first time on a pair of free throws by Glass with 14:24 remaining. After a Matt Greene three-pointer brought the lead back to 18, a Mehmel layup was followed by a Ventura jumper and a Vargas three in a span of one minute to immediately give the home team a 25-point edge (55-30) and take away all doubt from the rest of the proceedings.

Manhattanville built up its lead to as many as 35 points with 4:10 remaining in the game, as freshman Chrys Malone (Springfield, Mass./High School of Science & Technology) nailed a three-pointer from the corner.

For the game, the Valiant bench provided 52 of the team's 83 total points, outscoring their Misericordia counterparts by 39. The Valiants also converted 20 Cougar turnovers into 18 points and held a 36-16 edge in points in the paint.

Manhattanville (14-11, 6-8 Freedom) has its 2010-11 season come to a close with the loss. Misericordia (15-10, 8-6 Freedom) will take part in the Freedom Conference Tournament beginning on Wednesday night.