PURCHASE, N.Y. – In an early-season non-conference battle between two strong squads, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team came out on the losing end Saturday afternoon, Nov. 23, in the championship game of the 2019 AJ Buchanan Classic. The Valiants were defeated by Trinity College (Conn.) by a score of 80-60.
 
Manhattanville (2-1) started off the game well and kept pace with the Bantams (3-2), even taking a one-point 37-36 leading into halftime. Trinity and the Valiants went back and forth for the majority of the first half before the Bantams were able to take a five-point lead – the largest for either squad in the first 20 minutes – with 8:05 remaining following a layup from Donald Jorden. A couple big baskets followed for the Crimson and White, allowing them to tie the game up at 26-26 with just under 7:00 left in the half. Manhattanville head coach Chris Alesi called a timeout at 7:29 to halt a Trinity run, and out of the break, sophomore guard Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) – who finished with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting – sank a layup, followed by a steal for fellow second-year backcourt member Petey Galgano (New Rochelle, N.Y./Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Mass.)) (eight rebounds, four steals, four assists and three points), which then led to a three-pointer from senior guard Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) on the break.
 
Trinity quickly jumped ahead by four once again with just under 6:00 remaining, but the Valiants tied it up a couple of times before taking a one-point 35-34 lead on a lay-in from sophomore forward Chris Brown (Miami, Fla./Coral Gables Senior) with under 1:00 on the clock. Rookie guard Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) – who finished with eight points on 3-of-4 from the floor – closed out the Valiant scoring for the half with a jumper on the break, while Steven Lora of Trinity sank a layup with 00:25 left to bring it to 37-36. Granda ended the half with a team-high 10 points and led the Valiants with 15 overall.
 
The home squad kept pace with the Bantams for the first five minutes and change of the second half, staying within one point following a bucket down low from rookie forward Khari Taylor (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) at 14:58. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Valiants were able to get for the remainder of the contest, as Trinity began to stretch out its lead to five, then eight and eventually to double-digits with 6:32 left before coming away with the 20-point win to take the AJ Classic title.
 
Senior guard JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff), who finished with a team-high-tying 18 points in last night's win over Wesley University, was selected as the Valiants' representative on the All-Tournament Team. Jorden (21 points, 14 rebounds) was named to the All-Tournament team for the Bantams, while his teammate Nick Seretta (19 points) was named Tournament MVP. Brian Cameron of Wesley and Kevin Dennis of Morrisville State College were the other two All-Tournament selections.
 
Up next for the Crimson and White is another home non-conference matchup next Sunday afternoon, Dec. 1, at Kennedy Gymnasium when Western Connecticut State University travels down I-684 for a 2:00 p.m. tip. The Colonials hold the 9-6 all-time series edge, bit the Valiants have won the last three meetings, including a 69-63 home win back on Nov. 18, 2017 – Cobbs scored a team-high-tying 17 points that day.