PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's basketball team concluded its home schedule on Sunday afternoon, celebrating its nine members of the Class of 2025 prior to opening tip-off against neighboring rival Purchase College. The Valiants fought to the end in a game that would have significantly aided their postseason aspirations, but Purchase held on for the 83-77 win to complete the regular-season series sweep of Manhattanville.

Manhattanville (8-15, 4-10 Skyline) could not match pace with a Panther team (12-11, 8-6 Skyline) that was clicking from deep, as Purchase drilled 12 three-pointers on a 44 percent shooting effort to fuel their offense. The Panthers shot 58 percent overall from the field.

The Valiants honored Don Mays Jr. (Hempstead, N.Y./St. Dominic), Thomas Mullin (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy High School), Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield), Darus Bacote Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Hartford Christian School), Benjamin Merritt (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford), Jack Scanlon (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River High School), Donovan De La Rosa (Long Island, NY/Saint John Baptist High School), Emmanuel Udeagha (Yonkers, N.Y./Aduvie International School), and Zach Knowles (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey Academy) as part of the pregame festivities, celebrating the contributions the upcoming graduates have made to the men's basketball program during their stints at Manhattanville.

Saint-Louis balled out in the Senior Day performance, scoring 27 for a second-straight game. The guard shot 42 percent from the floor with eight field goals, three from beyond the arc, while shooting 8-of-9 at the free throw line. Saint-Louis also led the Valiants with eight rebounds while adding a steal.

Saint-Louis' classmates Udeagha and Scanlon also made their presences known under the boards, combining for 13 total rebounds. Udeagha came away with seven caroms, five off the offensive glass, while Scanlon finished with six alongside three assists, a total matched by Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) and Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) for the team lead.

John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) also had a strong offensive performance as he put 20 up on the board, his most since Jan. 12 when he scored 21 in the overtime tilt with Yeshiva. The sophomore hit six field goals and went 7-of-9 at the charity stripe. Urena rounded out Manhattanville's top three with an 11-point performance.

Purchase shot the lights out over the first half, connecting on 67 percent of their field goal tries while going 6-of-11 from deep. Still, the Valiants kept the Panthers from running away with things on their .469 clip in the first 20 minutes. After five early tied scores through the first five and a half minutes, Desmond Ward hit the Panthers' first three-pointer to put the visitors in front, a lead they never relinquished.

Melillo brought Manhattanville back within one off a layup, but back-to-back threes from Rashid Nikiema spotted the Valiants their largest lead of the early going at 21-14 with 12:50 left in the half. Manhattanville responded with a 6-0 run with a jumper by Mullen and a pair of baskets from Udeagha before Purchase regained separation with two more deep balls. The Panthers led by as many as 10 with three minutes left in the half before the Valiants were able to slice the deficit in half at the horn as Saint-Louis drilled a three on the final possession to make the score 45-40 in favor of Purchase at the intermission.

The Panthers showed little signs of slowing down as Purchase shot 50 percent to close out the win. Manhattanville scored seven of the first 11 points of the half to get back to within two following a pair of Saint-Louis free throws, but the Panthers once again maintained separation with a pair of three-pointers to jump back out to an eight-point lead 4:45 into the period. Every time the Valiants inched closer, Purchase hit a response shot to hold the home team at bay.

Nikiema put Purchase up 78-67 with 3:50 left in regulation. A Saint-Louis three and Urena layup nearly sliced the deficit in half before Tyler Bond hit a mid-range jumper for Purchase. Manhattanville continued to fight with a 6-1 run featuring three free throws by Saint-Louis and another floater by Urena to make it an 81-77 game with a minute left to go, but that was a close as the Valiants could get as Nikiema hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to secure the 83-77 win for Purchase.

Up Next
The Valiants begin the final week of the regular season on Wednesday night, traveling to Yeshiva for a 8 p.m. tip.

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