PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's basketball team earned its first conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon, picking up a 72-55 victory over Mount Saint Mary to open up the 2025 half of the slate. The Valiants improve to 5-6 overall with the win are now stand at 1-1 in the Skyline Conference, while the Knights drop to 1-10 (0-2 Skyline).

Coming off a 26-point performance in Sunday's exhibition against Division I Sacred Heart, Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) got the new year started right with a team-high 23 to pace the Valiants in the win. Saturday marked the fourth time in his nine games this season that the senior put up 20 points as he brings his scoring average up to 16.7 points per, good for the seventh-most in the conference.  Saint-Louis went 6-for-17 from the floor and was strong and the charity stripe, drilling 10 of his 12 free throw attempts. Saint-Louis was also Manhattanville's leading rebounder with 12 boards for his first double-double of the campaign.

John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) reached double figures for the eighth time on the season as he finished behind Saint-Louis with a 17 point performance. The sophomore proved he is human after all as he missed a free throw for the first time in the last five games, going 7-for-10 at the line along with his 5-for-8 effort from the field. Ranaghan remains one of Manhattanville's top performers at the stripe, connecting at an .827 clip on 52 attempts.

Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School) came away with five caroms, with his two offensive boards a team-high matched by Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy). Scanlon and Ranaghan accounted for Manhattanville's two blocks in the win, while the former also logged two of the Valiants' four steals.

Saint-Louis and Ranaghan each finished with a pair of assists to lead the category.

The Valiants shot 48 percent in the opening half to take the lead, with Ranaghan and Saint-Louis combining for 17 of the team's 37 first half points. Manhattanville were the beneficiaries of the first multi-bucket run of the day, as a Saint-Louis free throw, Scanlon layup and Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) jumper put the home side ahead 8-5 four minutes in. The game remained a one possession affair up to a 16-16 tied following a pair of Matt Monaco free throws for the Knights. Under nine and a half to play, the Valiants scored six straight and 13 of the next 15 to run out to an 11-pioint lead as the run was capped by a Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) three-pointer. The Knights were able to get back to within five with two and a half remaining in the half with the Valiants ultimately taking a seven-point lead into the locker room up 37-30.

Manhattanville cooled off from the floor in the second, shooting 36 percent on their field goal tries, but a 15-for-19 mark at the free throw line helped the Valiants close things out over the final 20 minutes. The Knights could not shoot their way back into it, going 7-for-20 from the floor and just 2-for-7 from deep. Brenden Graham connected on one of those shots from beyond the arc to open the second half scoring, but that would be the last time Mount Saint Mary would be back within four. A pair of Saint-Louis free throws put the Valiants back in front by double-digits, up 51-40 with 8:16 left to play. The Knights remained within striking distance as they cut Manhattanville's lead down to six with five minutes left, but the Valiants closed out on a 19-8 scoring stretch to secure the first Skyline win of the season.

Up Next
The Valiants are headed to neighboring Purchase College on Wednesday night to take on the Panthers for a 6 p.m. Skyline Conference tilt.

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