PURCHASE, N.Y. – All five Manhattanville starters scored in double figures, led by a game-high 25 points from senior Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville), as the Valiant men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the 2013 AJ Buchanan Classic with a 94-73 victory over Medgar Evers on Friday night in front of another raucous Kennedy Gym crowd.
 
Manhattanville (2-2) will face off in the title round tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Eastern Connecticut, which defeated Catholic by a 76-70 score in Friday's first game. Medgar Evers (1-3) and Catholic will meet in the consolation game tomorrow at 1 p.m.
 
Bramswig came up big for the Valiants in the win, posting his second double-double of the year by leading all players with both his 25 points and 13 rebounds to go with three assists, two steals and three thunderous blocks. Sophomore Juan Camacho (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) had his best game of the young season, scoring 15 points with seven rebounds, followed closely by classmate Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) with 14 points.
 
Sophomore Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) chipped in 13 points and a game-high six assists, while senior Colin Campbell (Miami, Fla./LaSalle)rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points of his own.
 
Manhattanville jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first 103 seconds, getting buckets from Winter and Camacho as well as a huge put-back slam from Bramswig. Despite leading by eight points early, Medgar Evers weathered the early storm and got back within three at 21-18 on a three-pointer by Pablo Segura with 11:26 left in the first half. But the Valiants came at the Cougars again with a 14-1 run, led by eight points from Bramswig, that made it a 34-19 score with 7:28 to go.
 
The Cougars made a bit of a run to get the lead down to eight with 4:33 remaining, but the Valiants ended the frame with a 7-1 run to take a 47-33 lead into the break. Manhattanville shot 53.8 percent (21 for 39) from the field in the first half and also dominated down low, leading Medgar Evers 38-14 in points in the paint.
 
After the Cougars scored the first four points of the second half, Maestre followed with back-to-back three pointers to make it a 16-point game, and Manhattanville was never threatened the rest of the way. The lead first got over the 20-point mark on a tip-in from freshman Charles Nardone (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) with 5:14 on the clock and increased to as many as 22 points with 3:23 remaining on a three-pointer from Campbell. A layup by sophomore Tian Tang (Shenzhen, China/Maine Central Institute)with 41 ticks remaining provided the final margin of victory as the Valiants got back to .500 on the year.
 
Manhattanville finished the night shooting 49.3 percent (36 for 73) from the field, while Medgar Evers struggled to a 36.8 percent (25 for 68) shooting clip on the evening. Including a 3-for-16 effort from beyond the arc. The Valiants ended the evening with a 58-36 edge in points in the paint, while also converting 20 MEC turnovers into 22 points.