PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore Charles Nardone (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) earned his first career start and responded with a career-best 15 points to help lead the Manhattanville College men's basketball team to an 83-64 win over FDU-Florham in Freedom Conference action on Thursday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Nardone had a big game offensively for Manhattanville (6-12, 2-5 Freedom), hitting seven of his eight shots from the field while also adding three assists and two rebounds. Junior Juan Camacho(Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/New Horizons) led all scorers with a game-high 18 points and classmate Anthony Maestre(Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) registered 13 points and eight rebounds, while fellow junior Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) hauled in a game-high nine boards.
 
Donte Ali led FDU-Florham (1-17, 0-7 Freedom) with a near double-double of 17 points and nine rebounds and Kevin Furlong added 12 points and eight rebounds for the visitors, who saw their losing streak extended to 15 games thanks in part to 21-of-71 shooting (29.6 percent) from the field.
 
The Valiants excelled in the paint against the Devils, posting a 52-28 edge in points in the paint and posting a 25-7 advantage in fast-break points, helping Manhattanville shoot 54.8 percent (34 for 62) from the field, the highest percentage by the team in exactly a year. The home team also got a huge boost from its bench, which outscored FDU by a 32-15 margin to secure the victory.
 
Manhattanville wasted little time jumping out to an early lead on Thursday, starting the game on a 16-1 run over the first 7:34. Nardone, Camacho and Maestre all had four points each during the early run, which saw FDU miss its first 14 shots from the field. The Valiants maintained its double-digit lead for the entire first half, eventually getting to as many as 19 points after a jumper from freshman Victor Troya (Miami, Fla./Miami Springs Senior) made it a 38-19 lead with 1:23 remaining.
 
The Valiants hit 18 of 33 shots (54.5 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while the Devils struggled to shoot 6 of 35 (17.1 percent) from the field and 1 of 13 (7.7 percent) from long distance.
 
FDU-Florham continued to fight in the second half, using an 11-2 run to get the deficit back to single digits at 46-37 with 14:29 remaining. Manhattanville quickly scored six in a row to get the lead back to 15 on a jumper from freshmanTimmy McCauley (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas), but the visitors got the lead back down to nine and did so again on three subsequent occasions, the last coming on an Ali layup that made the score 60-51 with 8:14 on the clock.
 
Manhattanville was finally able to put away FDU with an 11-0 run, as five points each from Camacho and Maestre helped the home team build its lead back up to 20 at 71-51 with 4:48 left. The Valiants coasted from there, getting the lead up to 22 points on a Nardone bucket before settling for the 19-point victory.
 
Manhattanville will look to keep the momentum going on Saturday, when the team plays in front of alumni and friends on Alumni Day against Wilkes University beginning at 3 p.m.