SCRANTON, Pa. – Opening up the two-day Hilton Scranton Invitational, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team defeated York College of Pennsylvania in the opening round of the tournament. The 74-70 win makes the Valiants 2-0 to open up the season as the team advances to Saturday's championship game.

Manhattanville featured three scorers in double figures, led by a 17 point effort from Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's). The senior was 5-of-9 from the field while shooting 7-of-11 at the free throw line. Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) scored 16 on a 6-for-13 night on the floor, while Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) added 11 points. Lotito and Dunn would also account for seven of the team's eight steals on the night.

Dunn and Matt Bielenda (Wethersfield, Conn./Xavier) led Manhattanville's rebounding effort with five boards apiece, with Dunn collecting two offensive rebounds. Lotito, Leech and Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) would each end the night with four boards.

Outscoring York by nine points in the first half, the Valiants scored the first six points of the night on a pair of Dunn layups and a Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) jumper. Manhattanville held on to their lead through the opening 10 minutes as every time the Spartans made it a one possession game, Manhattanville answered with a bucket of their own.

York would claim their first lead of the night following back-to-back threes by Shawn Barclay and Pat Gilhool. Kai Cipalla added a layup to put the Spartans up 20-16. The Valiants tied the game back up at 22-22 on an Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) layup with 5:42 left in the half. The Spartans retook the lead with 2:42 to go, but an 11-0 Valiant run in the closing two minutes swung momentum back in the hands of Manhattanville. Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) sank the team's first three pointer of the night, while Lotito beat the buzzer with a layup to give the Valiants a 33-24 lead.

The closing minutes run would prove to ultimately be the difference maker on the night, as while the Spartans outscored Manhattanville 46-41 in the second half, York would be unable to claw all the way back. The Valiant lead climbed as high as 13, with Manhattanville up 67-54 with 2:09 left in regulation.

The Spartans were ready to give Manhattanville a taste of their own medicine with a scoring fury over the final two minutes, draining back-to-back threes to cut the lead back to single digits with 1:43 remaining. Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) was able to sink a pair of free throws, but the Spartans seemingly could not miss the deep shot as Johnny Kennevan sank another three pointer to keep the pace. A Leech layup and two more free throws by Lotito gave the Valiants an eight point advantage with 47 seconds to go, but a layup and another three by York suddenly made it a one possession game with four seconds remaining. The Valiants were successful on their inbound attempt, forcing the Spartans to foul immediately. Lotito would connect on one of two from the charity stripe, holding off the comeback effort and sending the Valiants to tomorrow's tournament championship game.

Up Next
Manhattanville takes on tourney host Scranton tomorrow following the Royals' first round win over Houghton. Tip-off for the Hilton Scranton Championship is slated for 4 p.m.

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