PURCHASE, N.Y. - With just over one minute to play in the first half,
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) drove down the court and hit a jump shot to become the 28th 1,000-point scorer in Valiant history. The graduate guard finished the night with a double-double, netting 15 points and ten rebounds, helping lead the Manhattanville College men's basketball team in a game down to the last possession, 67-64, over Yeshiva on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.
Fresh off his MBWA Player of the Week accolade,
Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) paced the Valiants with 17 points, with a team-high four steals, finishing the contest with a 7-of-11 mark on the floor. Following Lotito's 15,
Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) concluded the contest with eleven points and matched the game-high assists with Lotito, as the backcourt duo both notched six dimes.
John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) rounded out the double-digit scoring quartet with ten points of his own.
The Valiants shot .481 from the field in the first half, while holding their counterparts to just a .345 shooting clip. The rough shooting half allowed the Valiants to jump out to a 7-0 lead with the first three baskets of the game in the opening two minutes. The Maccabees would find their shooting touch as the contest continued, taking their first lead halfway through the opening stanza, as Roy Itcovichi finished a layup to round off a 17-11 run by the Macs, to put the score at 17-16 in favor of Yeshiva. Both squads would trade blows in the remaining ten minutes, seeing the Valiants head into the halftime break with a 30-25 lead over Yeshiva.
Manhattanville kicked off the second half with a 22-10 run in the first ten minutes of the half, seeing Hastings catch fire from deep, and clamping down on the defensive end forcing six Maccabee turnovers. Yeshiva would then mount a 29-9 run spanning nine minutes, connecting on 9-of-14 from the field, with almost perfect marks of 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. The Maccabee run would see them take their first lead since 3:55 to play in the first half, as Max Zakheim and Zevi Samet combined for 22 of the 29 points, to see the score sit at 62-62 in Yeshiva's favor. Manhattanville would take the lead back thanks to a Giordano layup but would surrender the lead back on the next possession as Zakheim hit a layup for his 18th point of the contest. A minute later, Ranaghan found his double-digits, hitting big jumper to put the Valiants back out infront, 65-64. The Maccabees would turn the ball over with just ten seconds remaining, leading to a loose ball with Hastings jumping on the ball, securing possession and calling a crucial timeout. Lotito would subsequently hit both of his free throws to put the contest at 67-64, having that score stand as the final buzzer sounded.
Up Next
The Manhattanville men's basketball team will continue conference play against Maritime on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Throggs Neck, N.Y.
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