PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's basketball team fell in its return home on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 75-57 decision to NYU. The loss drops Manhattanville to 2-2 on the season, while the Violets remain undefeated at 4-0.

The Valiants received 50 of its 57 points from the starting five, lead by double-digits from Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield), Isiah Middleton (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) and Chris Robinson (Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y./Westminster School). Saint-Louis and Middleton finished with 12 points apiece, doing their heavy lifting at the charity stripe. Both guards hit three field goals, with Saint-Louis going 5-of-6 at the free throw line and Middleton converting six of his eight tries at the stripe. Robinson led the Valiants with five made field goals to pace his 11 point performance, adding a team-high four steals.

NYU's height advantage was on full display as the Violets outrebounded Manhattanville 57-29. The Valiants' effort off the glass was led by Antonio Del Vescovo (Mount Olive, N.J./Mount Olive), finishing with a career-high seven caroms. Middleton and Robinson pulled down five rebounds each to compliment Del Vescovo's leading performance.

After shooting 44 percent or better in the previous three games to open the season, Manhattanville was held to a .262 clip from the floor in Saturday's loss. It was the lowest field goal percentage by the Valiants in a game since Dec. 29, 2017 when Manhattanville finished with a .250 mark in a loss to Montclair State.

Despite the shooting woes, the Valiants were able to match NYU stride-for-stride through the opening seven minutes. Darren Rubin and Saint-Louis traded three-pointers as the lone baskets of the first four minutes of play before Bryan Moussako put the Violets up again with another trey as NYU shot 8-of-18 from beyond the arc in the opening half.

Back-to-back short range jumpers from Middleton and Robinson put the Valiants up 7-6 with 14:30 left in the half, but that would prove to be the last time Manhattanville would have the lead. A Rubin layup and Carnegie Johnson three put NYU back in front and the Violets never looked back. The visitor lead swelled to 19 with 6:15 left in the half after NYU scored nine straight points over a 1:26 span. Manhattanville chipped away at the deficit, making it an 11 point game with a minute left after a Robinson old-fashioned three-point play and a Middleton jumper, but Rubin ended the half with another three pointer to close out the half with NYU up 38-24.

NYU couldn't replicate its 44 percent mark from deep in the second, shooting 3-of-15 (20 percent) over the closing 20, but the Violets hit 44 percent from the field to close out the game. Manhattanville trailed by 21 after a Johnson three had NYU up 47-26 with 17:22 to play. The Valiants knocked six points off the lead over the following five minutes with a Robinson layup capping off a 6-0 Manhattanville run. That would be as close as the Valiants would get as the Violets responded with eight of the next ten to reestablish the 21-point advantage at 59-39 with 10 minutes to go.

NYU's lead peaked at 24 on a Chase Garcia free throw with 1:41 remaining, pushing the lead to 75-51. Manhattanville closed out the game with the final six points, with Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) hitting a three coupled with a pair of Del Vescovo free throws and another shot from the stripe via John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River).

Up Next
The Valiants will spend Thanksgiving weekend up in Schenectady to compete in the Sig Makofski Invitational. Manhattanville opens the two-day tournament on Saturday against host Union College at 4 p.m.

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