After leading 28-20 at the half, the Crusaders used a 12-2 run to jump in front 32-30 with 16:06 left in the second half. But the Valiants took off from there, taking the lead on back-to-back three-pointers from Brian Fink and Jovan Kandic. Ahead 39-36 with 12:37 to go, Manhattanville scored 11 of the next 13 points, capping the run on a Joe Cooke layup and building a 50-38 lead.
The Valiants made 15-of-23 (65.2%) field goals in the second half after shooting just 36.7% in the first half. Cody Moffett led Manhattanville with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, one of three to finish in double-figures. Donte Chisolm had 11 points and Eduardo Huezo had his best game of the year off the bench, scoring 10 points and pulling down a team-high six rebounds.
Manhattanville forced 20 turnovers from Clarke, converting those takeaways into 19 points. The Crusaders did out-rebound the Valiants 37-27, however, and shot 43.8% from three-point range. John Heavens led all scorers with 22 points for Clarke (1-9), adding nine rebounds.
The Valiants (8-1) will return to action Wednesday night at 8:45 p.m. as they will play for the Adidas Desert Shootout Championship against either Denison or Scranton. For more information on the Desert Shootout, visit www.D3DesertShootout.com.