PURCHASE, N.Y. – Senior Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led four Valiants in double figures with a career-high 20 points as the Manhattanville College men's basketball team started the 2017-18 season with a 74-70 victory over St. Joseph's (L.I.) College in front of a raucous Kennedy Gym crowd on Wednesday night.
 
Arena had a big game to lead Manhattanville (1-0) to the win, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and also adding seven rebounds and a game-high three steals. Classmate Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had a huge effort with 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while sophomore JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) went for 14 points and freshman Sean Smith (Yonkers, N.Y./Sacred Heart) scored 10 points in his collegiate debut, including a perfect 8-for-8 effort from the charity stripe.
 
Isaiah Moore led four St. Joseph's (0-1) players in double figures with 18 points, while Frank Basile just missed a double-double of his own with 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
 
Manhattanville never trailed in the contest, as Tuci and Arena started off the night with baskets and the Golden Eagles could not get closer than three points over the final 38 minutes. The home team turned 11 SJC turnovers into 13 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, leading by as many as 12 points before the visitors battled back to get within six at 35-29 at halftime.
 
Arena led all players with 11 points at the half, while Tuci was already one rebound short of double figures with nine caroms in 15 minutes of action.
 
The Valiants looked to ice the game with a 16-2 run over a 5:41 span midway through the second half, opening up their largest lead of the night at 61-43 with 8:19 remaining. But the next 5:42 resulted in a 19-5 run for the visitors, as the Valiant lead shrunk to just four (66-62) with 2:37 on the clock. But Cobbs sunk a clutch layup to stem the tide, and the home team got key free throws from Cobbs and Tuci in the final 30 seconds to secure the victory.
 
Manhattanville shot 42.6 percent (23 of 54) from the field, winning despite not making any of its 14 three-point attempts. The contest marked the first since since December 30, 2012 that the Valiants did not make at least one three-point attempt in a game, and the first time that the Valiants won a game without hitting a three since January 23, 2010 against Eastern University.
 
Manhattanville will look to keep the momentum going into the weekend, as the Valiants host the fifth annual AJ Buchanan Classic at Kennedy Gym on Friday and Saturday. Friday's first day of action begins with SUNY Brockport and Western Connecticut State University at 6 p.m., followed by Manhattanville and William Paterson University at 8 p.m.