WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A late rally came up just short for the Manhattanville College men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as the Valiants dropped a 68-63 decision to Wilkes University in Freedom Conference action at the Marts Center.
 
Junior Juan Camacho (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) was the Valiants' top scorer on the day, going for a game-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field, followed by classmate Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) with 16 points – all coming in the second half – and a game-high six assists. Freshman Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) also chipped in six points and a team-best nine rebounds as well for Manhattanville (4-5, 1-1 Freedom).
 
Wilkes (6-1, 2-0 Freedom) was led by the tandem of Alec Wizar and Steve Stravinski, both of whom ended the day with 19 points. Stravinski also added a game-high 10 rebounds and four steals, while Wizar chipped in five assists and three boards as well for the home team.
 
Camacho started the game off emphatically with a dunk, but eight of the next 10 points went to the home team as Wilkes sprinted out to a 15-9 lead with 13:05 left in the half.
 
The Valiants changed the momentum of the game, however, by going on a 17-3 run over the next nine minutes that gave the visitors a 26-18 lead. Junior Darius Christmas (Hackensack, N.J./Paramus Catholic) led the team with six points and Camacho added five during the run, which ended after a layup from senior Niko Emanuilidis (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) followed by a Christmas steal and free throw.
 
Unfortunately for the visitors, Emanuilidis' bucket with 4:41 remaining was the team's final field goal of the opening half, as the Colonels closed the frame with nine straight points to take a 27-26 lead into the half.
 
Camacho led Manhattanville with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field at the break, while Stravinski had a game-high 13 at intermission for Wilkes. As a team, the Valiants connected at a 44.0 percent clip (11 for 25) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, but were out-rebounded by a 24-12 margin.
 
After going scoreless in the first half, Maestre got on the board with the first bucket of the second half to give Manhattanville back the lead, and three straight Camacho buckets quickly put the visitors up 34-29 just 4:37 into the half. The squad was unable to expand on that lead, however, and Wilkes battled back to tie the game four times before five straight Wizar points and a Zachary Brunner bucket put the Colonels up 50-45 with 8:18 left.
 
The Valiants attempted to cut into the lead in the final minutes, with a Tuci layup making it a 61-57 game with 1:23 remaining. A pair of threes by Maestre made it just a two-point game with 10 seconds left and Tyler Jackson helped out by missing a free throw after getting fouled, but Jeremy Hartman grabbed the offensive rebound and Wizar's two freebies clinched the game for the home team.
 
Manhattanville shot the ball well on the day, hitting 14 of 26 shots in the second half to finish at 49.0 percent (25 of 51) from the field. The team was done in partially by its lack of rebounding (40-27) as well as a 6-of-13 showing from the charity stripe.
 
The Valiants will take the rest of December off, next returning to the court at the NYU Holiday Classic beginning on January 2 against Bridgewater State.