Waleed Faird had 25 points and 12 rebounds against Manhattanville on Saturday. |
HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 11, 2006) – With the game tied at 30-apiece at halftime, Manhattanville College opened the second period on an 11-2 run in the span of 2:24 as the Valiants posted a 70-59 victory over the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. In the process, the Ducks dropped their second straight game and fell to 11-11 (6-6 Skyline Conference) on the year. Manhattanville won for the fifth time in six games to improve to 15-8 (9-4 Skyline).
The Valiants came out of the locker room sizzling early in the second half. Senior forward Mike Benziger (Sonoma, Calif.) canned a pair of three-pointers, and sophomore guard Brian Fink (Queens, N.Y.) added a long-range shot of his own as Manhattanville opened a 41-32 lead.
Trailing by 11 points, Stevens made things interesting as the Ducks went on a 10-2 run in a four-minute span as they climbed to within 47-44 with 11:30 remaining in the game. Sophomore guard Waleed Farid (Woodside, N.Y.) began the comeback with a three-pointer. Following a lay-up by freshman guard Virgil Gray II (Elmwood Park, N.J.), junior forward Tim Williams (Selden, N.Y.) scored a basket inside then drained a three-pointer from the left wing.
Leading by three points (49-46) with less than nine minutes remaining, the Valiants scored nine unanswered points to open a 58-46 lead with 3:44 left on the clock. Benziger scored five points while junior guard Cody Moffett (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added four points in the run. Moffett capped the burst by splitting through the Ducks’ defense and throwing down a two-handed dunk as Manhattanville pushed its lead to 12 points.
Stevens was undone as the Ducks were held scoreless for nearly six full minutes down the stretch before Farid connected on a lay-up with 3:26 remaining. In that stretch, Stevens went 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-1 at the foul line with five turnovers.
Farid led all scorers with 25 points as he connected on 10 of 20 field-goal attempts. Farid also had 12 rebounds in the game. Williams was six of nine from the field and made both of his three-point attempts for 14 points. Junior guard Floyd Morris (East Windsor, N.J.) chipped in with nine points and four assists.
Manhattanville received 18 points off the bench from Moffett, who was six of 10 from the field. Sophomore guard Donte Chisolm (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and Benziger scored 14 points apiece. Chisolm also had eight rebounds and five assists. Benziger was five of 11 from the floor and made four of six shots from downtown. Fink chipped in with 11 points.
Stevens will be back in action on Monday when it hosts Yeshiva University at 8 p.m.
