CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – A hot-shooting DeSales University squad shot 57.4 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc to defeat Manhattanville College by a 74-61 score in Freedom Conference men's basketball action on Tuesday night at Billera Hall.
 
The win keeps DeSales (17-7, 9-4 Freedom) in the running for the top spot in the conference, as the Bulldogs sit one game back of Misericordia with one game left in the regular season. Manhattanville (8-16, 4-9 Freedom) remains in seventh place in the conference with the defeat.
 
Junior Juan Camacho (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) led the Valiants with 20 points on 9-of-19 shooting, while also adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Wills Flynn (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) also reached double figures for the second straight game with 11 points and a team-high four assists.
 
Brian Laird led all scorers with 24 points, thanks entirely to a school-record 8-of-14 shooting effort from beyond the arc. Cody Deal (14 points) and Aaron Burton (12 points) also reached double figures for the Bulldogs, with Burton hitting all six shots he took.
 
The teams traded points for the first five minutes before back-to-back three pointers from Flynn and freshman Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) gave the visitors a six-point lead. The Valiants led by five points (21-16) after a Camacho layup with 9:34 left, but the visitors managed just four field goals the rest of the half as DeSales closed the frame with a 28-11 run to take a 44-32 lead at the break. While Manhattanville went 4-of-14 from the field, the hot-shooting Bulldogs hit 11-of-15 shots during the run to take control of the contest.
 
For the half, DeSales shot a stellar 59.3 percent (16 of 27) from the field, including 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Manhattanville hit 6 of 13 attempts (46.2 percent) from long distance, but just 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) from inside the arc.
 
Consecutive long-range baskets from Camacho and Flynn got Manhattanville within eight at 48-40 early in the second half, but the team could only trade baskets with DeSales over the next six minutes.
 
Manhattanville turned up the defense down the stretch after a Deal bucket gave DeSales a 70-53 lead with 5:29 left, forcing turnovers on five straight possessions and a pair of missed shot attempts to give the team a chance to get back in the game. But after three straight Camacho buckets got the Valiants within 11, the team could only manage one more basket the rest of the way.
 
The Valiants finished the night shooting 39.7 percent (25 of 63) from the field.
 
Manhattanville will close out the 2014-15 season on Saturday afternoon, when the Valiants travel to Dallas, Pa., to take on first-place Misericordia beginning at 3 p.m.