PURCHASE, N.Y. – Making the short road trip up Anderson Hill Road, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team defeated Purchase College in a Skyline Conference clash, 78-69. The Valiants improve to 11-4 with the win and are now 4-2 against conference foes.
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) made it two straight games and three of his last four outings with double-doubles. The second-highest scorer in the conference put up 20 points on a 7-of-12 shooting performance. The senior added 11 rebounds on the defensive end along with six assists and a steal.
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) came off the bench and provided 24 strong minutes. The sophomore guard scored a season-high 16, going 6-of-9 from the floor.
Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) rounded out the Valiants' top offensive performers with 14 points as the senior shot .500 on the night.
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) pulled down seven rebounds, finishing behind only Lotito in the effort. Leech collected six caroms, while
Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) pulled down five.
A back-and-forth first half featuring nine lead changes began with a
Matt Bielenda (Wethersfield, Conn./Xavier) three pointer just under two minutes in following the opening tip. Purchase would take their first lead of the affair two minutes later on an Isaac Johnson jumper. While the Panthers would take the biggest lead of the early going with a four point advantage, the Valiants would even the score up at 9-9 at the 14:46 mark. The lead would flip-flop six times as the teams traded baskets before Purchase put together the first sustained run of the game with six unanswered points to go up 19-14. The Valiants would attempt to play catchup for most of the remaining 6:53 of the half, finally overcoming the hurdle on the heels of a 5-0 run over the final 1:10 to take a 28-27 lead at the buzzer.
The Valiants would take 28 free throw attempts in the second half as the Panthers' foul trouble allowed Manhattanville to secure the win. Purchase, however, would show a prowess at the charity stripe of their own, going a perfect 14-of-14 on free throws over the final 20 minutes of play. Purchase would reclaim the lead to begin the half with a pair of free throws by Rashid Nikiema. A Leech layup began an 11-0 Manhattanville run that would put the Valiants up for good. The Valiants outscored the Panthers 21-7 over a span of 6:33 that would move the score to 52-38. Manhattanville's lead would not dip below double digits until 1:39 remained in regulation when an Elijah Holmes deep ball cut the Valiant advantage down to 74-65. Time would run out on Purchase before they could get closer than eight as Scanlon would hit a free throw in his final trip to the line to make the final score 78-69.
Up Next
The Valiants will take on Old Westbury on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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