NEW YORK, N.Y. – Making their first conference tournament finals appearance since 2009, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team's postseason run came to an end on Sunday afternoon, as the fourth-seeded Valiants fell to No. 3 Yeshiva in the Skyline Conference Championship game, 74-40. The loss will bring Manhattanville's record on the season to 17-9, their highest win total since that 2008-09 season that saw the Valiants advance to the MAC Freedom finals.
Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) led Manhattanville in the finals with a solid 25 minutes off the bench, scoring 12 points on a 5-for-10 shooting day while collecting four rebounds. The junior ends his year with back-to-back 12 point efforts after matching the total he put up in Thursday's semifinal game against Farmingdale.
While no other Valiant was able to eclipse double-figures offensively,
Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) accounted for seven with a 4-of-6 mark from the free throw line.
Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) added six on a pair of three pointers.
Petey Galgano (New Rochelle, N.Y./Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Mass.)) was the team's leader in rebounds with eight, while Giordano's three offensive boards were a team high. Ten of the 11 Valiants that played in Sunday's contest ended the game with a board, although Yeshiva outrebounded the Valiants 39-31.
Despite a slow start that saw the Maccabees jump out to a 9-0 lead in the opening six minutes, the Valiants actually outshot the host team in the first half, connecting on 37 percent of their shots compared to Yeshiva's 26 percent mark from the field. However, the Macs were able to capitalize on their trips to the free throw line, sinking all nine of the their first half attempts from the charity stripe while the Valiants went 2-for-6. Still, Manhattanville's shooting advantage allowed the Valiants to keep Yeshiva from running away with things in the opening half. The Maccabees led by 11 following an Eitan Halpert three pointer at 10:21, but the Valiants responded with a 6-0 run to bring the lead back down to five. While Yeshiva's lead climbed back up to nine after Ryan Turell connected on a jump shot to end the half, Manhattanville was sticking around.
Unfortunately, Yeshiva was able to find its rhythm in the second half, shooting better than 61 percent over the final 20 minutes while the Valiants went 7-for-27 for a 26 percent success rate from the field. A 7-0 Maccabee run out of the locker room knocked Manhattanville on its heels, and with the Crimson and White struggling to hit shots, Yeshiva capitalized. The Maccabees outscored the Valiants 49-24 in the second half, extending their lead to as high as 36. The Valiants were unable to match Yeshiva's shooting success over the remainder of the contest as the Maccabees earned their third Skyline Conference championship in the last four years. Matan Zucker was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player following his 10 point, seven rebound effort in the championship game.
