SCRANTON, Pa. – A career-high 19 point outing from Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) led the way for the Manhattanville College men's basketball team on the road Friday night, as the Valiants knocked off Marywood in a non-conference road tilt, 64-61. The victory improves Manhattanville's record on the season to 5-3.

The sophomore Merritt provided 20 minutes off the bench, shooting a lights-out 7-of-8 from the field and a 5-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. Prior to Friday night, Merritt had not seen more than 11 minutes of action in a game this season and entered the contest with just nine points on the year. The guard added three rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in his strong night.

Merritt was joined by the usual suspects of Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) and Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) in double figures, with the senior tandem combining for 26 points. Lotito put up 14 on a 5-for-9 night from the floor, while Leech, coming off his career-best performance against Yeshiva on Tuesday, scored 12. Both Lotito and Leech added three assists, while the latter finished with a team-high three blocks.

Manhattanville outrebounded the Pacers 43-34. Leech and Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) finished with eight rebounds each to lead the effort, both pulling down a pair of offensive boards. Lotito added seven, while Matt Bielenda (Wethersfield, Conn./Xavier) ended the night with six.

It was a tightly contested affair throughout, with the largest lead of the night never surpassing seven points. It would be the Valiants' shooting that ultimately made the difference, as Manhattanville connected on 50 percent of their field goal attempts on the night.

The first half never saw a lead of more than five points, although the Pacers would stake claim to a five point advantage on the backs of the first two baskets of the game as Caleb Vigil connected on a three before a jumper on the following possession. Leech and Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) responded with a layup and three, respectively, as both offenses started off slow with the 5-5 tie holding through the opening five minutes. It would be the first of six more tied scores through the remainder of the half as runs were all but non-existent. After Merritt connected for three to put the Valiants up 15-14, the Pacers got back-to-back deep balls from Trevor Seitz and Andrew Quinn to once again go up by five. Merritt began to heat up with two more threes in response to reclaim the Manhattanville lead with 6:30 left in the half. After battling to a 28-28 tie with 2:26 left, a Giordano layup put the Vals up 30-28. The Pacers would notch the final baskets of the half with Mason Mendygral evening the game before Corey Perkins took a valiant turnover the other way for a closing-second layup, putting the home team ahead 32-30 at the half.

It would once again be the Pacers slowly building back up to the five point advantage entering the second half as Vigil's jumper with 15:52 on the clock put Marywood up 40-35. The Valiants trailed for more than 12 straight minutes as the elusive run continued to evade them. Still, Manhattanville kept pace with Marywood, only allowing the Pacer lead to climb to six before the offense began clicking. A layup by Merritt with 9:04 to play began a 12-0 run for Manhattanville that saw the Valiants pull ahead 57-51 with 3:47 remaining on the clock. It was the longest run of the night by far for either team, with the Valiants needing every last point from it to secure the road win. A Leech three pointer would put Manhattanville up by seven with 2:39 remaining before Marywood pieced together an 8-2 run to get back within one with 34 ticks to go. Lotito delivered a clutch layup with 13 seconds remaining to put the Valiants up 64-61, which is where the score would finish as Vigil's buzzer-beating three to tie went off target.

Up Next
The Valiants are back at home on Monday to take on Hunter College at 7 p.m.

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