KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The battle for the Skyline Conference north division crown went down to the wire, but a Merchant Marine buzzer beater brought an end to the Manhattanville College men's basketball team's eight game winning streak on Saturday. With the 58-56 loss, the Valiants end the regular season 15-8 overall and 12-4 in conference play.

Manhattanville stormed back from a 13-point first half deficit, tying the game at 56-56 with 20 seconds left off a Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) three pointer. Despite the valiant effort, Merchant Marine held the ball for the final possession, and Blaine McDonough collected the rebound off Isaac Vencel's missed layup and fired off a jumper at the buzzer that gave the Mariners the win.

Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) had 16 to lead Manhattanville on the day offensively. The fifth-year guard was 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, and has scored double figures in five straight games. Dunn added 13, while Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's), Petey Galgano (New Rochelle, N.Y./Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Mass.)) and Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) each had six.

Chris Brown (Miami, Fla./Coral Gables Senior) had a team-best seven rebounds and four blocks in the losing effort. Galgano dished out five assists and had three steals to go along with his six points.

The Mariners shot 55 percent in the first half as USMMA was able to run out to a sizable lead at the end of the frame. The Valiants sank three straight deep balls to jump out to a 9-2 lead. Manhattanville's protected their seven-point until 10:13 was left in the half. Bryce Bristow hit a layup for the Mariners to begin a 24-4 run that closed out the opening 20 minutes. The hot stretch put USMMA up 31-18 az the halftime horn sounded.

The Valiants had shown a propensity for comebacks as of late, and Saturday was no exception. Manhattanville opened up the second half on a 13-0 run to completely erase Merchant Marine's lead, tying the game up at 31-31 with 14:45 to play. Despite their double-digit advantage going up in smoke, USMMA quickly strung five points together to go back ahead. The Mariners continued to lead until 5:14 remained in regulation, when a Dunn layup dropped through the net to put the Valiants up 47-46. Merchant Marine once again pulled up by six, but back-to-back threes by Granda and Dunn tied the game up at 56-56 in the closing seconds. Despite the incredible resiliency, the comeback was ultimately for naught as McDonough beat the buzzer to give the Mariners the win.

Despite the heartbreaker, the Valiants still clinched a postseason berth and will host an opening round matchup in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament on Tuesday. The official bracket and seedings will be announced later this weekend.

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