Box Score WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville men's basketball team had no answer for King's (Pa.) guard Joe Caffrey, who went for a career-high 31 points as the Manhattanville men's basketball team dropped its third straight Freedom Conference game by a 76-58 score to the Monarchs on Saturday afternoon at Scandlon Gym.
The team's third straight loss drops them outside of postseason contention with two games remaining, as Manhattanville (10-13, 6-6 Freedom) currently is tied with King's (13-10, 6-6 Freedom) for fifth place, one game back of a three-way tie for second. The Valiants still play two of the teams in that second-place tie, Delaware Valley and Misericordia, coming up next week to close out the regular season.
Caffrey hit 11 of 17 shots from the field and went 5 for 7 from beyond the arc in the victory. Dan Rutecki chipped in 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds for the Monarchs as well, followed in double figures by Kyle Hammonds with 11 points.
Junior
Connor Quigley (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) had a team-high 15 points and senior
Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) added 10 points for the Valiants in a losing effort. Sophomore
Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) hauled in a team-leading seven rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench as well.
Manhattanville had some idea of how the day might go right from the start, as Caffrey connected on his first three shots from long distance to key an 11-2 Monarch run out of the gates. The King's lead never shrunk below nine for the entire first half, reaching as high as 21 points on a Hammonds layup that made the score 34-13 with 2:35 left.
The Valiants were unable to make a dent in the deficit during the second half, thanks to a King's offense that hit 12-of-21 shots from the field and also went 12 for 14 from the line.
King's shot 52.0 percent (26 of 50) from the field in the win, while Manhattanville connected at just a shade over 40.0 percent (19 for 47).
Manhattanville will need to shake its losing streak quickly, as the Valiants return home for two huge games to end the regular season. The big week begins on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. when the Valiants host Delaware Valley at Kennedy Gym in a game that will be video streamed live on GoValiants.TV.
