MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Career-high performances out of Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) and John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) led the Manhattanville University men's basketball team to its first win of the 2024-25 campaign on Friday night as the Valiants defeated SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry 88-60 to open up the Mustang Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by SUNY Morrisville. The win brings Manhattanville to 1-2 on the year, while SUNY ESF falls to 1-5.

The Merritt-Ranaghan duo accounted for nearly half of Manhattanville's total points as the pairing put up 40 for the Valiants, each setting new personal bests of 20-point outings. The senior Merritt shot 7-of-13 from the field, going 5-for-10 from deep in his 25 minutes. Sophomore Ranaghan was just as effective, going 6-for-15 from the floor with five three-pointers of his own and shooting 3-of-4 at the free throw line.

Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) made his season debut on Friday, picking up right where he left off last season with a 13 point, six rebound performance. The senior entered the year as the Valiants' leading returner, averaging close to 16 points per game last season.

Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) pulled down eight rebounds, leading Manhattanville as the Valiants finished with 46 boards. Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell), Jack Quinn (Greenwich, Conn./The Winchendon School) and Don Mays Jr. (Hempstead, N.Y./St. Dominic) all collected four boards, with Quinn making his presence know with three offensive caroms in just five minutes on the floor.

While temperatures outside begin to plummet, it was red-hot shooting inside the Stewart Center to open up the game as ESF connected on 50 percent of its shots in the opening half while the Valiants hit at a .438 clip. The offenses put up 80 combined points across the opening 20 minutes for what went on to be Manhattanville's best offensive performance by far of the young season.

The Mighty Oaks opened the game on a 5-0 run before Ranaghan put the Valiants on the board with the team's first of 14 three-pointers on the night. Manhattanville's success from beyond the arc made up the ground lost by ESF holding the advantage in field goal percentage in the half. Three of the Valiant's first four buckets were from deep, with Merritt and Ranaghan providing the next pair of three-pointers to put Manhattanville up 11-9. The Valiants extended the lead to 14-9 before the Mighty Oaks got a three and a layup from Antonio Franco to notch things even with 12 minutes left in the half.

With the score standing at 17-17, Ranaghan drilled back-to-back three pointers to spot the Valiants the largest lead of the early going. The Mighty Oaks responded with a 10-0 run over the next two minutes, ultimately building up to a six point lead in their favor with 7:30 left before half. It was Manhattanville's turn to respond, as a Scanlon layup, pair of Melillo free throws and an Emmanuel Udeagha (Yonkers, N.Y./Aduvie International School) layup tied the game up at 30-30. ESF temporarily took the lead back on a pair of shots from the charity stripe before Merritt drilled a pair of threes to put Manhattanville in front, this time for good. The Valiants closed out the final four minutes of the half on a 14-4 run, heading into the locker room riding hot and leading 44-36.

The Mighty Oaks' shooting cooled significantly in the second half as ESF shot just 24 percent from the floor. Manhattanville, meanwhile, only got better, hitting 49 percent of their shots from the field and going 6-for-14 (.429) from three to pull away. ESF got back to withing three to resume play before the Valiants scored 11 straight points, capped off by another Merritt three-pointer to go up 56-42. Manhattanville's lead never dipped below an 11-point advantage over the final 14 minutes of regulation as the Valiants held ESF to just 18 points over the remainder of the game to close out the 28-point victory.

Up Next
The Valiants will meet the hosting Mustangs to wrap up the two-day Morrisville Tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. as Manhattanville looks to even up the all-time series between the two programs at 1-1 following Morrisville's victory in Purchase last November.

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