SCRANTON, PA – An 11-0 run to end the first half powered the Manhattanville Valiants to a 74-70 win over the York College men's basketball squad in the opening round of the Hilton Scranton Invitational hosted by the University of Scranton.
The Spartans fall to 1-1 and will face Houghton in the consolation game of the tournament on Saturday. The Valiants will face the host Royals in the tournament title game.
Manhattanville improves to 2-0 with the win.
How It Happened
• Manhattanville got off to a great start as they sprinted out to a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Chris Miers got the Spartans on the board with a three to break the ice. The Spartans kept the Valiants within range and finally took the lead on back-to-back three pointers from
Shawn Barclay and
Pat Gilhool as the Spartans led 18-16 with 9:56 left in the first.
• The Spartan lead grew to four at 22-18 with 7:40 left in the half. Unfortunately for York, the Spartans would go cold and Manhattanville would go on a 15-2 run over the final 6:14 of the stanza as the Valiants took a 33-24 lead at the break.
• The Valiants kept the momentum going after the half as they began the half on a 6-2 run to push out to a 13-point lead. York answered with seven straight points to cut the Manhattanville lead to six. York got it down to five twice before the Valiants scored seven straight to push the lead back to 12 with 12:15 remaining. Manhattanville kept the lead in double figures before the Spartans got a Miers bucket to cut the lead to eight. Back-to-back buckets put the Valiants lead back to 12 with 3:48 left.
• York got threes on consecutive possessions from
Jackson Mascari, cutting the Manhattanville lead to seven with 1:43 left in the game. York was forced to foul with 1:34 remaining and Daniel Marinaccio hit both to put the Valiants back up by nine.
Johnny Kennevan drilled a three with 1:23 left as the Spartans crept a little closer at 69-63.
• The teams traded baskets before Tommy Lotitto drained a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left to push the lead back to eight at 73-65. The Spartans made a furious run over the final ten seconds as
Sean Kelly hit a lay-up and a three pointer to cut the lead to 73-70 with four seconds left. York had to foul on the ensuing inbounds play and Tommy Lotitto converted one of two chances at the free throw line to secure the 74-70 win for Manhattanville.
Spartan Numbers
The Spartans struggled from the field as they shot 44.4% (28-for-63) from the floor while Manhattanville converted 52.8% (28-of-53) from the field … York was 10-for-33 (30.2%) from three while Manhattanville was just 2-for-12 (16.7%) from beyond the arc … The Spartans hurt themselves from the line as they went just 4-for-9 (44.4%) … the Valiants made 16-for-25 (64%) from the free throw line … York won the battle on the glass with a 37-32 rebounding advantage … York had a 12-4 margin in second chance points while Manhattanville had a 44-32 edge in points in the paint.
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 0-2 against Manhattanville … the last time the two teams met was December 8, 1991 in the championship game of the White Rose City Classic in York … the Valiants posted an 89-77 win in old Wolf Gym … sophomore
Jackson Mascari tied his career high as he tallied 17 points in the game … Mascari also had a season high 12 rebounds, one rebound short of his career high of 13 last year against St. Elizabeth … the double-double is the third in Mascari's career …
Chris Miers added 14 points and three steals while
Kai Cipalla was the third Spartan in double figures with 10 points …
Jayden Rowe and
Sean Kelly both pulled in a career-high seven rebounds.
Up Next
The Spartans will square off against Houghton in the consolation game off the Hilton Scranton Invitational. Game time is set for 2:00 pm in Scranton, PA.
