PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team erased 28-point first-half deficit to take a late lead, but the team came one shot away from pulling off the record-breaking comeback as the Valiants fell in heartbreaking fashion to Eastern University, 82-81, in a thrilling MAC Freedom matchup on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Senior Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) led all scorers with 27 points for Manhattanville (9-7, 2-3 MAC Freedom), while sophomore Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had a huge game with 20 points and 19 rebounds. The 19 rebounds are the most by a Valiant since John Danielski '04 hauled in 27 at Mount Saint Mary College on February 26, 2004, and the 20 points are the most by a Valiant in a 19-rebound game since Danielski had 20 and 22 versus Yeshiva University on February 1, 2004.
 
Freshmen Willie Britton (Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) and Javin Barton (Queens, N.Y./St. Mary's) also provided a nice spark for the Valiants as well. Britton netted a season-high 10 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes, while Barton had six points, four boards, two assists and two steals in his second straight starting role.
 
Malcolm Garrison led Eastern (8-8, 2-3 MAC Freedom) with 21 points, followed by Shaquan Turk with 17 points – including his 1,000th career point midway through the first half – and a team-best 11 rebounds.
 
After the teams went over three minutes without a point to start the game, junior Charles Nardone (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) finally got the home team on the board with 16:54 left with a layup. But after that, the Eagles did not miss over the next six minutes, going 9-for-9 from the field – including an incredible 7-of-7 from beyond the arc – to storm out to a 29-6 lead with 11:01 left in the half.
 
The Eastern lead grew to as many as 28 after Jonathan Tolber's fourth three of the half with 9:02 left, putting the visitors up 38-10. But the Valiants did not quit, slowly chipping away at the lead with plenty of time left. The team then ended the half on a 10-0 run, with a free throw from sophomore Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) getting Manhattanville within 14 at the break, down 47-33.
 
Eastern shot only 50.0 percent (15 of 30) in the opening half, but hit 11-of-16 three pointers to surge to an early lead. Manhattanville, conversely, shot just 33.3 percent (12 of 36) overall and 2 of 14 from beyond the arc to fall behind early.
 
Manhattanville came out with some threes of their own to begin the second half, getting two from Tuci and one from Nardone to get back within eight at 50-42 with 17:11 left. However, Eastern responded with a 15-0 run, led by seven from Turk and six by Tarek Hamzeh, to reopen a 65-42 advantage with 12:19 on the clock.
 
But the see-saw battle continued with another huge Valiant run, this time a 22-2 surge that made it a 67-60 game with 7:56 remaining. Manhattanville continued to battle, eventually tying the score on two Tuci free throws and taking a 71-70 lead on a Maestre triple with 5:15 left. Two Barton freebies made it 73-70 Valiants, but Eastern had one last punch to throw, a 12-2 stint that put the Eagles up 82-75 with 89 seconds left.
 
The home team scored the next six points to get within one (82-81) with 20 seconds left on the clock, but after a missed free throw the Valiants turned the ball over with seven seconds remaining. Manhattanville still had one shot after Eastern missed two free throws, but the rebound took precious seconds off the clock and Maestre could only manage an off-balance runner from center court that caromed off the rim and out.
 
Manhattanville shook off its early shooting woes to shoot 16 of 32 in the second half, but still finished at just 41.2 percent (28 of 68) from the field for the night. Eastern shot better from beyond the arc (14 of 25) than inside it (14 of 31), allowing the visitors to escape with the win.
 
The Valiants are scheduled to return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. against King's (Pa.) College, when the team welcomes back former players on Alumni Day and also hosts a fundraiser for the Quinn For The Win Foundation to battle ALS. With inclement weather forecast for the area, however, please check GoValiants.com in the coming days for any potential schedule changes.