PURCHASE, N.Y. – Wrapping up a four-game week that will send them into the holiday break, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team earned a comeback victory over the visiting Medgar Evers College on Sunday afternoon by a final of 77-70. The win brings the Valiants' record in the first half of the season to 7-3 overall ahead of their nearly month-long break into the new year.

Prior to opening tip-off, the team honor Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) with a pregame ceremony following his surpassing of the 1,000 career point mark earlier in the week. Head Coach Christopher Alesi and Assistant Coach Reed McLean presented Lotito with a celebratory poster honoring his accomplishment as the 28^th member of the men's basketball 1,000 Point Club.

Appropriately enough, Lotito would lead the team offensively as he flirted with a triple-double. The graduate guard finished with 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, all team-highs on the day. He would also add a pair of takeaways.

Freshman John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) had his best performance of his young career as he set a new personal-best with 16 points on a 7-for-10 clip from the floor. Ranaghan added four rebounds and a pair of assists. Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) rounded out the top scoring efforts as the graduate center poured in 15 points with five boards and a pair of blocks.

Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) finished second on the Valiants in the win in rebounds as he came down with six caroms.

The Cougars came out ready to play as Nicholas Guillen drained a jumper followed by a three-pointer to give Medgar Evers a quick 5-0 advantage. The lead remained with the Cougars for the duration of the first half as Medgar Evers shot 53 percent from the floor across the opening 20 minutes. The Valiants would be able to finally close the gap with 13:19 left in the half on a Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) three that tied the game up at 20-20. The Cougars responded with seven straight points, with Michael Perez bringing the visiting team's advantage up to 14 with a three pointer with 6:21 remaining, 35-21. With the game on the verge of slipping away, the Valiants managed to pull back within single digits before the horn sounded as Ranaghan drained the final basket of the half on a floater, cutting the Cougars' lead down to 42-33.

The Valiant offense fared significantly better in the second half as Manhattanville shot 52 percent to close out the game. Still, the advantage remained on the side of Medgar Evers as they pushed the lead back up to 15 on a pair of free throws by Joshua Jean Pierre with 17:46 remaining. Facing their largest deficit of the day, the Valiants erupted for a 12-0 run that began to turn the tide. The run was capped off by Ranaghan who hit a layup off a Lotito steal before intercepting the ensuing inbound pass and dropping in another floater off the glass to suddenly make it a one possession game at 48-45 with 14 minutes remaining.

Manhattanville would tie it up on a Ranaghan three at the 11:18 mark before a Giordano layup a minute later gave the Valiants their first lead all game. The teams would trade baskets as the Valiants clung to a two-point advantage with 4:41 to play. Lotito delivered a three-pointer to give the home team some much-needed breathing room, beginning a 7-0 run that spotted Manhattanville a game-high nine point lead with 2:16 to go. The Cougars would hit a pair of baskets in the closing minute to keep things close, but the Valiants got the job done at the free throw line to hold on to the win, 77-70.

Up Next
The Valiants return to action on Jan. 6 to host Mount Saint Mary for a Skyline contest at noon.

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