BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team wrapped up the 2023-24 regular season with a win carrying heavy postseason implications, defeating Sarah Lawrence 76-62 on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Valiants improve to 17-8 overall and 10-6 in the Skyline Conference. The 10-6 mark moves them for the time being into a three-way tie atop the conference's Gold Division alongside Sarah Lawrence and Yeshiva. While the Maccabees hold ultimate control of the final standings with their contest against Maritime tipping off at 8:30 p.m. tonight, the Valiants have at minimum secured a first round home contest with the win over the Gryphons.

Playing a full 40 minutes, Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) shined in the season-finale as he finished with 22 points to lead all scorers. The graduate guard shot 6-of-9 from the floor along with an 8-for-10 day at the free throw line while adding a team-high seven rebounds with three assists and three takeaways.

Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) added 19 points as the junior capped off what was a strong offensive regular season. Saint-Louis leads the Valiants entering postseason play with 15.8 points per game. Rounding out the leading scorers, John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) shined off the bench, scoring 14 with three rebounds and three assists in 25 total minutes.

Sarah Lawrence opened the game on an 11-2 run over the first 4:21 and would remain in front for a majority of the half. The Valiants pulled within two off back-to-back threes by Lotito and Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) at 13:25 before the Gryphons scored the next five points over the following four minutes. The Valiants finally pulled even on a 7-0 run, seeing baskets from Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and Saint-Louis before a Lotito three brought the score even at 18-18 with 7:38 left in the half.

After a Lucas Murray free throw had the Gryphons back in front momentarily, the Valiants scored the next eight points to jump ahead by seven at the five minute mark. After Sarah Lawrence chopped their back to with four, the Valiants went on an 8-2 run to seize a 10-point advantage with 46 seconds left. Eamon Kelly was fouled on a three-point try and drilled all three free throws to pull back within single digits, but Ranaghan converted an old-fashioned three-point play to close out the half with the Vals up 41-31.

After shooting 56 percent in the first half, Manhattanville continued their strong day from the floor with a .550 clip to close out the win. In all, the Valiants' .556 shooting percentage was their second-best of the year. However, despite the Valiants' hot hands, the Gryphons controlled the first four minutes of the half with a 7-0 run to pull back within three. Lotito put an end to the run with a jumper, putting the Valiants up by five and never looked back. The Manhattanville advantage got back up to double-digits with 8:57 to play on a Lotito layup. It was smooth sailing for the Valiants the rest of the way, with the lead reaching as high as 15 before closing out on the 76-62 win.

Up Next
The Valiants await the results of the rest of the action around the conference to close out the regular season to find their final seeding. More information about Manhattanville's First Round matchup on Tuesday will be available on GoValiants.com later this weekend.

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