JAMAICA, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team picked up its fifth victory of the season Tuesday night, Dec. 17, in dramatic fashion as the Valiants defeated non-conference foe York College (N.Y.) on the road by a score of 72-71. Senior guard
JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) – who hit the game winner with just five seconds left – was the game's high scorer, pouring in 25 points on 11-of-23 from the floor for his second straight 20-plus point performance.
The Valiants (5-2) dominated the night in transition as they outscored the hometown Cardinals (3-8) by a margin of 24-8 in points off turnovers. Rookie guard
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) had his best game as a collegian, and finished with double-digits in scoring for the first time in his career (13 points). He also pulled down a team-high-tying eight rebounds and added a season-best five assists and a steal in his first-career start.
Manhattanville owned the first half of play against York, taking an early 13-11 lead on a jumper from junior guard
Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) at 14:27. Granda later stretched that lead out to 10 with a three-pointer at 12:30. A couple minutes later, with his team up by seven, rookie forward
Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) chipped in a jumper to make it a nine-point game at 25-16 with 9:47 left – that kicked off an 11-1 run to give the Valiants their largest lead of the night at 17 points. Senior guard
Cory Madden (Woodside, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy Memorial) next picked up a three at 8:51, followed by a fastbreak lay-in – and-one – from Cobbs. Madden again sank another three at 7:11 to make it 34-17. The Crimson and White eventually took an eight-point 41-33 lead into the break.
York eventually trimmed the Valiants lead all the way down before actually taking a one-point lead with 1:58 remaining in regulation. With the clock winding down, however, Cobbs hit a clutch jumper in the paint with just 0:05 remaining to ice the victory for the Valiants at 72-71.
Highlights:
- Granda finished with 14 points, two assists and two rebounds.
- Sophomore guard Petey Glagano and rookie forward Khari Taylor (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) joined Lotito with eight rebounds apiece, each chipping in four points as well. Galgano also led all Valiants in assists (career-high-tying 6) and steals (2).
- Manhattanville outdid York off the bench, owning the 14-4 advantage.
The Valiants will now take a break for the holidays before returning to action in Washington, D.C., for the College Park Holiday Inn Tournament, hosted by Catholic University. They face the hosting Cardinals in the first round on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 5:00 p.m., and then take on either Hobart College or Ursinus College on Sunday, Jan. 5, at 5:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. Manhattanville has not faced Catholic or Hobart since 1989 or Ursinus since 1998.
