PURCHASE, N.Y. – Seeing action for the first time since December 10, the Manhattanville College men's basketball team fell in their 2024 opener on Saturday against Skyline foe Mount Saint Mary, 70-61. The loss drops the Valiants' record on the season to 7-4 overall and 1-2 to open up Skyline competition.
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) picked up where he left off in the first half of the season as he was all over the court on Saturday afternoon. The graduate guard put up 21 points with seven assists, five steals and five rebounds as he played 39 of the game's 40 minutes.
Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) was the only other Valiant to eclipse double-figures as the sophomore scored 14 on a very efficient 5-for-6 shooting effort, draining four three-pointers.
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) led the Valiants' rebounding effort with six boards while
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) joined Lotito with five rebounds.
Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) finished with four boards of his own.
A cold first half had the Valiants behind the eight ball as the home team shot just 20 percent and scored 13 points in their first 20 minutes back from break. The Knights hit 46 percent of their shots in the opening half, netting the first eight points of the game across the first 5:20. Kistoo-Miles would get the Valiants on the board with a layup. Kistoo-Milles accounted for two of Manhattanville's first three baskets, hitting a deep shot with 10:30 left in the half to make it a 13-6 game. Mount Saint Mary responded with a 15-0 run capped off by a Justin Rivera three-pointer to set the Valiants back on their heels as the home squad suddenly found themselves down 28-6. Manhattanville managed to inch closer as the half drew to a close, cutting Mount Saint Mary's advantage down to 17, but Ryan Graham hit a jumpshot for the Knights to account for the final basket of the half and put the Valiants in a 19-point hole through the opening 20, 32-13.
While the Valiants fared much better in the second half, shooting 48 percent, but even as Manhattanville's offense found its legs the Knights continued to make baskets to the tune of a 52 percent clip while going 14-for-22 at the free throw line. Mount Saint Mary seemingly had a response to every basket Manhattanville made through the first five minutes of the half. The Valiants were finally begin to chipping away and making up ground with ten minutes to go as Marinaccio hit a three-pointer to make it an 11 point game at 43-32. The Knights would build their lead back up to 17 before another Marinaccio three began another Manhattanville push, kickstarting an 11-2 run that cut the lead down to single-digits as the Valiants made it a game once again, down 55-47 with six minutes to play. Manhattanville struggled to get the crucial stop needed on the other end to allow the team to continue their comeback effort as a Lotito layup with 3:09 to play still saw the Valiants down by six. From there, the Knights got the job done at the charity stripe as they hit 10-of-14 free throws down the stretch to cap off a nine point win and get the Valiants' new year off on the wrong foot.
Up Next
The Valiants look to put move past Saturday's loss as the team gears up for a three-game slate next week. Manhattanville's busy stretch begins on Monday at 5 p.m. against Purchase.
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