KINGS POINT, N.Y. – Despite outscoring the opposition by ten in the second half, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team was unable to overcome a sluggish opening 20 minutes as the Valiants fell to Merchant Marine on Saturday, 66-57. The loss brings an end to the team's six-game winning streak as Manhattanville drops to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) went the distance on the floor, playing all 40 minutes to collect his second double-double to the season. The senior was the team's leader in both scoring and rebounds, putting up 15 points while collecting a career-high 13 caroms. Lotito added four assists and a pair of steals as well, both highs for the Valiants on the day.
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) topped his personal best in his 25 minutes off the bench with 13 points. The sophomore went 5-of-7 from the free throw line while shooting 50 percent from the floor. Saint-Louis also pulled down four rebounds, his fourth time this season he has matched his season-high.
Outside of Lotito's rebounding effort,
Matt Bielenda (Wethersfield, Conn./Xavier) would collect five caroms while
Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) joined Saint-Louis with four.
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) had a team-leading pair of blocks.
The Valiants shot just 5-of-25 in the first half, hitting one of nine three pointers and going 5-of-10 on free throw attempts. Conversely, Merchant Marine opened the day with a 48 percent success rate from the field with six three pointers and out-rebounding the Valiants 25-15. While Manhattanville was able to hang close through the opening seven minutes despite their shooting woes, the Mariners went on a 12-0 run to start pulling away, going up 21-6 with 8:30 remaining in the half. After a Kistoo-Miles jumper pulled the Valiants back within 10, USMMA would outscore Manhattanville 12-3 over the final 5:08 to take a 35-16 lead into the half.
Manhattanville fared much better in the second half, shooting 48 percent from the field and going 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. Despite finding better footing in the offensive gameplan, the hole from the first half proved too deep to dig out from. The Valiants would cut the Mariner lead down to six with nine and a half minutes to play before USMMA responded with six straight points to regain some distance. It was a similar story with under 2:20 to play after Lotito hit a pair of free throws to make the score 58-53. Merchant Marine would score seven unanswered to go back up 12, ultimately securing the win with a 66-57 final.
Up Next
The Valiants continue a four game conference road trip on Wednesday, heading the short distance up Anderson Hill Road to take on Purchase at 6 p.m.
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