PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team saw its 2016-17 season come to a close with a 78-55 loss to Misericordia University on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gym.
 
Junior Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) scored a team-leading 17 points and classmate Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) chipped in 14 points and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench for Manhattanville (8-17, 4-10 MAC Freedom). Senior Charles Nardone (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) scored eight points in the final game of his collegiate career, while junior Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led the team with seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
 
Griffin Sponaugle led a potent Cougar offense with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting and also grabbed a team-best six rebounds. The MAC Freedom's leading scorer, Jason Kenny, was held to 12 points and James Hawk added 10 and five boards as well for Misericordia (18-7, 9-5 MAC Freedom).
 
Manhattanville jumped out to a 10-4 lead over the first four minutes, with Nardone and Tuci both draining a three and a pair of free throws to put the home team ahead early. The Valiants kept their lead until a 13-0 Misericordia run turned a 17-14 lead into a 27-17 deficit with 7:37 to go in the half.
 
After five points from Tuci, the Cougars then ended the half on a 17-5 run to take a 47-27 lead into the intermission. Misericordia shot 59.2 percent (19 of 32) from the field and a sizzling 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes, while the Valiants connected at a 34.8 percent (8 of 23) clip.
 
The Valiants were unable to make any serious dent in the deficit throughout the second half, but the home team got some quality minutes from Haggerty as well as sophomore Thomas Hickey (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Fordham Prep), who had four points and three boards in seven minutes of action.
 
Misericordia's high-paced offense posted a big 20-3 edge in fast-break points and also converted 15 Valiant turnovers into 24 points at the other end. The Cougars also finished the game 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from beyond the arc, helping to counteract a 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) showing from the line.
 
The game marks the end of Manhattanville's season and the four-year career of Nardone, who is the only senior on this year's roster. An experienced Valiant squad will look to get back to the MAC Freedom Tournament once again in 2017-18.