PURCHASE, N.Y. – Following their postseason run to the Skyline Conference Championship finals, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team has accepted an invite to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Basketball Championship for a second straight year. The Valiants were awarded the No. 5 seed and will head to Aston, Pa. to take on No. 4 Neumann University on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m in the tournament's opening round.
     
How We Got Here 
 
The Manhattanville College men's basketball conference tournament run came to a close on Saturday afternoon, as the second-seeded Valiants were defeated by No. 1 Farmingdale State College in the Skyline Conference Championship, 71-65. The loss will brought Manhattanville's record on the season to 21-7, the third 20-win season ever in program history. 
 
Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) led the Valiants in the finals with 21 points, going 5-for-8 from the field and 11-for-13 from the free throw line. He added three rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal to his stat line. Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) recorded 16 points on the day, along with seven boards, four assists, a block and a steal. Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) had a team-high eight rebounds and recorded seven points, two assists, and a block. Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) scored nine points, while Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) added eight. 
 
After postseason play, Lotito would be selected as the Skyline Conference Player of the Year while earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team. He would be only the third Valiant in program history to earn this honor.
 
Neumann enters the ECAC tourney with a 20-7 record and went 9-3 in the Atlantic East Conference this season. The Knights were defeated in the Atlantic East Championship finals by Marymount University, 57-52. The team was led by Ryan Starr in the loss who scored 17 points on a 6-for-16 shooting effort, while Jalen Vaughns added a team-high 16 rebounds along with 13 points. Tony James recorded 11 point and 12 boards for the Knights. Neumann had three players selected to the All-Conference teams with Vaughns being named as the Atlantic East Player of the Year and earning a spot on the conference's First Team. James was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Starr was selected to the conference's Second Team. 
 
This will be only the second-ever meeting between Manhattanville and Neumann. 
 
Team Leaders 
Manhattanville

• Point Per Game: Lotito (17.2), Leech (13.6), Dunn (8.4)
• Rebounds Per Game: Leech (6.8), Lotito (6.5), Giordano (4.9)
• Assists Per Game: Lotito (4.2), Giordano (1.6), Leech and Dunn (1.3)
• Steals Per Game: Lotito (1.8), Dunn (0.8), Leech and Scanlon (0.7)
• Field Goal Percentage: Leech (.502), Lotito (.494), Giordano (.493)

 
Neumann

• Point Per Game: Vaughns (22.8), Lewis (12.3), James (10.7)
• Rebounds Per Game: Vaughns (10.5), James (7.1), Starr (5.5)
• Assists Per Game: Starr (6.9), James (2.6), Lewis (1.6)
• Steals Per Game: Starr (1.4), Lewis and Vaughns (0.8)
• Field Goal Percentage: Vaughns (.592), Smith (.544), White (.488) 

History

• All-Time Record: 0-1
• Streak: Manhattanville L1
• Meetings:
  • 11/15/2013: Manhattanville 69, Neumann 78

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