SCRANTON, PA. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team suffered a tough non-conference road loss Monday afternoon, Dec. 17, by a score of 106-75 at the University of Scranton.
 
The Valiants (4-6) had a tough time getting their offense going against the Royals (8-0) as leading scorer, sophomore Sean Smith, battled foul trouble all day. He eventually fouled out with just 12 minutes played, including three fouls in the first half. Manhattanville's high-scorer for the game was junior JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff), who chipped in 14 points and five boards.
 
The game was tight for the majority of the first half. Scranton jumped out to a lead on several occasions, but the Valiants always battled back. The contest was at its closest with 3:27 remaining in the half following a Cobbs' layup to make it a two-point game at 41-39 in favor of the Royals. Scranton stretched out its lead to seven at 54-47 at the break, and Manhattanville was unable to close the gap from there on out.
 
The Valiants took nearly half of their field goal attempts from long range and made one-third of them (11-of-33) and were very efficient as a team from the free-throw line. Manhattanville finished 16-of-20 from the stripe (80.0 percent). Overall, the road squad shot just 35.8 percent from the floor (24-of-67), while Scranton was much more efficient – the Royals shot 38-of-58 (65.5 percent), which made the difference on the day.
 
Manhattanville will now take some time off for the holiday break before returning to the court Friday and Saturday, Dec. 28-29, for the CUNY Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The tournament is being hosted by Lehman College in the Bronx, N.Y. The Valiants will face future Skyline Conference foe Old Westbury College at 4:00 p.m. for their first game Friday. Then, Saturday they will face either Lehman or Stevenson University at 3:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m.