Men’s Basketball Eliminated in Skyline First Round

Purchase, NY| The fifth-seeded St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team was defeated, 64-58, by fourth-seeded Manhattanville College in the first round of the Skyline Conference Championship tournament on Tuesday evening.

The Golden Eagles, who qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season, finish the 2021-22 campaign with a 15-9 overall record having won 10 of 15 games since the New Year.

The Valiants improve to 16-8 on the year and advance to the semifinal round of the tournament.

SJC was paced by sophomore Spencer Malloy, who posted game-high totals for points (15) and rebounds (11).

Sophomore Jake Gaudiello contributed 10 points and three steals, and freshman Alec Tabada went for nine points.

Manhattanville's Mike Granda scored a team-high 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field.

St. Joseph's led early but the Valiants went ahead 12-9 6:23 into the contest and took a six-point lead into the break (32-26).

In the second half, SJC trailed by as few as three points (57-54), but Manhattanville matched the guests every step of the way and held on for a nervy 64-58 victory.

Despite outrebounding the Valiants 36-30, St. Joseph's was outshot from the field (48.9% to 36.7%) and from three (35.3% to 23.1%). 

Manhattanville also held advantages in bench points (28-12) and points off turnovers (12-11).