PURCHASE, N.Y. – Shooting a season-high .483 from the field, the Manhattanville University men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in the new year with a Wednesday night victory over Purchase College, 70-59. The Valiants improve to 7-5 (2-1 Skyline), while the Panthers fall to 3-10 (1-3).
Manhattanville's season-best shooting performance was a result of a red-hot offense in the second half as Manhattanville hit 62 percent (16-of-26) of their shots over the final 20 minutes.
Isiah Middleton (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) and
Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) continued to serve as the Valiants' leading scorers as they have all season, combining for 42 total points. Middleton provided 22 points on a 10-for-15 effort from the field to eclipse 20 points for the fourth time this season, the first since scoring 20 at Union on Nov. 29. Saint-Louis added 20, reaching the plateau for the seventh time on the year, with a .500 shooting effort aided by a pair of threes.
John Ranaghan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) joined the duo in double figures, scoring 11 for a second-straight game.
Middleton was also Manhattanville's leading force off the glass with seven rebounds, three off the offensive glass.
Chris Robinson (Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y./Westminster School) added five rebounds along with three assists, four steals and eight points. Saint-Louis and
Carlos Urena (Corona, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) both came down with four caroms, with the former joining Robinson for the team lead in takeaways with four steals of his own.
Despite the final result of the best shooting effort of the year, Manhattanville's offense was not firing on all cylinders in the first half. The Valiants went 13-of-34 from the field, including a 1-of-9 effort from deep. Purchase fared a touch better, hitting 40 percent (10-of-25) in the half but also struggled beyond the arc with a 2-of-11 clip. The result was a tight game through the opening 10 minutes, with the largest lead belonging to Manhattanville at just three points. After the Panthers tied the game at 16-16 on Nate Maldonado's three-pointer with 9:09 left in the half, the Valiants jumped in front with a 13-3 run over the next six minutes. With the home team up 29-19 and threatening to pull away, Purchase took over with eight unanswered to close out the half as Manhattanville nursed a 29-27 lead into the break.
The Panthers tied the game on the opening possession of the second half, but a three from Urena and a fastbreak layup from Robinson put the Valiants back in front with a lead that stuck for the rest of the night. Purchase responded with a Ricky Rollins layup to make it a three point game again with what would prove to be the last time the game was within a single possession. Ranaghan completed an old-fashioned three point play before a pair of Middleton free throws extended the Valiant lead to 39-31 with 16 minutes to go.
Purchase's last charge came off a Rollins three-pointer to pull back withing four with 12:41 remaining. Saint-Louis answered with a three of his own as the Valiant lead never fell back below five. Manhattanville led by as many as 15 with 2:02 on the clock after a 6-0 run, allowing the Valiants to close out the game without much worry.
Up Next
The Valiants close out the week on Saturday, hosting Sarah Lawrence at 1 p.m.
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