PURCHASE, N.Y. – Senior Ivan Jovicic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sports HS Belgrade) drained five of Manhattanville's 11 three-pointers on the way to a career-high 21 points in leading the Manhattanville men's basketball team to a decisive 87-64 victory over neighboring Purchase College in a battle for Anderson Hill Road bragging rights on Wednesday evening at Purchase Gym.

Jovicic had a great shooting night for the Valiants in the victory, shooting 6 of 9 from the field, including a 5 of 8 mark from beyond the arc. He also chipped in four free throws to surpass his previous career high of 17 set last season.

The interior tandem of senior Armani Blackmon (Plano, Texas/Plano East) and sophomore Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) also wreaked havoc on the Purchase front line all night long, with both players recording double-doubles. Blackmon posted his fourth of the year with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Bramswig's third double-double of the year saw him finish with 11 points and a career-best 15 caroms.

Thanks in large part to Jovicic's sharpshooting, the Valiants lit up the Panthers from beyond the arc, going 11 for 22 (50 percent) from long range, including eight threes alone in the first half. For the game, Manhattanville connected at a 47.8 percent clip (33 for 69) from the field, while also going 10 of 16 from the charity stripe.

Purchase was led off the bench by Antonio Johnson, who scored all 17 of his team-leading points in the second half on 6-of-7 shooting.

Manhattanville demonstrated its on-point shooting early in the game, with sophomore Colin Campbell (Miami, Fla./LaSalle) and senior Felipe Vargas (Miami, Fla./Miami Christian) draining back-to-back three pointers to give the visitors an early 6-2 lead. Purchase came back to take the lead for the first time, with a DJ Smith layup giving the Panthers a three-point edge at 9-6, but that lead did not last long as a Blackmon lay-in and a bucket from senior Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) erased the deficit and started a 10-0 run from which Purchase never recovered.

The home team got back within three twice at the midway mark of the opening frame, but four straight Valiant baskets – including threes by Jovicic and freshman Wills Flynn (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian) – gave the Valiants a double-digit lead for the first time at 34-23 with 6:24 left. The first-half advantage grew to as many as 16 on another Flynn trifecta, and Manhattanville went into the half with a comfortable 45-32 lead thanks in large part to a commanding 24-2 edge in bench points.

The second half saw the Valiants in cruise control, as the lead never shrunk below double figures. The Manhattanville lead got as low as 10 at 50-40, but the team responded with a 20-5 run over the next six minutes that gave the Valiants their biggest lead of the game, 25 points (70-45), with 9:20 left. Jovicic had a team-leading nine points during the run, which essentially put an end to the contest for the visitors.

For good measure, Jovicic capped the evening by scoring the final five points of the game, including an appropriate three-pointer with 58 seconds left that accounted for the final score.

Manhattanville (6-6) will conclude its 2011-12 non-conference schedule on Saturday, as the Valiants host York (N.Y.) in a 2 p.m. matchup that will be video streamed live on GoValiants.TV starting at 1:50 p.m. Purchase (5-5) will host NYU-Poly also on Saturday at 2 p.m.