PURCHASE, N.Y. – The 2022-23 men's basketball season tipped off inside Kennedy gymnasium on Tuesday night, as the Valiants began the new campaign with a 69-63 victory over John Jay. The win gets Manhattanville off to a 1-0 start to the year.
The Valiant offense was led by 22 points from
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's). Manhattanville's leading scorer from last season picked up right where he left off, going 9-for-12 from the field and sinking four of his six free throws.
Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) and
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) joined the senior Lotito in double figures with 17 and 11 points, respectively.
Lotito and Leech would also be amongst the team's board leaders on the night, pulling down eight rebounds each. Their total would be matched as well by
Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell). Leech's two boards off the offensive glass were matched for the team lead with
Matt Bielenda (Wethersfield, Conn./Xavier) and
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School).
Leech would score the first points of the year for the Valiants with a layup to open up the contest, but four straight points by the Bloodhounds put John Jay ahead early. The visitors were able to make the most of their narrow lead, going up by as much as eight points with 11:19 remaining in the half. The Valiants were able to get back into it with a 9-0 run that featured the first three pointer of
Daniel Marinaccio's (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) collegiate career. While John Jay was able to reclaim their lead, the Valiants tied the game up at 25-25 on a pair of Lotito free throws with 6:54 left in the half. A Kistoo-Miles jumper put Manhattanville up with a lead they would protect over the final six and a half minutes, as a pair of Scanlon free throws in the closing seconds gave the Valiants a 34-30 lead heading into the locker room.
The Bloodhounds sank a pair of baskets coming out of the half to even the game once again, but a 6-0 Valiant run put the home team back on top for good. The lead for Manhattanville climbed as high as 11 as the Valiants shot 44 percent from the field in the closing 20 minutes. Up 46-41,
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) drained a shot from beyond the arc before Scanlon converted an old-fashioned three point play to deliver the home team the 11 point advantage. There was still plenty of time to go with 9:24 on the clock, and the Bloodhounds intended to make a game of it still. A 7-0 John Jay run cut the lead down to four before Jamir Stewart's layup made it a one possession game with under five minutes to play at 58-55. The Valiants responded with back-to-back threes by Kistoo-Miles, providing Manhattanville with the breathing room they needed to seal the deal on the contest, earning the 69-63 victory.
Up Next
The Valiants compete in their first of two regular season tournaments this weekend. Manhattanville travels to Scranton for the Hilton Scranton Invitational, taking on York College of Pennsylvania in the opening round on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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