DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, but a rough end to the first half allowed the lead to disappear and Delaware Valley College to earn a 72-68 victory over the Valiants in Freedom Conference action at  James Work Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
 
Manhattanville (6-14, 2-7 Freedom) controlled the early portion of the game and the late stages of the contest, starting the night on a 23-10 run over the first 9:15 and closing with a 24-13 advantage over the final 9:38. However it was the middle 20 minutes that were the Valiants' undoing, as Delaware Valley (12-8, 7-2 Freedom) outscored Manhattanville by 28 points during that stretch to earn the win.
 
Juniors Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) and Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) led the Valiants with 17 points apiece, with Maestre also chipping in eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. For Winter, the 17 points are a new career high and came on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Fellow junior Juan Camacho (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) also reached double figures with 13 points, helped largely by an 8-of-10 effort from the line.
 
Francis Arnold netted a game-high 19 points to go with five assists and five rebounds for the Aggies, who also got 10 points each from Chris Moran and Barry Brockington as well as eight points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks from Manny Ochenje.
 
After missing on its opening possession of the game, Manhattanville scored on its next four trips down the court to take an early 10-2 lead, led by five points from Winter. The Valiants continued to cruise offensively after that, culminating in six straight points from Camacho that gave the Valiants a 23-10 lead with 10:45 left in the first half.
 
The Aggies attempted to chip away at the Valiant lead, but the visitors still held a 10-point edge at 31-21 after a three-pointer by freshman Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) with 5:54 on the clock. However, Manhattanville managed just one field goal for the remainder of the half, as Delaware Valley closed the frame on a commanding 21-3 run that suddenly put the home team up 42-34 at the half.
 
DelVal hit nine of its last 11 shots in the half to finish the first 20 minutes at 53.1 percent (17 of 32) in from the field, while the Valiants missed 10 of their last 11 attempts after a strong start to finish at 34.3 percent (12 of 35) over the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Aggies started the second half with more of the same, using a 15-6 run to open up a game-high 17-point lead (57-40) with 10:54 remaining.
 
But the Valiants did not quit. Seven points from Maestre led the Valiants on a quick 9-2 spurt that got the deficit down to 10 with 7:55 left. The lead dwindled down to just five after a three from freshman Timmy McCauley (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) and a Winter layup that made the score 63-58 with 4:29 on the clock.
 
Manhattanville went over three minutes without a field goal after that, but the team went 6-of-8 from the free throw line and took advantage of some poor Aggie shooting from the stripe to get within a possession at 67-64 after two Camacho freebies with 1:42 remaining.
 
Maestre hit one of two on the team's next possession to make it a 67-65 game with under a minute left. The Valiants forced a wild shot from Arnold, but Brockington grabbed the offensive rebound and the Valiants were forced to foul with 22 seconds left. Arnold hit two from the line to make it a four-point game; however, Camacho came back on the other end with a huge step-back three from the corner and the score was 69-68 with 14.5 ticks remaining.
 
Arnold again stepped to the line and again knocked down a pair to give DelVal a 71-68 lead with 13 seconds left, and Camacho's three from the same spot on the court rattled off the rim to end any chance of a Valiant comeback.
 
Manhattanville hit 12 of 26 shots from the field in the second half to finish the game at 39.3 percent (24 for 61) for the night. Delaware Valley shot an even 50.0 percent (12 of 24) in the second half, finishing the night at 51.8 percent (29 for 56) from the field.
 
Manhattanville will be back in action on Saturday, as the Valiants host King's (Pa.) College in a Freedom Conference matchup at Kennedy Gym beginning at 3 p.m.