PURCHASE, N.Y. – Daniel Marinaccio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea) scored a career-high 19 points and was one of four Valiants in double figures on Saturday afternoon as the Manhattanville University men's basketball team was defeated by Saint Joseph's Brooklyn, 89-77. The Valiants will carry a 9-11 overall record and a 4-6 Skyline Conference mark into the final month of the regular season.

Marinaccio did most of his damage from deep, with four of his six field goals from beyond the arc. The senior added three free throws and came down with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Marinaccio's rebound total was matched by Isiah Middleton (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) and Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) for the team's lead on the day. Middleton was also one of the three other Manhattanville players to reach double-digits offensively, scoring 14 alongside Chris Robinson's (Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y./Westminster School) 18 and John Ranaghan's (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) 12.

Robinson and Urena added three assists each, while Ranaghan led the Valiants with three takeaways.

The Bears were hot from deep in the first half, hitting 8-of-14 from three-point land en route to a 12-point first half advantage. While both teams were hitting better than 40 percent of their shots on the floor and went 7-of-7 at the free throw line across the opening 20 minutes, the three-point discrepancy told the story as the Valiants were just 2-of-9 from downtown to open the game. Back-to-back SJBK threes fueled an early 14-2 run that put the Bears up by double figures at 14-6 through five and a half minutes.

The Valiants closed the gap to a four-point deficit after a 10-3 run, led by five points from Marinaccio and Andrew Melillo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) completing an and-one to cap off the spurt. That would be as close as Manhattanville would get in the first half as Blaise Corozzo ended the run with another three for the Bears. Saint Joseph's outscored Manhattanville 22-15 over the final six and a half minutes of the half to pull back out to a double-digit lead at 49-37.

The Bears cooled off from beyond the arc in the second half, shooting just 2-of-10, but Manhattanville was unable to find their deep footing with a 4-for-13 clip on three point tries. With Saint Joseph's managing to shoot better than 50 percent to close out the game, Manhattanville could not find the opening needed to completed the comeback. The Bear lead peaked at 14 with Jacob Idowu hitting a jumper on the opening possession of the half, but Manhattanville was able to claw back into the game with a 13-7 run to cut the visitor lead down to five on the tailend of a Robinson old-fashioned three-point play at 62-57 with 12:15 left to go.

Despite the second-half three point struggles, the Bears responded to the punch by the Valiants the same way they did in the first as Colin Mills drilled a shot from deep to stop Manhattanville's momentum. The lead was back up to 10 two minutes later and eventually climbed back up to 14 as the Bears held off the Valiants for the eventual 12-point victory.

Up Next
The Valiants head to Patchogue on Wednesday to take on Saint Joseph's Long Island with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads and YouTube. #WeAreValiant #GoValiants