Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – A tough week for the Manhattanville men's basketball team was made even tougher on Thursday night, as the Valiants' postseason hopes were dealt a major blow with an 80-71 loss at the hands of DeSales in a key Freedom Conference matchup at Kennedy Gymnasium.
With the loss, Manhattanville (10-12, 4-7 Freedom) now faces a huge uphill battle to reach the postseason this year, as the Valiants sit two games behind both DeSales (13-9, 6-5 Freedom) and FDU-Florham for the fourth and final playoff spot with just three games to go in the regular season.
DeSales' Bob Zanneo played a big role in the win for the visitors, leading five Bulldogs in double-figures with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench. Paul Pammer added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Brett Moyer was held to a quiet 11 points as well.
Senior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) again led Manhattanville in scoring on the night, tying Zanneo for the game-high with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Classmate Jeff Ventura (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cypress Bay) also reached double figures with 12 points (all from behind the arc), while sophomore Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) had his fourth double-double of the year with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, including seven caroms on the offensive glass.
On the same day that the Valiants saw their adopted teammate laid to rest, Manhattanville came out struggling from the field, as the Bulldogs were able to jump out to a 13-7 edge five minutes into the first half. The Valiants came back with a 10-3 run to earn a one-point edge at 17-16 with 11:59 left in the frame, but DeSales then responded with 10 straight points to open up a 26-17 lead at the midway point of the half.
The teams traded baskets for most of the final 10 minutes, but DeSales used a late spurt to head into the half with a 37-26 lead. Pointer scored the final point of the half from the charity stripe, and in the process moved himself into sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list. He finished the night at 1,463 career points, leaving him 28 behind Brian McDonagh '94 for a spot in the top-five.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with six straight points to open up their largest lead of the game at 43-26 with 15:51 left, getting there on a jumper by Pammer.
Manhattanville could not put a major dent into the Bulldog lead for most of the second half, as the lead did not fall to single digits for the first 14 minutes and still stood at 14 (66-52) with 5:25 on the clock. But the Valiants then made their first big push, using an 11-2 run to get within five points with 2:45 remaining.
The home team finally got back within one possession with less than two minutes to go, as Pointer was fouled and hit 1-of-2 attempts from the line to make the score 71-68 with 1:33 remaining. But DeSales responded with seven straight points, as Zanneo had a big tip-in to make it a five-point lead and then a three-point play by Pammer and a Tom Marshall bucket got the lead up to 10 with 17 seconds left and sealed the victory.
DeSales was the better shooting team on the night, hitting at a 50.9 percent (27 for 53) clip from the field compared to 43.1 percent (25 for 58) shooting for Manhattanville.
Manhattanville will return to action in a must-win game at King's (Pa.) College on Saturday at 3 p.m. DeSales will host FDU-Florham in a very key Freedom Conference matchup also on Saturday at 3 p.m.
