PURCHASE, N.Y. – Hitting the hardwood for the first time in more than a month, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team fought down to the wire with USMMA on Wednesday night but ultimately came up just short in the conference tilt. With the 66-64 loss, the Valiants fall to 4-6 on the season and 1-2 in Skyline Conference play.

In a night where all nine players to take the court scored for the Valiants, it was Petey Galgano (New Rochelle, N.Y./Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Mass.)) who led the way offensively with a 14-point effort. The senior was also the team's leading playmaker off the boards, pulling in nine rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) played well off the bench, scoring 11 in his 19 minutes on the floor. Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) rounded out the top scorers with 10 points to go along with his team-leading four steals on the night.

Connor Yetman (Sydney, Australia/The Scots College (H.S.)) finished second to Galgano in rebounds with seven of his own, three coming off the offensive glass. Chris Brown (Miami, Fla./Coral Gables Senior) contributed five boards while recording a season-high five blocks.

It took a while for things to start going for the Valiants, as the rust of being away from action for so long was not easy to shake off. Manhattanville, being led by assistant coach Sean McGee for the night in his head coaching debut filling in for Chris Alesi, shot just 28 percent in the first half while sporting a 3-for-13 mark from beyond the arc. Fortunately for the home squad, it was a slow start for the visiting Mariners as well with USMMA claiming a 15-9 lead through the opening 10 minutes. After a Galgano layup came three minutes into the contest, both teams went on a four minute stretch without a point until Yetman drilled a three pointer to tie the game up at 7-7. The Mariners would reclaim the lead for the remainder of the half, using an 8-0 run to pull ahead 23-11. The lead would hover around the double digit range before a 6-0 Valiant run capped off by an old-fashioned three point play from Lotito closed out the half with USMMA sporting a 29-24 advantage.

Manhattanville would continue to play catchup most of the way home, but a 48 percent success rate from the floor in the second half allowed the Valiants to go toe-to-toe with the Mariners. Kody Robinson connected on a three with 15:25 remaining in the game to sport the visitors an 11 point advantage, but Lotito responded with a deep ball of his own to kickstart a 15-7 run that made the game a one possession contest again with 10 minutes to go. The Mariners were able to regain some separation, pulling back out to a seven point lead, but a 10-0 run capped off by a Leech deep ball sported the Valiants their first lead of the night at 60-57 with 3:26 remaining. The teams would battle to three separate tied scored before all was said and done, with Leech knotting the game up at 64-64 with a jumper with 17 seconds remaining. Off a timeout, Robinson would put the guests back on top with a layup with two seconds to go. The Valiants were able to get a good look at the buzzer, but Jake Dunn's (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) three pointer came up short as the Mariners escaped with the win.

Up Next
The Valiants will look to pick up the first win of 2022 when they return to action on Saturday. Hosting St. Joseph's Long Island at 2 p.m.

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