PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team dropped its MAC Freedom opener to preseason conference favorite Misericordia University by a 81-56 score on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Senior Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) posted his fifth double-double of the season for Manhattanville (6-6, 0-1 MAC Freedom), scoring 11 points and hauling in a game-high 10 boards. Sophomore JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) came one rebound short of his first career double-double with a team-high 14 points and a career-best nine rebounds, while freshman Matt Williams (Bronx, N.Y./Our Savior Lutheran) had a good showing off the bench with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 12 minutes.
 
Jason Kenny led Misericordia (6-6, 1-0 MAC Freedom) with a game-high 24 points, followed by Tony Harding with 21 points and Tre' Fields with 18.
 
Tuci started the game with a layup to give the Valiants an early lead, but a bucket from Tyrell Mann and a subsequent layup from Harding gave the Cougars a lead they would not relinquish. Manhattanville remained within four points after a Williams layup made the score 17-13 at the midway point of the half, but the Cougars outscored the Valiants by 10 the rest of the way to take a 41-27 lead into the locker rooms.
 
The second half played out in a similar way, as the Cougars managed to extend their lead. Cobbs led all players with 12 points in the second half, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field. Williams chipped in six points in seven minutes on the way to his first career double-digit scoring output as well.
 
Manhattanville will be back in action on Saturday, when the Valiants travel to Wilkes University for a MAC Freedom matchup beginning at 3 p.m.