Coming off a gut wrenching loss at the hands of rival Maritime College Friday afternoon, fifth year head coach Chris Carideo could ask for nothing more from his team than the performance they put forth. Kings Point shot 50-percent from the field (25-50), 58-percent from downtown (14-24) and 86-percent from the charity stripe (19-22).
The Mariners went a blaze from the floor after falling behind 2-0 following a pair of free throws by John Dibetta. USMMA stormed off with a 16-3 run to set the tone for the remainder of the game.
The Valiants axed away at the early 11-point deficit in the span of three minutes to narrow the KP lead to four (18-14), but USMMA would respond with an 11-0 run to up the lead to 15. Sophomore forward Jimmy Sanders ignited the run with a trio of three balls, followed by a pair from Eric Hanson at the line.
Manhattanville slowly chipped away at the lead once more and pulled to within a digit (33-32), before Brian Kelly gave USMMA some breathing room with a three ball. The Mariners led by six heading into the final 90 seconds, but took a three point advantage into the half as Justin Morris made it a one-possession game with a long ball with 67 ticks remaining.
In the second, Kings Point upped the lead to seven on its opening two possessions. Manhattanville pulled to within a deuce on a couple of occasions, before the Mariners erupted with a frenzy of buckets to take a 15-point lead with 7:52 left in the contest. The Mariners led by as many as 17 in the frame en route to a 14-point win.
Sanders led the way for Kings Point with a game-high 21 points all from downtown. He was on the mark, shooting 7-of-8 from beyond the arc. Freshman Alex Loepker added 15, while Zach Wyatte and Paul Tricarico notched 12 apiece. Tricarico issued a game-high seven dimes. Pat Grace totaled 10 off the bench.
The Valiants were led by Mike Benziger, Donte Chisolm and Justin Morris with 14 points each.
USMMA (10-11, 5-5 Skyline) return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 7 versus Old Westbury at 7 p.m. The game will be called live on Mariners Broadcast Network with the pre-game show to commence at 6:45 p.m.