PURCHASE, N.Y. – Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) drained a game-winning three in the closing seconds to cap off an 18-point performance to lead the Manhattanville College men's basketball team to a thrilling 52-51 victory over Neumann on Sunday afternoon. The Valiants improve to 1-1 to begin the new season, wrapping up the first week of the year.
The win was Manhattanville's first in program history against Neumann. The teams last met in the 2023 ECAC Tournament back in March, an 82-75 win by the Knights that brought an end to the Valiants' season. This go-around, the Valiants would have the upper hand thanks to Saint-Louis' leading performance.
Jalen Vaughns put on a display for the Knights, finishing with 26 points for the visiting Neumann. Despite leading all scorers on the floor, Vaughns' effort was not enough to lead Neumann past the Valiants.
Saint-Louis was joined by
Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) as the offensive leaders for the Valiants, scoring eight and six points, respectively. Giordano was also one of the Valiants' leaders off the glass with six rebounds, trailing only
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) who nabbed eight boards. Lotito also finished with a team-high nine assists.
As to be expected in a game that was decided by the final basket, it was a tight contest all game long as neither team had a lead larger than seven points. It would take until three and a half minutes into the contest for a team to grab a multi-possession lead, with Saint-Louis and
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) hitting back-to-back baskets to put the Valiants up by four. The Knights would then score the next six points across five minutes to go back in front, 10-8. Neumann continued the run on a 13-2 scoring advantage to jump ahead 17=10 with 7:23 left in the half. Manhattanville's offense woke up to make up the lost ground, scoring 13 straight points to go up 25-19 with a minute left. Vaughns put a stop to the Valiants' streak with a layup to end the half with Manhattanville up 25-21.
Scoring chances continued to come at a premium in the second half as the teams combined for 10 points across the opening four minutes. The last basket of that scoring drought would come from Neumann's Kyle Thompson to tie the game up at 28-28. That would be the first of six tied scores to close out the game as neither team was able to string together a long run to firmly take control of the contest. Ja'bri White broke one of those ties with a layup with 7:46 left to put the Knights up 39-27 before Saint-Louis responded on the other side of the floor with a three before
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) dropped in a layup to give the Valiants the lead once again.
Manhattanville's lead peaked at five, but a 10-1 Neumann run put the Knights up 49-46 with 36 seconds remaining. Lotito converted a crucial layup to cut the deficit in half before intentionally fowling David Vazquez. The Knights' sophomore guard missed both free throws, allowing the Valiants to regain possession and call timeout to draw up a play. The result was Saint-Louis being left alone outside the arc on the inbound, draining the go-ahead three with three seconds left. A desperation heave by Thompson was off the mark as the Valiants earned an exhilarating first win on the season.
Up Next
The Valiants will travel to York College on Wednesday to take on the Cardinals at 6 p.m.
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