With the win, the Valiants remained one game back of league-leading Stevens and stayed a full game ahead of third-place Old Westbury. The victory was also Manhattanville’s first second straight against a top flight Skyline team on the road, coming four days after a 92-74 win at Mount Saint Mary.
In Monday’s game, the Valiants led from the early going and did not let the Maccabees back in the game until very late. Manhattanville led by as much as 14 points early in the second half and used a perfect night (14-for-14) at the foul line to keep their pesky foe at bay. But the Valiants built their lead on the strength of their defense, forcing 20 Yeshiva turnovers and building an eight-point halftime lead.
“We did a real good job of taking them out of their offense,” Head Coach Pat Scanlon said. “The key to beating this team is to get up early and make them speed up the tempo, and we had the tempo in our favor most of the game.”
Junior Cody Moffett, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, led a balanced Manhattanville attack with 14 points and eight rebounds. Donte Chisolm added 13 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Brian Fink was the third Valiant starter in double-figures, finishing with 13 points including a trio of key three-pointers early in the second half as Manhattanville built a double-digit lead. Sophomore Justin Morris, coming off the bench for the second straight game, responded with 11 points and four boards.
Yeshiva (13-8, 6-6 Skyline) shot 45% from the field but forced only 13 Manhattanville turnovers. The Valiants out-rebounded the Maccabees 31-30 and had 11 boards on the offensive end.
Manhattanville (17-5, 10-3 Skyline), winner of six of their last seven, has just three games remaining in the regular season and will next be in action Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. home against conference rival Merchant Marine, looking to avenge a 70-68 road loss to the Mariners earlier this season. Wednesday’s game will also be broadcast live on www.GoValiants.com beginning at 6:45 p.m.