PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team celebrated its five graduating seniors on Saturday before the Valiants' 82-68 defeat to Eastern University in MAC Freedom action at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Prior to the contest, Manhattanville honored the five seniors playing in their final game at Kennedy Gym: Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman), Chris Ayson (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial), Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), Timmy Quinlan (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) and Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle). The five players have combined for more than 2,500 points in their four seasons in Purchase.
 
Freshman Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) had a big day off the bench for Manhattanville (8-15, 2-10 MAC Freedom), hitting five of his seven attempts from long range on the way to a season-high 16 points to go with five rebounds. Tuci recorded his 11th double-double of the year with 13 points and a game-high 11 boards, while sophomore JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) also reached double figures with 12 points.
 
Darius Washington netted a game-high 21 points with seven assists while Antonio Chapman scored 18 points to lead Eastern (13-10, 8-4 MAC Freedom), which clinched a MAC Freedom Tournament berth with the victory.
 
Neither team managed to exert itself fully in the opening half, with the lead never growing higher than five points in either direction. Manhattanville grabbed its first lead of the game after a Tuci jumper was followed by a Cobbs three-pointer with 9:37 remaining, and the two teams exchanged leads two more times before halftime. A pair of free throws from Ayson with 1:05 left in the half brought the Valiants back within two at 31-29 after 20 minutes.
 
Granda opened the second half with a three-pointer on the first possession to put the Valiants up 32-31, but Washington responded on the next possession and Eastern never trailed again. Another three from Ayson got the home team within two at 38-36, but the Eagles outscored the Valiants by 21 points over the next 11:25 to keep the Valiants from mounting a comeback.
 
Eastern caught fire in the second half, hitting 17-of-29 shots (58.6 percent) from the field and 7-of-15 from long range, to finish the day at 48.4 percent (30 of 62). Manhattanville hit 11 field goals in each half, finishing the afternoon at 34.9 percent (22 of 63) from the field.
 
Manhattanville will finish the 2017-18 season with a pair of road contests, beginning on Tuesday night at FDU-Florham tipping off at 8 p.m.