PURCHASE, N.Y. – It was a Senior Day to remember for the Manhattanville College men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon as the Valiants handed the visiting Farmingdale State their first conference loss of the season and snapped the Rams' historic winning streak of 17 straight games with a 76-72 victory.
The Valiants improve to 16-7 overall and 9-5 in the Skyline Conference with the win in the first meeting between the two teams since last year's Conference Championship Finals which saw the Rams earn a 71-65 win.
Manhattanville erased an 11-point second half deficit to come storming back and capture the win against the No. 1 seed in the conference. The charge was led by
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) who finished with team-highs of 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. The junior drilled 10 field goals as part of the second-highest output of his career.
Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) scored 20 points on seven field goals while going 6-for-6 on free throw attempts. The Valiant center caused nightmares for Ram shooters in the paint as he finished with seven blocked shots, tied for the second-most in a single game in program history. Giordano becomes the first Valiant to block seven shots in a game since 2004 when Farid Johnson did it against Mount Saint Vincent.
Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) scored 10 along with five rebounds, three assists and five steals. His takeaway total was matched by
Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) as the Valiants finished with 12 steals in the win.
Prior to opening tip-off, Hastings was honored alongside
Guillaume Hollant (Cambria Heights, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) in the team's Senior Day ceremony, accompanied by their parents. The team also celebrated
Xavier Kistoo-Miles (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley), who was unable to be at the game.
The Rams certainly looked like the cream of the crop in the Skyline in the first half, hitting 48 percent of their shots as Farmingdale led for the entire half following Kentrell Evans' game-opening basket 22 seconds in. Farmingdale was successful in limiting the Valiants' offensive chances as Manhattanville did not score on consecutive possessions until 9:22 remained in the half, with a pair of Giordano free throws prefaced a
John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) three-pointer to pull the Valiants within four, down 22-18.
Farmingdale responded with two straight layups from Jevon Santos and Michael Notias to go up by eight, eventually taking their largest lead of the half of nine with 7:04 left. Manhattanville closed the gap back to four twice before the half drew to a close, but the Rams were able to keep their distance. After a Lotito layup moved the deficit to five, Aaron Davis drilled a three for the Rams entering the final minute. Lotito continued to make plays as the half drew to a close, logging a steal and taking the ball all the way down the court for the half's final basket with the Rams up 40-34.
A Davis layup and Santos three pointer had the Rams threatening as the visitors led by 11 with 18:19 to play. Facing their largest deficit of the day, the Valiants shot 59 percent in the half to claw their way back and pull off what no other conference team had been able to do all season long. Manhattanville quickly scored seven straight points over the following 90 seconds to make it a two-possession game again at 45-41. The scoring was the start of a 21-7 run that put the Valiants ahead for the first time all day with 11:30 remaining on a
Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) three.
Farmingdale tied things back up at 55-55 with 10:53 to go before Manhattanville put together another pivotal run, this one to go in front for good. Over the ensuing five and a half minutes, the Valiants outscored Farmingdale 13-3 to go up 68-58 with 4:27 to play. With their win streak hanging in the balance, the Rams went on a 14-6 run as a Notias layup had Farmingdale down just two with 44 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, the Saint-Louis delivered a clutch basket with 22 ticks remaining to go up 76-72. Nick Hurowitz missed a three for the Rams going the other way, but was fouled on the ensuing inbound. The Rams' last second-hopes fleeted as Hurowitz missed both free throws, allowing time to expire and give the Valiants their biggest win of the season.
Up Next
The Valiants close out the regular season on with a pair of road games next week. The team is back at it on Tuesday night at Saint Joseph's Long Island.
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