WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team led for almost the entirety of the first half, but King's (Pa.) College used a big second-half run to take control and deal the Valiants a 83-70 defeat in MAC Freedom action on Saturday afternoon at McGrane Gymnasium.
Senior
Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had a huge game for Manhattanville (6-9, 0-4 MAC Freedom), recording 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. His 20 boards are tied for the seventh-most in a game in school history and are the most by a Valiant since John Danielski '04 hauled in 27 on February 26, 2004 at Mount St. Mary College.
Tuci scored on the game's first possession and Manhattanville led for much of the opening 20 minutes, with the lead growing to as many as five after a three-pointer from freshman
Matt Williams (Bronx, N.Y./Our Savior Lutheran) gave the visitors a 19-14 lead with 8:21 to go in the half.
Manhattanville shot 50.0 percent (14 of 28) in the opening 20 minutes, led by Tuci with 10 points and 10 more from freshman
Sean Smith (Yonkers, N.Y./Sacred Heart), who did not miss on five shot attempts in just nine minutes. Despite those efforts, five straight points gave King's a 37-35 lead at the half.
Following an old-fashioned three-point play from senior
Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) to start the second half, the Monarchs roared back with a 28-4 run over the next 7:39, hitting 10-of-16 attempts to surge to a 65-42 lead with 11:00 left. The visitors shot 2-of-7 and turned the ball over 11 times during the game-changing stretch.
The Valiants outscored King's by 10 points the rest of the way, but the deficit proved to be too much for the visitors to overcome. Manhattanville shot just 33.3 percent (12 of 36) in the second half to finish the game at 40.6 percent from the field, while King's ended the day at 45.6 percent (26 of 57) from the field.
Manhattanville returns to the court on Wednesday night with a MAC Freedom matchup against Delaware Valley University at Kennedy Gym beginning at 6 p.m.
