PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's basketball team gave the conference leaders all they could handle on Saturday afternoon as the Valiants dropped a back-and-forth 76-74 decision to Farmingdale State College. The Valiants fall to 8-7 with the loss and are at .500 in Skyline Conference action at 3-3, while the Rams pick up a seventh-straight win at 13-2 overall and 6-0 in the Skyline atop the conference's Black Division.
John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) had his best game of the season as the junior went off for a season-high 23 points. In 35 minutes of action, Ranaghan shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from the floor and tied his career-high with five three-pointers. He finished as the leading scorer across both teams.
Isiah Middleton (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) and
Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) also reached double-digits offensively with 17 and 15 points, respectively. For Middleton, its now five games in a row reaching double figure, while Urena recorded a new season-high with the effort.
The Rams dominated the battle of the boards to a 42-25 rebounding margin. Middleton was able to come down with nine caroms, while
Chris Robinson (Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y./Westminster School) fought for seven.
Despite being held to below ten points for only the third time this year,
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) remained a crucial playmaker for Manhattanville, adding a team-high three steals and four assists to his seven points.
The Valiants shot a season-high .509 in the contest and were able to match the Skyline's top-scoring offense stride-for-stride as a result. The largest lead of the first half for either side stood at just six points as neither team could find the kill shot over the opening 20 minutes of action. Urena captured the early momentum for Manhattanville, opening the scoring with a layup and a three-pointer to spot the Valiants a 5-0 lead. The Valiants remained in front over the opening ten minutes, firing a response to every Ram basket to protect the narrow advantage. Back-to-back layups from Middleton and Saint-Louis pushed Manhattanville's lead to 13-17 with 13:12 remaining in the half.
The Rams came back to tie things up at 17-17 with 9:41 on the clock, the first of four scoring ties to close out the half. Evened at 19-19, Farmingdale found its footing with an 8-3 run to go up 27-22, the visitors' largest lead of the half. Ranaghan recaptured the lead with back-to-back threes at 31-29 before later delivering the final basket of the half with a closing-minute layup to tie the contest at 33-33.
The back-and-forth continued with three more lead changes when play resumed. A pair of layups from Ranaghan and Middleton put the Valiants up 40-37 through four minutes. The Rams tied the game up four separate times but Manhattanville refused to give up the lead easily, firing back with baskets going the other way.
After trailing by as many as five, the Rams retook the lead on the heels of a 5-0 run with 6:13 left to go, leading 61-58. The lead would swell to five with 3:26 left to go before the Valiants went on a 7-1 run to jump back in front 69-68 with two minutes remaining. Turnovers and Ram free throws allowed Farmingdale to regain some much-needed breathing room as the clock dipped below the final minute, with James Notias hitting one-of-two at the stripe to push Farmingdale's lead back to 74-69. The Valiants had opportunities but couldn't get the basket to fall as the hard-fought effort fell just short with a 76-74 final.
Up Next
The Valiants head to Throggs Neck on Tuesday night for their matchup at Maritime at 7 p.m.
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