PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's basketball team overcame a tough shooting night thanks to superb defense and a big 17-2 second-half run to post a 55-48 victory over defending Freedom Conference champion and preseason favorite DeSales University in both teams' 2014-15 conference opener on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
On a night when the shots weren't falling with any regularity, juniorsAnthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) andJuan Camacho (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) both grinded out a team-high 16 points. Maestre also played the playmaker role with a career-high nine assists, while Camacho added five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
 
Cody Deal recorded a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, and he was complemented by Aaron Burton with six points and a game-best 10 boards.
 
Manhattanville (4-4, 1-0 Freedom) managed to hang with DeSales in the opening half, despite some rough shooting late in the period. The Valiants shot just 9 of 33 (27.3 percent) over the first 20 minutes, including only two field goals over the final 10-plus minutes of the frame. And yet the team remained in the contest thanks in part to forcing 10 DeSales turnovers.
 
DeSales (5-2, 0-1 Freedom) held an 11-9 lead after a Burton layup with 12:45 remaining before Manhattanville put together its lone sustained stretch of offense in the half, a 9-0 run capped by a Maestre jumper that put the home team ahead 18-11 with 10:43 left. While the home team managed just a three from junior Darius Christmas(Hackensack, N.J./Paramus Catholic) over the next 10 minutes, the Valiants held DeSales to just five field goals at the other end to keep themselves within range headed into the second half down just three at 28-25.
 
The Bulldogs built their lead up to as many as seven points on two occasions in the second half, the last coming with 14:38 left on a Deal layup that made it a 39-32 game. But then it was DeSales' turn to go cold from the field, as the Valiants ceded just one field goal over the next nine minutes to spur a game-changing 17-2 run.
 
Freshman Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) started the run with a tip-in to make it a 39-34 game with 12:09 remaining, followed by three Camacho buckets and two baskets from Maestre that suddenly put the home team ahead 44-41 with 8:38 on the clock. A pair of free throws and a three from senior Connor Quigley (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) put an end to the run, which made the score 49-41 in favor of Manhattanville with 5:27 remaining. During the run, the Valiants scored on six straight possessions and seven of nine; DeSales, meanwhile, shot 1-of-8 with six turnovers over the same stretch.
 
DeSales got the deficit down to three with 3:27 left, but the Bulldogs went without a field goal the rest of the way as Manhattanville sealed the victory with some more excellent defense and timely buckets.
 
Manhattanville finished the game forcing 23 DeSales turnovers, and while that did not necessarily result in points, it allowed the home team to take 21 more shots than the visitors. The Valiants finished the night shooting just 33.3 percent (22 of 66) from the field, but DeSales was not much better at 37.8 percent (17 of 45).
 
The Valiants will look to keep the momentum going on Saturday, as the squad concludes the fall semester with another key early-season Freedom Conference contest at Wilkes beginning at 3 p.m.