PURCHASE, N.Y. – Led by another double-double from senior Alex Tuci (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle), the Manhattanville College men's basketball team took home the title at the fifth annual AJ Buchanan Classic with a 69-63 win over Western Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gym.
 
Tuci was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after recording 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds in Saturday's final, as he averaged 13.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game in the two Manhattanville (3-0) victories. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by classmate Dom Arena (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman), who dished out nine assists on Saturday and averaged 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game for the weekend.
 
Joining the Valiant pair on the All-Tournament team were Tyler Rowe (WCSU), Hamed Shamseldin (Brockport) and George Sapp (William Paterson).
 
Sophomore JoJo Cobbs (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) started the game off with a three-pointer and Manhattanville never trailed after that point, with only a single tie keeping the team from a wire-to-wire win. The Valiants never pulled away from the Colonials at any point, with the lead only reaching double-figures briefly on a bucket from freshman Mike Granda (Monroe Township, N.J./St. Joseph) in the final minutes of the first half, but a balanced scoring attack and some stingy defense helped keep Western Connecticut (1-1) at bay throughout.
 
The Valiants shot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) from the field in the opening half, including a 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) effort from beyond the arc, in taking a 43-36 lead into halftime. Tuci led all Valiants with nine points, followed by Cobbs and senior Brian Haggerty (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) with eight apiece. In all, six Manhattanville players had at least two buckets in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Colonials made their only real run of the afternoon early in the second half, going on an extended 15-7 run that took nearly 11 minutes and managed to tie the game after a second straight bucket from Geary McLeod knotted the score at 54-all with 6:49 left.
 
But Tuci singlehandedly answered the challenge for the Valiants, scoring the team's next seven points to key a game-clinching 11-2 stretch. He started the run with a three-point play and added another layup and a pair of free throws as part of his personal 7-2 run, while Haggerty followed with a big three-pointer and Arena added a free throw to put the home team up 65-56 entering the final minute. Cobbs sunk four free throws the rest of the way to clinch the win and the tournament title.
 
The Valiant offense cooled off in the second half, taking only 19 shots and hitting seven (36.8 percent), but the Manhattanville defense stepped up and limited Western Connecticut to nearly the exact same shooting percentage (11 for 30, 36.7 percent). For the game, the Valiants shot 46.9 percent (23 for 49) from the field, while keeping the Colonials to only three more field goals (26) despite taking 20 more shots (69).
 
Manhattanville is off to its best start to a season since 2010-11, when the team won its first three games, including a win over WCSU to capture the then-Castle Classic title, on the way to a 10-1 start and a D3hoops.com national ranking. The Valiants look to remain perfect on the year after the Thanksgiving break when the team hosts Wesleyan University on Sunday, November 26 at 3 p.m.