Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville men's basketball almost erased a 10-point deficit with less than three minutes left in the game, but DeSales hit just enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Valiants and remain unbeaten in conference play with a 69-64 win in Freedom Conference action on Wednesday night at a chilly Kennedy Gym.
 
Although Manhattanville never led in the game, the contest was never out of reach for the home team for most of the night, and yet DeSales used a 14-4 run midway through the second half to take its largest lead of the night, 59-46, with 5:25 to go.
 
However, the Valiants still had a run left in them. Freshman Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) sunk a three to make it a 10-point game, and the deficit was still nine with just over a minute to go when the home team started a comeback with two free throws by sophomore Mike Murray (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep). After Michael Guldin made one of two at the line, Murray came right back with a jumper to make it 64-58 with 46 seconds left, and another one-of-two trip to the line by Mike Coleman was followed quickly by a three-point play from junior Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) to make it a four-point game.
 
Coleman continued his team's free-throw woes with two misses after being sent back to the line, and sophomore Wills Flynn (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) followed with a three that made it 65-64 with 16 ticks remaining. However, Guldin was sent back to the line and responded with two big freebies to force one final Valiant possession down by three, and Maestre missed a three-pointer from the corner that sealed the home team's fate.
 
Maestre was still the leading scorer for both teams on the night, going for a game-high 19 points. Freshman Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) tied his season high with 13 points off the bench and Murray added 12 points, while Bramswig hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds and came one point short of a double-double for Manhattanville (8-10, 2-5 Freedom)
 
Brett Moyer led a balanced offense attack for DeSales (15-3, 7-0 Freedom) with 14 points and nine rebounds, followed by Coleman with 13 points. Kyle Hash chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds and Paul Pammer added 11 points for the Bulldogs.
 
Manhattanville was able to get back into the game thanks to some poor Bulldog shooting from the line, as DeSales hit just 10 of 21 attempts from the line in the second half and finished at 50.0 percent (17 for 34) for the night. However, the visitors hit at a 55.0 percent clip (11 for 20) from the field in the final 20 minutes to secure the win.
 
The Valiants took 12 more shots than their counterparts in the second half, but made just two more (13 for 32) to finish at 42.1 percent (24 for 57) from the field on the night. The home team hit 11 of its 15 attempts from the charity stripe, but went to the line 19 fewer times than the Bulldogs.
 
Manhattanville will stay at home for its next contest, as the Valiants host Eastern in another crucial Freedom Conference contest at 3 p.m. at Kennedy Gym.