The Valiants, who knocked off Merchant Marine at home back in early January, scored the game’s first five points and led the entire first half, building a 36-25 lead at the break. After scoring nine of the first 13 points in the second half, Manhattanville was up 45-29 with 15:48 left. The rest of the game, however, belonged to the Mariners.
Merchant Marine scored the next 10 points to chop the lead down to six with 12:56 to go, and a 17-0 run over better than 6:30 later in the half buried the Valiants, giving the Mariners a 60-54 lead with 3:24 remaining. During the 12:24 stretch in which the Valiants were out-scored 31-9, Manhattanville turned the ball over 10 times and made just 3-of-13 shots from the field.
The Valiants finished the game with 21 turnovers and shot a solid 43.9% from the floor. But the Mariners connected on 47.4% of their field goals including a sizzling 57.1% in the second half. Manhattanville out-rebounded the hosts 34-33 but made just 10-of-16 free throws while Merchant Marine went 13-for-15 from the line.
Olivia Nastasi led the Valiants with 13 points and five assists, hitting 3-of-5 three-pointers. Kim Reznicek was the only other Valiant in double-figures with 11 points. Freshman Nina Johnson had nine points a five offensive rebounds (seven total) and Lauren Grenier returned from an injury to score eight points in her first game since January 10.
Morgan Gartner led Merchant Marine (9-13, 6-7 Skyline) with 18 points and six rebounds while Kristen Hetsko added 17 points. Brooke Picillo, who’s three-pointer started the Mariners’ 10-point run early in the second half, had 15 points, seven assists and five steals in 22 minutes off the bench.
The Valiants (7-16, 5-9 Skyline) will play their final two games at home, taking on Farmingdale State Saturday at 12:00 p.m. before finishing up the regular season with Centenary (N.J.) February 14 at 6:00 p.m. Valiant seniors Reznicek, Sarah Kinsley and Jazmine Leon will be honored before that game.