NEW YORK, N.Y. – Getting a first taste of Skyline Conference play to wrap up the calendar year, the Manhattanville University men's basketball team was defeated at Yeshiva University on Saturday night, 79-67. The Valiants will carry a 5-6 record (0-1 Skyline) into the new year, while the Maccabees sit at 3-6 (2-0).

Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) and Chris Robinson (Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y./Westminster School) were problems for the Yeshiva defense all night, combining for 40 of Manhattanville's 67 points. Graduate guard Saint-Louis scored 22 for a second-straight game and ends the first half of the season with 20-plus points in six of Manhattanville's first 11 contests. Saint-Louis shot .600 from the floor, going 9-for-15, while hitting two of his five shots from deep. Robinson, meanwhile, scored 18 while shooting 50 percent (6-of-12) and going 5-for-7 at the free throw line.

Isiah Middleton (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) led Manhattanville with 10 rebounds, reaching double-figure caroms for a second-straight game. Robinson and Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) both came down with five boards for the Valiants.

Yeshiva opened the night with back-to-back layups courtesy of Max Zakheim and Roy Itcovichi, but would be unable to push the early lead past five. Trailing 11-8 through the opening five minutes, Manhattanville took its first lead of the night on a 6-0 run thanks to three-straight layups from Middleton, Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) and John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River). After Yeshiva temporarily retook the lead off two-straight baskets from Yoav Oselka, the Valiants had their best stretch of the night with an 11-2 run to jump out to a 25-17 advantage with 7:47 left in the first half.

The Valiants withstood back-to-back threes from Dothan Bardichev to stay in front, but Yeshiva would erase a seven-point deficit with a 12-0 run to go up 37-32 with a minute to go. The teams traded a free throw a piece over the remainder of the period as the Maccabees held a five-point advantage at the end of 20.

The Maccabees shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half, outscoring Manhattanville 41-34. Yeshiva opened the half on a 14-2 run across four minutes to blow the doors open, 52-35. The Valiants did well to get back to withing striking distance, as a 10-0 run capped by a Saint-Louis three made it a two possession game with 10 minutes to go at 59-54. Both teams went cold following a Maccabee timeout as it would be more than three scoreless minutes before the next points went on the board. Joe Schanzer broke the spell with a Maccabee layup, beginning a 20-13 scoring run for Yeshiva over the final 6:38 to close out the contest.

Up Next
The Valiants open the new year on Jan. 3 with a Skyline Conference road test at Mount Saint Mary.

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