PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team battled hard against first-place Eastern University on Saturday afternoon, but the Valiants could not match the Eagles' offensive output in suffering a 79-63 loss in MAC Freedom action at Kennedy Gym.
 
Junior Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) posted the game's only double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Manhattanville (6-11, 2-4 MAC Freedom). Freshman Dwayne Frazier (Miami, Fla./The Sagemont School) also had an excellent outing, scoring 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and adding six rebounds and two assists, while junior Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) also reached double figures with 10 points in 15 minutes.
 
The tandem of Shaquan Turk and Victor Pena led the way for Eastern (10-7, 5-1 MAC Freedom). Turk scored a game-high 22 points and also added five rebounds, three blocks and three steals, while Pena netted 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting with eight boards.
 
Manhattanville started the game well with a three-pointer and a layup from Haggerty that gave the home team a 5-0 lead, but Eastern roared back by scoring the next 22 points in the span of 5:46 to take a 17-point lead.
 
However, the Valiants did not give up in the face of the big deficit, as the home team chipped away at the lead and eventually got all the way back to within one point following a Tuci layup with 1:52 remaining in the half made the score 33-32. Junior Timmy Quinlan (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) had a pair of big three-pointers during the extended 27-11 stretch, which also featured six points from Frazier and five each from Haggerty and freshman JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff).
 
Manhattanville ended the half with an alley-oop dunk from Tuci and a Frazier layup that got the Valiants within two at 38-36. Haggerty had all 10 of his points in the opening 20 minutes to pace the Valiants, who shot 15 of 34 (44.1 percent) from the field.
 
Unfortunately for Manhattanville, the Eagles had another big run still left in them, as the visitors started the second half with 14 straight points to take a 52-36 lead with 13:58 remaining. A subsequent 13-5 run by the home team lowered the deficit to eight (57-49) with 8:35 left and the margin was still eight after a layup from junior Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) made the score 63-55 with 6:10 on the clock, but the Valiants could get no closer the rest of the way.
 
The Valiants finished the game shooting 40.6 percent (26 of 64) from the field, while the Eagles ended the afternoon at 46.7 percent (28 of 60). Manhattanville ended up with a 42-31 rebounding edge, but Eastern forced 16 turnovers and had only eight on the way to the win.
 
Manhattanville will finish up the first round of MAC Freedom play on Wednesday night, when the Valiants travel to FDU-Florham for an 8 p.m. tipoff with the Devils.