Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – Eastern shot over 70 percent from the field in the second half and 57.1 percent for the afternoon as the visiting Eagles dealt a big blow to Manhattanville's playoff chances with a 83-63 victory over the Valiants in a Freedom Conference men's basketball matchup on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gym.
 
The loss drops Manhattanville (8-11, 2-6 Freedom) into seventh place in the Freedom Conference standings with six games to go, while Eastern (5-14, 3-5 Freedom) moves past the Valiants into a tie for fifth place. Manhattanville is still only two games out of a playoff spot, but now has to jump over three teams (Eastern, King's (Pa.) and FDU-Florham) to reach the postseason.
 
Junior Colin Campbell (Miami, Fla./LaSalle) was the Valiants' high scorer on the night, hitting 7-of-11 shots on the way to a 20-point afternoon. Freshman Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) had 17 points and four assists and junior Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) added 13 points and 11 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the year.
 
Eastern was paced by Anthony Parenti, who led all scorers with 27 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and a 9-of-10 effort from the line. Malcolm Garrison chipped in 22 points and Tyler McGrath netted 14 points and seven rebounds as well for the Eagles.
 
The first half was tightly contested on both sides of the court, featuring four lead changes and six ties. The lead for neither side got above two possessions during the opening 20 minutes of action, with the Valiants maxing their advantage at six points on a pair of occasions. The final tie of the frame came with 3:50 left after a Parenti three, but Manhattanville responded with an 8-2 run to close the frame, highlighted by seven straight points from Maestre to make it a 38-32 Valiant edge at the break.
 
Both teams shot the ball efficiently in the opening half, with Manhattanville connecting on 14 of 25 shots (56.0 percent) and Eastern shooting 44.8 percent (13 for 29) from the field.
 
The second half started well thanks to a Maestre layup in traffic, but Eastern responded with a quick 12-2 run thanks to eight points from Garrison bookended by Parenti jumpers that made it 44-42 Eagles with 16:33 remaining. Back-to-back layups by Bramswig and Campbell kept it a two-point Eastern lead with 13:22 to go before 10 straight EU points over the next 4:09 ballooned the visitors' lead to 12 (61-49) with 9:31 on the clock.
 
That run coincided with the start of a prolonged cold streak on the offensive end for the home team, as the Valiants hit just one of their next 15 shots from the field over the subsequent 10 minutes of play. By the time Bramswig picked up a three-point play with 2:52 to go, the deficit had already grown to 20 points and the game was out of reach.
 
The problem for Manhattanville was also one of defense, as Eastern registered at least one point on 11 of their last 15 possessions over the final nine minutes to close out the contest.
 
Manhattanville shot just 25.0 percent (7 for 28) over the final 20 minutes, finishing at 39.6 percent (21 for 53) for the night. Eastern connected on 19-of-27 second-half attempts, shooting 32 for 56 (57.1 percent) for the game.
 
The Valiants will make their shortest conference road trip of the season on Wednesday, as the Valiants face a must-win game against FDU-Florham beginning at 8 p.m. in Madison, N.J.