WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Wilkes University outscored Manhattanville College by 19 points in the second half as the Colonels defeated the Valiants by a 78-66 score in MAC Freedom men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led Manhattanville (11-8, 4-4 MAC Freedom) with 16 points, one of four Valiants to reach double figures. Classmate Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) registered another double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while senior Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) and junior Charles Nardone (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) added 11 points each as well.
 
Steve Stravinski paced Wilkes (9-10, 4-4 MAC Freedom) with a game-high 26 points, and he was helped along by 15 points from Alec Wizar and 10 from Zachary Brunner.
 
Manhattanville got the first basket of the game from senior Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and the Valiants did not trail for the entirety of the opening half. The visitors shot 46.4 percent (13 of 28) from the field and limited Wilkes to 27.3 percent shooting (9 of 33) over the first 20 minutes, as the Valiants led by as many as 10 points on three separate occasions. The last time came on a layup from sophomore Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) with 1:20 left, which accounted for the team's final points of the half before a Wizar three made it a 33-26 score at the half.
 
But that three started a 12-0 run for the Colonels that erased that deficit completely and gave Wilkes its first lead of the game at 35-33 less than two minutes into the second half. On a larger scale, the run was part of a 29-9 swing that put Wilkes up 52-42 with 11:50 left in the game.
 
Manhattanville got the deficit down to four points (52-48) with 10:38 left after two Arena layups and a pair of Maestre free throws. However, the Valiants could not string together back-to-back buckets the rest of the way as the Colonels seemingly had an answer for every Valiant point. Wilkes also hit 12 of its 13 free throws over the final 6:08 to seal the win.
 
In the second half it was Manhattanville that had trouble finding a rhythm, shooting just 26.3 percent (10 of 38) from the field and a rough 1 of 14 (7.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Conversely, Wilkes shot 57.1 percent (16 of 28) from the field and 14 of 15 (93.3 percent) from the line in the second half.
 
Manhattanville will return home to Kennedy Gym on Wednesday, when the Valiants host first-place Delaware Valley University for an 8 p.m. tipoff.