PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Manhattanville College men's basketball team was able to fight off the relentless three-point barrage from Marywood, using four scorers in double figures to down the Pacers, 68-66, on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gymnasium. The Valiants now improve to 4-2 on the young season.
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) paced all scorers with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting with a mark of 3-of-4 from deep. Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) followed suit with 14 of his own, grabbing seven rebounds and swatting away two shots.
The guard duo of Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) rounded out the quartet, with twelve and ten points, respectively, as the latter of the two turning in his season-high and going a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) came close to a double-double, finishing the night with seven points and nine rebounds, setting a new career-high with nine boards. Scanlon and Hastings both led the Valiants in the assistance department, with four dimes each.
Manhattanville was able to open the contest on the right foot, jumping out to a 7-0 lead with two minutes elapsed, forcing two Pacers turnovers, and capitalizing on them both. The next nine minutes would show Marywood's three-point attack, connecting on three of eleven shots from behind the arc, and forcing the Valiants into seven turnovers to mount a 16-14 lead. The Pacers would then go on a 13-6 run in the next five minutes, hitting 50 percent of their attempts from the field, as Andrew Quinn found his shooting touch, helping Marywood carry a 26-20 lead into a Valiants timeout after Quinn hit his second straight heave from deep. Manhattanville would then fight back, forcing four Pacers turnovers and cutting the lead down to two with two Merritt made free-throws, pinning the contest at 28-26 in the Pacers favor with just over a minute to play. The Valiants would take the lead going into the half, as Merritt drilled his second three-pointer of the half, to give Manhattanville the 29-28 advantage as the buzzer sounded.
Out of the half, Manhattanville would embark on a 23-12 run in the first 8:45 of the second half, shooting 9-of-19 from the field as Hastings caught fire in the run, scoring eight of his twelve points on the night in the timeframe. A Kistoo-Miles layup for his tenth point on the night showed the Valiants hold a 52-40 lead in the contest, the largest of the night by either team. The Pacers would race back in the contest, starting a run of their own, and cutting the lead to 61-59 after Mason Mendygral hit both free-throws and put Marywood within striking distance of the Valiants. After trading baskets, Mendygral would again head to the charity stripe to sink both attempts and tie the contest at 64 all. Kistoo-Miles would trot down the court and drill a three-pointer to put the Valiants in-front once again, leading to Hastings hitting one out of two from the line giving Manhattanville a four-point buffer. Austin Bausman subsequently made a layup to put the Pacers within two points, but the Valiants would hold onto the 68-66 lead for the victory.
Up Next
The Valiants have a quick turnaround, hitting the road on Monday to face the Hawks of Hunter, at 7 p.m. in New York, N.Y. at Hunter Sportsplex.
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