PURCHASE, N.Y. (Jan. 13, 2024) – A spirited second-half charge by the USMMA men's basketball team fell a few possessions short as the Mariners fell to Manhattanville on Saturday by a 68-60 margin at Kennedy Gymnasium in Purchase. USMMA is now 5-10 on the season and 2-4 in Skyline Conference competition with the defeat, while the Valiants improved to 9-5 overall and 3-3 in league play with the win.
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The Mariners found themselves in an early 6-0 hole as Manhattanville controlled the first two minutes of play. Senior
Bryce Bristow (Plano, Texas) scored the first five points for USMMA on the afternoon with a lay-up and three-pointer with less than three minutes played in the opening half. The Mariners would cut the lead to one point on a three-pointer from junior
Drew Zalescik (Lambertville, N.J.) in the ensuing sixty seconds, but Manhattanville's Ryan Giordano and Andrew Saint-Louis hit back-to-back buckets to keep the Valiants ahead by a 14-9 score with five minutes gone by in the first frame.
USMMA then went on an 8-0 run thanks to Bristow, Zalescik and senior
DeMarcus Spivey (Ashburn, Va.) to capture a 17-14 lead at the midpoint of the first half, but the momentum fizzled out and swung back to Manhattanville. The Valiants ended the first half on a 20-7 rally of their own, punctuated by nine points from Saint-Louis in the spurt as the hosts led by a 34-24 margin at the break.
Giordano and Bristow traded buckets for both sides to open the second half and the Mariners would cut the lead down to two after six consecutive points scored by junior
Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.). Following a Saint-Louis lay-up, USMMA senior forward
Jake Hatch (Austin, Texas) answered with a put-back hoop of his own to keep the Mariners in a 40-38 contest with thirteen minutes remaining in regulation. Ultimately, the Valiants pressed forward with seven straight points including a trifecta from Tommy Lotito to put the hosts up by a 47-38 margin at the midpoint of the half. USMMA would get no closer than a six-point deficit for the remainder of the contest, down 55-49 with five minutes to play before a John Ranaghan three-pointer effectively iced the contest in favor of Manhattanville.
Vencel led the Mariners with 19 points on a 7-for-11 shooting performance from the field. Zalescik added 16 points and Bristow poured in 11 points with a team-high six rebounds. Spivey (eight points) and Hatch (six points) rounded out the scoring for USMMA. The Mariners shot 46% (22-48) from the floor in the defeat, including going 8-for-20 (40%) from beyond the three-point line in the effort.
Saint-Louis led all scorers with 27 points for Manhattanville as Giordano hit 10-of-13 from the floor to notch a 21-point effort with six rebounds of his own. The Valiants hit 51% (27-53) of their shots from the floor, with 44 of their points coming from inside the paint in the win.
The Mariners return home to Liebertz Gymnasium on Jan. 16 for a 7 p.m. tip with Purchase College to continue Skyline Conference play. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on
the USMMA Men's Basketball Schedule Page.
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