Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – Paul Pammer led four Bulldogs in double figures and DeSales shot 56.5 percent from the field as the Manhattanville men's basketball dropped another tough Freedom Conference contest, 87-78, on Wednesday evening at Kennedy Gym.
 
Manhattanville (10-12, 6-5 Freedom) drops out of second place with the loss, and now sits tied for the fourth and final postseason spot with Delaware Valley after the Aggies lost their third in a row tonight at King's (Pa.). DeSales (14-8, 8-3 Freedom) remains atop the conference standings with the victory, the team's fourth in a row.
 
Pammer was the major factor in the win for DeSales, hitting 7 of 11 shots from the field and 5 of 8 from beyond the arc on the way to his game-high 20 points. Mike Coleman netted 18 on 5-of-9 shooting, while Travis Bryan also had a good game down low with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Senior Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) and sophomore Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) both had 18 points to lead the Valiants. Bramswig came a rebound short of a double-double with nine boards to go with two blocks, while Maestre chipped in a game-high four steals. Senior Colin Campbell (Miami, Fla./LaSalle) added 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals as well.
 
For the second straight game, the Valiants ran into a hot-shooting opponent, as the Bulldogs shot 26 of 46 (56.5 percent) from the field and 10 of 20 from beyond the arc in the win. Manhattanville played solid defense to limit DeSales' offensive chances, forcing 21 DSU turnovers, but the home team managed only one more field goal despite taking 21 more shots and finished the game at 40.3 percent (27 of 67) from the field.
 
DeSales shot 60.0 percent (15 of 25) in the opening half, never trailing after opening the game on a 9-2 run that was punctuated by the first of five Pammer threes. The Bulldog reached as high as 13 points with 3:30 left in the half after a Cody Deal three made the score 42-29, but Manhattanville ended the half on a 8-2 run that closed the deficit to seven at 44-37 after 20 minutes.
 
A three pointer from junior Connor Quigley (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) out of the locker room got the lead down to four early in the second half, but a Pammer four-point play started a 12-4 run that put the lead back at 12 (56-44) with 15:51 remaining. Pammer had 10 points by himself during the stretch, sinking a trio of treys.
 
The Valiants could not get the deficit under eight points after a layup by sophomore Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) made it a 56-48 game with 13:44 left. A three-pointer by freshman Andrew Murray (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) made the score 83-72 with 88 ticks remaining, but the Bulldogs went 5 of 6 from the line down the stretch and grabbed some key offensive rebounds to run out the clock.
 
Manhattanville will play its final road game of the 2013-14 regular season on Saturday, when the Valiants travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to take on King's (Pa.) in a pivotal Freedom Conference matchup beginning at 3 p.m.