PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team fell into an early hole and again could not climb all the way out, as the Valiants fell to FDU-Florham by a 62-54 score in MAC Freedom action on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Manhattanville (7-11, 1-6 MAC Freedom) struggled shooting the ball on Wednesday, as the Valiants connected on only 21 of 60 attempts (35.0 percent) from the field, which negated the team's 40-29 edge in the glass. Senior Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) was the only Valiant in double figures with 13 points, while classmate Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) came a bucket short of a double-double with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
FDU-Florham (1-17, 1-6 MAC Freedom) was led by Darren Davy, who scored a game-high 18 points, and Shawn Smith, who chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
 
The Devils took the game to the Valiants early, outscoring Manhattanville 21-10 over the first 10:01. The home team got back within five at 29-24 with 2:36 to go in the half after a layup from sophomore Cory Madden (Woodside, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy Memorial), but FDU scored nine straight to end the first half and start the second in taking a 38-24 lead.
 
But as the team did on Saturday at Eastern, Manhattanville battled back in the second stanza, eventually lowering the deficit down to just two after the second of two straight Arena buckets made the score 53-51 Devils with 2:46 remaining. But the Valiants could not convert with a chance to retake the lead, and the Devils got two Davy jumpers and a 5-of-6 effort from the line to close out the contest.
 
Manhattanville is back in action on Saturday, when the Valiants host King's (Pa.) College for Alumni Day at Kennedy Gym. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 3 p.m.