Purchase, NY - Following their first win of the season yesterday, the men's basketball team fell to the Valiants of Manhattanville College earlier this afternoon by a score of 84-75. Hunter's six point lead at the half was erased as they struggled to duplicate their offensive output in the second, ultimately being outscored by 15 in the second frame. The loss drops the Hawks to 1-11 overall as they look to add another tally to the win column on Tuesday, January 5 at Medgar Evers.

Alex Mattina led a trio of Hawks in double digit scoring with a team and season high 18 points. Teammate Gerard Carty tallied 17 points while Brian Kruger added 14 of his own. Six other players scored at least two points with Amerk Lukac doing his part with nine points. The Purple and Gold were hot in the first half, shooting nearly 55 percent from the floor which included going 7-13 from behind the arc. They ended the game with 39 total rebounds, four more than their counterparts, 26-59 from the floor and 9-26 from behind the arc.

The first half was highlighted by seven lead changes with the final one favoring the Hawks. Matt Franks opened the game with a three pointer but the Hawks found themselves down by one at the 17:12 mark after Manhattanville's Alex Tuci's layup put the hosts up 11-10. The deficit remained within striking distance for nearly seven minutes until a tip in by Lowell Stevens on his own missed shot put the Hawks back on top, 25-24. The Purple and Gold sank eight of their final 15 shots over the remaining 10 minutes and found themselves up by six at halftime. 

It was the second half where the Hawks struggled; shooting nearly 30 percent from the floor and making just eight field goals while turning the ball over 10 times. Hovering with a lead that ranged between two and five points, two turnovers and a missed trey opened the doors for the hosts as they regained the lead at the 12:30 mark on a layup from Juan Camacho. Unable to spark the offensive attack, Hunter slipped into as much as a 13 point deficit. Not going down without a fight, two free throws from Franks at the 2:04 mark allowed the Hawks to pull within four, but they ran out of time as the game ended 84-75 in favor of the Valiants.

Hunter returns to action on January 5 when they take on Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn at 8pm.