MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's basketball team was defeated by host SUNY Morrisville on Sunday in the finals of the Mustang Tip-Off Tournament, falling to the Mustangs in a 71-67 contest. The Valiants head home with a 1-3 overall record after splitting the two-day tournament, while Morrisville improves to 2-1.

Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) wrapped up his stellar opening weekend of his senior season with a full 40-minute effort on the floor, scoring 24 points with a career-high seven steals, six rebounds and four assists.

A day removed from scoring a career-high 20 in the opening round matchup against SUNY ESF, John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) finished with 14 points on Sunday, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and drilling a team-high three three-pointers. Emmanuel Udeagha (Yonkers, N.Y./Aduvie International School) also joined the double-figures party, scoring a season-best 12 points.

The Mustangs dominated off the glass, outrebounding Manhattanville 34-21. Saint-Louis also led the Valiants' rebound effort, while Ranaghan and Udeagha pulled down three caroms each.

In a game that saw 11 tied scores, the Mustangs outscored Manhattanville 10-5 over the final four and a half minutes to take the final lead change and close out the victory.

The teams nearly matched each other stride for stride in the opening half, with both sides' largest leak peaking at five points. Morrisville claimed the first advantage early, as a Jacob Works jumper and Yvan Fils-Aime three put the home side ahead 7-2 4:09 into the contest. The Valiants proceeded to pour in 11 of the next 13 points to go up by four, 13-9.

After Morrisville retook the lead three baskets later, an Udeagha jumper and Saint-Louis three kicked off an 8-2 Valiant run that gave the visiting side their first five-point advantage with 4:31 left in the half. Following two more lead changes, Morrisville lead by three with 1:41 left to play. Udeagha brought the deficit down to one with a jumper before a pair of Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) free throws put Manhattanville in the lead at the horn, 27-26.

The back-and-forth play continued over the remainder of the game, with Manhattanville coming out of the locker room on a 10-4 run to take the largest lead either team held during the contest at 37-30. The Valiants continued to hold the lead for four and a half minutes before Morrisville tied things up at 41-41 with 12 minutes to play. Manhattanville continued to hold the upper hand even as the Mustangs pulled even on three more occasions leading up the 59-59 stalemate with 5:52 remaining. Morrisville broke the tie on a CJ McCollum layup before Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) sent the advantage the other way with a three pointer.

The one-point lead would be the last advantage Manhattanville would hold, as Jalyn Moorehead connected from deep with 4:30 remaining to give Morrisville the lead as the Mustangs took charge to close things out.

Up Next
The Valiants are back home on Wednesday night, hosting SUNY Delhi at 7 p.m.

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