Purchase, NY - The John Jay men's basketball team faced a four-point deficit at the end of the first half and later saw Manhattanville's lead swell to as many as 11 before staging a valiant comeback of their own but it wasn't enough as the Bloodhounds fell in the season opener, 69-63, on Tuesday evening.
Four Bloodhounds finished in double-figures, led by
Garrison Watkins, who narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 12 points and a team-best nine rebounds in 35 minutes of action. He also added a team-leading three assists.
Isaac Holmes matched Watkins with 12 points while also logging 35 minutes of action.
Corey Jones Jr. and
Dan Kenny ended with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Kenny grabbed six caroms in 21 minutes of play.
The Valiants had three players reach double-digits, led by Tommy Lotito, who netted a game-high 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the floor. Jackson Leech chipped in 17 points while Xavier Kistoo-Miles added 11 points.
Lotito, Leech and Jake Dunne each collected eight rebounds a piece in the victory while Lotitio also dished out a game-high five helpers.
Leech opened the contest with the first bucket of the night for the Valiants.
The Bloodhounds answered with a 10-3 run over the next four minutes as John Jay went 3 of 4 from the floor and 2 of 3 from three-point range in building a seven-point lead as Holmes drained one from the outside from Watkins.
Manhattanvillle regained the lead, 19-18, thanks to a 16-8 run of their own following a pair of made free-throws by Jack Scanlon.
A quick 7-2 outburst gave the visitors a 25-21 advantage with 7:47 remaining in the first half as Watkins drained a mid-range jumper.
The Valiants limited the Bloodhounds down the stretch, holding John Jay to just two made buckets while outscoring the visitors 13-5 in taking a 34-30 halftime lead.
When play resumed for the second half, the Bloodhounds seized control of the tempo early on, as Kenny opened the scoring for the visitors by muscling in two in the paint. Jones Jr. added a tying layup that made it 34-34.
From that point, Manhattanville built a 18-7 run over a seven-minute span to take a 52-41 lead at the 11:38 mark as Scanlon completed the traditional three-point play.
Delgado was the catalyst for the Bloodhounds run as John Jay outscored Manhattanville, 9-2, over this span, trimming the deficit down to four, 54-50, as he was able to connect on a three-pointer from the feed by Jones Jr.
With five minutes left in the ballgame, Jamir Stewart was able to bring John Jay to within one possession of tying the game, 58-55, as he converted on a layup.
John Jay couldn't cut into the lead further as the Valiants outscored the Bloodhounds, 11-4, over the next three minute to increase their lead to 69-59 with 1:14 left to play in regulation.
Watkins sank a pair of free throws before Delgado made a layup as time expired.
The Bloodhounds will host Purchase for their home opener on Wednesday evening at The Doghouse with tipoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
