PURCHASE, N.Y. – Junior Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) led four Valiants in double figures with a team-high 21 points and 12 rebounds as Manhattanville College knocked off first-place Delaware Valley University in a MAC Freedom men's basketball battle on Wednesday evening at Kennedy Gym.
 
The win keeps postseason hope alive for Manhattanville (8-14, 4-7 MAC Freedom), which remains in sixth place in the conference standings and sits two games back of fourth-place Misericordia University with three games to go. Delaware Valley (13-9, 8-3 MAC Freedom) still clinched a postseason spot despite the loss, which dropped the Aggies out of first place in the conference.
 
Tuci led the way with his 10th double-double of the season, and he also matched his career high with four rejections as well. Freshman JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) scored 15 points, while junior Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Fellow junior Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) helped spearhead the offense with eight assists to go along with 12 points and three boards.
 
Manhattanville came out of the gates red-hot in the first half, shooting 59.3 percent (16 of 27) from the field and knocking down 7-of-9 attempts from long range on the way to a 41-32 halftime advantage.
 
The teams remained close for the first 10 minutes of the opening half, with the Valiants opening up a five-point lead only to see the Aggies come back with eight straight points to take their largest lead of the night at 17-14 with 10:59 on the clock. But Manhattanville began its three-point barrage after that, with long balls from Arena and Haggerty followed by Tuci and Arena layups as part of a 10-0 run.
 
The Valiant lead was still five at 32-27 with 3:59 left before back-to-back-to-back three-pointers – first from junior Timmy Quinlan (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) and then two in a row from Haggerty – gave the home team all the momentum as well as its largest lead of the night, a 41-27 advantage entering the final minute of the half.
 
The three-pointers all but dried up in the second half, but Manhattanville instead buckled down defensively and came up with the big baskets when needed. The Valiants never allowed Delaware Valley to score more than four straight points over the final 20 minutes, as the Valiant lead never fell lower than three, which came at 53-50 with 9:14 left.
 
That three-point lead was answered by five straight points from Arena, and buckets soon after from Quinlan and Cobbs helped build the lead back up to 11 points at 65-54 with 4:33 remaining. The Aggies went into fouling mode with 2:14 left in an attempt to prolong the game and the Valiants did not help themselves by missing 8-of-18 freebies down the stretch, but the home team made enough – five each from Cobbs and Tuci – to pull out the victory.
 
Despite 10-for-28 shooting (35.7 percent) from the field and a 1-of-9 effort from beyond the arc in the second half, Manhattanville still finished the game at 47.3 percent (26 of 55) from the floor and 44.4 percent (8 of 18) from long range. Delaware Valley was limited to just 40.0 percent (26 of 65) shooting from the field for the evening.
 
Manhattanville will face another must-win game against another top conference opponent on Saturday, as the Valiants travel to first-place Eastern University for a 3 p.m. tipoff with the Eagles.