Manhattanville improves to 16-8 overall and 10-4 in the Skyline Conference. It is the fourth time in the program’s history the Valiants earned double-digits in conference wins.
“It was a nice win for our guys, especially for our seniors,” said Head Coach Dean Meminger. “We needed this one to help us build momentum for the conference tournament.”
Dolphins’ sophomore Pat Narciso (Long Island, N.Y.) led Mount Saint Vincent with 16 points off the bench, while junior Dan Bailey (Mineola, N.Y.) scored 13 points. The Dolphins fall to 9-14 overall and 6-8 in the conference.
Manhattanville never trailed in the game. The Valiants jumped out to a 16-6 lead to open the game behind seven points from Johnson in the post and at the free-throw line. The Dolphins stormed back to cut the Valiants lead to three at 23-20 with eight minutes left in the first half, but that was the smallest deficit for Mount Saint Vincent.
Manhattanville sophomore guard John Rahn (Monroe, N.Y.) scored all six of his points in a three-minute span thanks to two lay-ups and two free-throws to extend the Valiants lead to 29-20. After a steal by sophomore Dan DiMartino (Massapequa, N.Y.), Danielski converted on the fast break to give Manhattanville a double-digit lead with four minutes remaining in the first half.
The second half started with three lay-ups by Danielski and two 3-pointers by sophomore Mike Benziger (Sonoma, Calif.). Benziger scored 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
However, the night belonged to seniors Johnson, Danielski and Lubin Fidegnigban (Ferney-Voltaire, France). Johnson shot 12-of-15 from the foul line and 7-of-10 from the floor. Danielski shot 9-of-13 from the floor to go with four offensive rebounds and six assists.
The Valiants never let the lead dip below 10 points the rest of the game as Manhattanville shot 58 percent from the floor on 29-50 shooting. Manhattanville also wiped the glass clean, outrebounding the Dolphins 34-22.
Manhattanville’s next game will take place on the road on Thursday against SUNY Maritime starting at 8 p.m.