PURCHASE, N.Y. – With just over four minutes remaining in the first half, Manhattanville College men's basketball senior JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) scored his 12th point of the game with a pair of free throws, and the 1,000th of his career, becoming the 27th player in program history to accomplish the feat. Cobbs finished with a game-high-tying 17 points as he and the Valiants picked up the 66-58 Skyline Conference victory over the United States Merchant Marine Academy at home on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 11, at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 

 
Manhattanville (7-4, 2-0 Skyline) started off the game strong and eventually built up a 16-point lead over the Mariners (5-7, 1-2 Skyline) in the first half. Already leading by six at the 11:49 mark, the Valiants proceeded to go on a 10-0 run, led by six points from rookie Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South). He began with a layup at 11:30 to make it 21-13, later followed by a steal by classmate Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's), who found a streaking junior Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) for the fastbreak lay-in to force a Merchant Marine timeout.
 

 
Out of the break, Giordano stole the ball at the point in the defensive zone and flew down the court to put down the fastbreak slam dunk and make it a 12-point game. The forward followed with another layup nearly 45 seconds later –another assist for Lotito. Giordano then blocked a USMMA shot, leading to a layup by Cobbs at 8:43 to make it 29-13 to cap off the run. The squad maintained a steady lead until the break before taking the nine-point 39-30 advantage into the half.
 
The second started out much like the first for the Crimson and White, as the home squad enjoyed another 8-0 run to go up by 16 points with 14:30 left in the game. Sophomore Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) scored six of those points, beginning with a lay-in at 15:53. Cobbs followed with a bucket at 15:23 before rookie Khari Taylor (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) forced a Mariner turnover that lead to a fastbreak layup from Dunn at 15:03. The second-year guard closed out the run with another basket to make it 51-35 in favor of the Valiants.
 
Manhattanville maintained a strong advantage for nearly the next five minutes before Merchant Marine began to claw back into the game. USMMA came all the way back and made it a three-point game at 59-56 with 6:22 on the clock, but both defenses clamped down and neither squad scored a point until the 4:36 mark when Dunn split a pair of free throws. Again a scoreless drought made its way into the game for both teams before Lotito finally sunk a jumper with 0:50 on the clock to make it 62-56. The Mariners did make it a four-point game with 0:32 left, but Dunn drained four more free throws down the stretch to lock up the eight-point victory.
 
Highlights:

• In addition to his 17 points, Cobbs also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, dished out three assists and tied the game high with three steals.
• Granda ended with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal.
• Dunn finished with 11 points, six boards, two assists, one steal and a game- and career-best three blocks – two of which came in the waning moments of the contest.
• Giordano scored a collegiate-best 10 points to go with two boards, a block and a steal.
• Lotito finished with a game-best six assists, five points, two rebounds and a steal.
• Taylor chipped in with seven rebounds, two points, one assist and a steal.
• The Valiants dominated in transition, outscoring USMMA 22-3 in fastbreak points.

Manhattanville returns to the court this Tuesday night, Jan. 14, for a 7:00 p.m. home game at Kennedy against Purchase College for The Battle of Anderson Hill Road. The Valiants lead the Panthers 19-8 all-time, but are looking for their first victory in the series since 2014.