Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – Eastern Connecticut State's Brian Salzillo netted 30 points on the way to Most Valuable Player honors as the Warriors took home the 2013 AJ Buchanan Classic championship with a 78-63 victory over the Manhattanville men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gymnasium.
Salzillo had a big weekend for the Warriors, averaging 23.5 points in two games – including a weekend-high 30 in the championship game. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammate Mike Garrow, who averaged 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in two contests, including an 18-point, 15-rebound effort on Saturday.
Manhattanville was represented on the All-Tournament team by senior
Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville), who also averaged a double-double with 18.5 points and 11.5 rebounds for the weekend, and sophomore
Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy), who had 29 points and a team-best 10 assists in two games. Khalid Yousef of Medgar Evers and Jared Prince of Catholic also earned spots on the All-Tournament team as well.
Bramswig had his third double-double of the young season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Maestre led the Valiants with 16 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Salzillo shot 7-of-13 from beyond the arc on his way to a 30-point game for the Warriors, while Garrow went a perfect 10 for 10 from the line to help his own cause.
Eastern Connecticut as a team shot very well for the weekend, and finished Saturday at 44.6 percent (25 for 56) from the field and an impressive 20 for 24 (83.3 percent) from the line. Manhattanville finished shooting 36.7 percent (22 for 60) from the field on the day.
The game started out very evenly with four lead changes in the first 10 minutes. Manhattanville built up a seven-point lead at 13-6 on a steal and fast-break layup by junior
Wills Flynn (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian), but Eastern Connecticut followed with a 10-2 run that gave the Warriors back the lead at 18-17 with 9:44 remaining in the first half. The Valiants tied the game twice but couldn't get over the hump for the remainder of the half, although a Maestre runner at the buzzer put the home team down just five at 39-34 at the half.
The second half was filled with missed opportunities for Manhattanville, as again the Valiants got within striking range on numerous occasions but could not the big bucket or big stop when needed. Although Eastern Connecticut never trailed in the second frame, the Valiants got the deficit down to a single possession three times, the last coming after a fast-break layup by Campbell made the score 57-54 with 8:33 remaining.
Eastern Connecticut followed that with a 9-2 run, however, to get the lead back into double figures with four minutes to go. The final margin of victory ended up being the largest lead of the night for either team, as the Warriors came away with the team title.
Manhattanville (2-3) will return to action next Saturday, as the Valiants travel north to take on Hamilton in a non-conference matchup beginning at 2 p.m. in Clinton, N.Y.
