NEW YORK, N.Y. – Junior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas) scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half and seniors Peter Mehmel (Queens, N.Y.) and Lamar Glass (Dallas, Texas) combined for 19 in the second stanza as the Manhattanville men's basketball team started its 2010-11 season with a hard-fought 64-61 victory over Hunter College in a non-conference contest on Monday night at the Hunter Sportsplex.
Pointer was the leading scorer for either side in Monday's season-opener, reaching the 20-point plateau for the fourth time in his career while also adding a game-high five assists, four steals and three rebounds. Mehmel also had a good game with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and five rebounds, while Glass was the third Valiant in double figures with 11 points to go with four boards and four steals.
For Hunter, Mark Courtien had a team-leading 17 points while Eric Klingsberg and Anthony Uter each had 11.
The Manhattanville offense struggled at times in the opening half, hitting just eight field goals, but six of them came off the hand of Pointer. The junior, who scored the team's first 10 points of the evening, also went a perfect 4 for 4 from the line in the opening 20 minutes. No other Valiant had more than three points in the frame, with only Mehmel and senior Jay Ferriere (Melbourne, Australia) connecting from the field.
The Valiants took the lead three times in the first half, the last of which came in the final seconds on a pair of free throws by Pointer, and the squad never gave it back in the second stanza. The Hawks tied the score on a pair of occasions and got a nine-point lead deficit down to just one at 62-61 with 12 seconds remaining in the contest, but the Valiants were able to take 10 seconds off the clock before Hunter could foul and then got a pair of clutch free throws by Glass with two seconds remaining to seal the win and account for the final score.
After a red-hot start in the first half, Pointer cooled off in the second, shooting just 2 of 6 from the floor, but Mehmel and Glass combined to pick up the offensive slack and carry the team to a win. Mehmel shot 5 for 6 in the closing 20 minutes to score 10 points in 16 minutes on the floor, while Glass hit a pair of field goals and went a perfect 4 of 4 from the line in the second half – including the two makes late in the game – to net nine points and finish in double figures.
One of the keys to the game for Manhattanville was its defense, as the Valiants forced 28 Hunter turnovers and converted them into 25 points, including a big 13-3 edge in points off turnovers in the second half alone. The visitors also had a 12-0 edge in fast-break points, giving the team a distinct advantage over the home side.
The solid defense made up for the fact that Manhattanville did not have a great shooting night against Hunter, connecting on just 40.4 percent (21 of 52) attempts from the field. However, the team matched the Hawks in field goals in each half and used a five-point edge at the charity stripe to squeak out the victory, the team's fourth straight season-opening win.
Manhattanville (1-0) will make its home debut on Friday night, as the Valiants host Wheelock College on day one of the 2010 Castle Classic at Kennedy Gym starting at 8 p.m. in a game that fans can watch live online at GoValiants.TV. Hunter (0-1) will get back on the court Saturday at the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament.