PURCHASE, N.Y. – The 2021 AJ Buchanan Classic concluded on Saturday, as the Manhattanville College men's basketball team was defeated by Trinity college in the tournament's consolation game, 65-57. With the loss, the Valiants drop to .500 on the year.

Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) led all Manhattanville scorers with 11 points off the bench, a new career-high for the junior. Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's), Chris Brown (Miami, Fla./Coral Gables Senior), and Connor Yetman (Sydney, Australia/The Scots College (H.S.)) each scored nine in the loss.

Speaking of Lotito, the junior pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to set a new personal best. Petey Galgano (New Rochelle, N.Y./Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Mass.)) had seven total boards, while Yetman led the Valiants with three rebounds off the offensive glass.

It was a second-straight difficult shooting day for Manhattanville, as the team's .333 shooting percentage was their lowest production from the floor this season. While the Valiants' 20 percent mark from beyond the arc was an improvement over the nine percent a day ago against Brooklyn, Manhattanville was only able to sink four shots from downtown, preventing the home squad from being able to stage a comeback.

The Valiants led the Bantams for much of the opening 20 minutes. With the score tied 7-7 through the opening five minutes. Chris Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) hit a deep ball to put Manhattanville ahead by three. The Valiants would extend the lead to as much as nine, but the Bantams would claw back to even the score at 24-24 on a DJ Smith three pointer with 5:18 remaining in the half. A 7-3 Trinity run over the rest of the half put the Bantams ahead 31-27, a lead they would hold the rest of the way.

Manhattanville was able to remain within striking distance throughout most of the second half, but Trinity kept responding to every Valiant basket. The Bantams were ultimately able to go on an 11-2 run with seven minutes left in the half to pull ahead by 14, and while the Valiants were able to cut the deficit back down to single digits, time was not on their side as the Bantams were able to head back to Connecticut with a 65-57 win.

In the championship match of the AJ Buchanan Classic, Kean University defeated Brooklyn College 61-58. Kean's Patrick Strzala was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player after leading the Cougars to a pair of weekend wins. Strzala's teammate Letrell West joined him on the all-tournament team, while Brooklyn was represented by Elisha Park and Noah Shy. Trinity's Will Dorion and Manhattanville's Yetman rounded out the tournament team accolades.

Up Next
Manhattanville will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday night when they travel to John Jay College for an 8 p.m. contest.

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