PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team took charge in the second half of Saturday's contest against Sarah Lawrence to extend the team's winning streak up to five following the 74-53 victory. The Valiants improve to 13-5 overall and 7-3 in Skyline Conference play.
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) and Braden Burman put on a show for their respective teams to lead their offenses. Burman accounted for 22 of the Gryphons' points, leading all scorers on the day, save for Saint-Louis. The Valiant junior put up 23, his second 20-point effort of the year, on a .600 shooting day that included a team-high three three-pointers.
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) and
Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) both ended with double-figures as the grad duo combined for 21. Lotito scored 11 in what was another trademark well-rounded performance as he added seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals to lead the team in each category on the day. Giordano scored 10 while adding five rebounds.
Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) collected six caroms along with three steals. His takeaway total was matched by Andrew Melilo.
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) also came away with five rebounds, while
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) blocked a pair of shots.
The teams were evenly matched through the first half but it was Burman being the difference maker as he scored 18 of his points over the opening 20 minutes. The largest lead of the period was just five points as neither team was able to piece together a sustained run to seize momentum. The Gryphons staked claim to the first five point advantage on a Burman three five minutes into the game put the visitors up 10-5. Manhattanville responded with nine unanswered points to go back in front and would grab their own five point lead off a Kistoo-Miles three with 9:49 left, putting the Vals up 17-12. Sarah Lawrence went back up with three straight baskets before Saint-Louis capped off an 8-2 run with a three to give Manhattanville a 25-20 advantage with 6:28 remaining. The offenses began to stall towards the end with just 10 combined points being scored in the closing 4:40 of the half. The Gryphons accounted for eight of those, ending the half with a three from Burman to go up 30-29.
The Valiants made a clear change of gameplan to prevent Burman from taking complete control of the game as Manhattanville effectively silenced the Gryphons' leading scorer with just four points in the second half. With Burman no longer able to set the tone, Sarah Lawrence shot just 21 percent over the second half, including a 1-for-12 mark from deep. Conversely, the Valiant offense revved to life by shooting .640 to close out the game and take over. It took more than three minutes out of the break for either team to hit a basket, but a layup by Giordano gave the Valiants a lead they protected the rest of the way. Giordano's basket was the start of a 13-2 run that had Manhattanville up double-figures for the first time all game, leading 42-32 with 12:19 remaining. The Gryphons were unable to keep up the Manhattanville offense that began to look like it couldn't miss as they never led by less than eight the rest of the way. The Valiants went on a 17-4 run to pull away 61-40 with six minutes remaining and had little trouble closing out the contest from there.
Up Next
The next challenge for the streaking Manhattanville team awaits on Tuesday in a matchup of the two top teams of the Skyline's Gold Division. The Valiants head to Yeshiva for an 8 p.m. tilt.
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