PURCHASE, N.Y. – Another red-hot night by Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) was not enough for the Manhattanville College men's basketball team to overcome a slow first half as the Valiants fell to neighboring Purchase College on Tuesday night by a final of 92-83. The loss drops Manhattanville to 14-7 overall and 8-5 in Skyline action, remaining in second place in the conference's Gold Division.

Three days removed from putting up a career-high 28 points against Mount Saint Vincent, Giordano nearly replicated his Saturday effort by scoring 27 against the Panthers on Tuesday. The graduate center shot .714, hitting 10 of his 14 field goal attempts while going a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line. Giordano also led the rebounding effort for the Valiants with eight boards and added a pair of assists and a block.

Giordano was complimented by three others in double figures. Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) scored 17, while Tony Hastings (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) hung 14 points on the board while dishing out a team-high six assists. Coming off his first triple-double of his career, Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) rounded out the scoring leaders for Manhattanville with 12 points.

Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) was the Valiants' top deep-ball threat, connecting on a pair of three-pointers.

The Valiants shot .333 over the first half while the Panthers converted on better than 45 percent of their shots in the opening 20 minutes. Purchase also capitalized on Manhattanville foul trouble, with the Panthers hitting 12 of their 14 free throw attempts. Isaac Johnson drilled a three on the Panthers' first shot of the night as Purchase ultimately led from wire to wire. Giordano accounted for two of the team's first three baskets, bringing the Valiants within four at a 10-6 deficit 3:13 into the contest. The Panthers then rattled off 10 straight points over the next two and a half minutes. The Panthers' first half lead never dipped back below double figures and peaked at the end of the period with Purchase scoring the final seven points to take a 48-28 lead.

Despite the first half punches, Manhattanville did make a strong push to fight back into the game. The Valiants shot 60 percent over the final 20 minutes and went 16-for-19 from the charity stripe as they outscored Purchase 55-44. Still, the first half gap proved to be too steep of a hill to climb back up. Manhattanville finally brought the deficit to single digits with 10:17 remaining, going on an 8-0 run to bring the score to 63-54. The Panthers did well to curb the Valiants' momentum there, as Purchase went back up by 11 of a Oliver Culliton jumper in the ensuing possession and climbed back up to a 15 point lead with 1:16 remaining. A furious comeback effort in the closing minute saw the Valiants go on an 8-1 run, but time worked against Manhattanville while the Panthers hit their free throws to snap the Valiants' five-game winning streak against their neighbors.

Up Next
The Valiants host Pratt on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. for their non-conference finale. The team will celebrate Black History Month as part of the game.

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