ASTON, Pa. – Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) beat the buzzer for his career-high 22
nd point to lift the Manhattanville University men's basketball team to a 72-71 win at Neumann University on Saturday afternoon. The Valiants climb back up to .500 on the season with a 3-3 overall record, while the Knights fall to 4-3.
It was the second-straight year that the Valiants bested the Knights on a last-second shot, as
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) drained a closing three-pointer to lead Manhattanville past Neumann 52-51 inside Kennedy Gymnasium last November.
While Saint-Louis once again played a key role in Saturday's triumph with 11 points in his 19 minutes of play, it was Melillo playing the role of hero and breaking the hearts of the Neumann faithful. With 11.9 seconds to go, the Valiants fouled TJ Lewis to send him to the line. The senior missed the front end of the one-and-one, with
Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) coming down with the rebound. Manhattanville advanced the ball with a time out, with
Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) inbounding the ball to Melillo with second seconds to play. The sophomore danced his way through the Neumann defense, firing off a fade away jumper that rattled in as the clock dipped below one second. The Knights' desperation heave was off the mark, allowing the Valiants to head home with a win in tow.
All told, Meillio went 8-for-11 from the floor and finished as the team-leader in rebounds with seven, assists with three, and steals with two.
John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) matched Saint-Louis' point output with 11, with both of his field goals coming from beyond the arc coupled with five free throws. Ranaghan also came down with six rebounds, all off the defensive glass.
Scanlon finished with five rebounds, rounding out Manhattanville's top board performers.
Thomas Mullin (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy High School) provided a pair of steals in his seven minutes on the floor to match Melillo's takeaway total.
The Valiants were red-hot over the first half, shooting 56 percent from the field, hitting 6-for-10 three point tries, and going 11-for-16 at the charity stripe. The deep balls were the difference maker in the first half, as Neumann shot just .200 from beyond the arc (2-for-10) in the first half. It would take a while for the dividends to pay off, however, as the teams played to nine tied scores throughout the half. The first multi-possession lead of the game belonged to the Valiants as Melillo hit a pair of free throws ahead of a Scanlon layup with 14:14 on the clock, putting Manhattanville ahead 15-11. Neumann was quick to erase the deficit with back-to-back Gary Francis baskets, kickstarting an 11-2 Knight run to put the home side ahead 22-17 with ten minutes to go.
Neven Noor (Pomona, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) put up the next five point, drilling a three before converting a layup on the following possession to even things up once again. The sides traded single-digit leads back-and-forth before Marinaccio brought the score to 28-28 with a jumper, the first of eight unanswered points in 47 seconds. The Valiants remained in front for the final four and a half minutes of the half, hitting a trio of three-pointers over that span. Foreshadowing his role later in the contest, Melillo beat the first half buzzer with a three-pointer to spot Manhattanville its largest lead of the half at 45-36.
Manhattanville led by as many as 13 as the second half went on, with a Ranaghan three giving the Valiants a 58-45 advantage with 12 minutes to go. The deep ball prompted a Neumann timeout, with the Knights returning to the floor looking like a different team. Neumann shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half and went 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to storm back into the game. The Knights immediately went on a 19-5 run over the next six minutes following the time out to take a 64-63 lead on a Lewis three pointer with 5:42 left to play.
Melillo hit a layup to snap Manhattanville's four and a half minute scoreless drought, with Manhattanville leading for the next minute before Bryan Etienne hit a jumper to put the Knights back up by one with four minutes to go. The Valants tied things up twice more with
Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) delivering at the free throw line, knotting the score up at 68-68 with 1:34 on the clock. A scoreless 60 seconds followed before DJ Earl connected from deep to spot the Knights a three-point lead with 33 seconds to go. His first of two big buckets, Melillo converted on a layup on the following possession and picked up the foul on Lewis to set things in motion for his game-winning basket.
Up Next
The Valiants close out the month at home on Tuesday, hosting York College at 6 p.m.
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