JAMAICA, NY  --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College men's basketball overcame a 17-point first-half deficit but were unable to pull out the non-conference home win Tuesday evening as the Manhattanville College Valiants (5-2) escaped York College Gymnasium with a 72-71 decision.

The Cardinals raced out to a five-point lead with a 7-0 run capped by Mambe Koureissi's layup 2:28 in.  With the game knotted at 11, Manhattanville went on a 23-6 scoring spree over a stretch of 9:33 to grab a game-high 17-point lead.  York answered with a 15-6 run to close out the final 4:38 as Akil Vaughn scored eight points during that span to trim the Cardinal deficit to eight (41-33) at the break.

York continued to surge and used a 15-6 spurt early in the second stanza to take a 50-49 advantage.  Manhattanville then scored eight-unanswered points to jump back in front, 57-50, with 10:55 left.  With 7:33 showing on the second-half clock, Jaye Bookhart sank a pair of free throws to ignite a 6-0 Cardinal run to pull within one at the 6:34 mark.  After Vaughn dropped in a layup at 3:16 to make it a 70-69 game, Bookhart drained a jumper to give York a 71-70 lead with 1:58 left. York had two opportunities to extend its lead before Jojo Cobbs charged the paint for the game winning jumper with five seconds remaining.  The Cardinals were able to get a good look in the closing seconds but were unable to convert on a Hartley, Jr. 3-pointer as time expired. 

Vaughn posted his fourth-career double-double with career highs of 19 points and 17 rebounds to go with two blocks.  Hartley, Jr. and Bookhart followed with 14 points and Mambe Koureissi added 11 points and eight rebounds.  Hartley, Jr. and Koureissi each nabbed three steals as Devine Chisholm totaled nine points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.  

Cobbs poured in a game-high 25 points (11-of-23 FG) to lead the Valiants.  Mike Granada and Tommy Lotito scored 14 and 13, respectively.

In the end, York shot 35.2 percent from the field (23-of-65), 41.7 percent from 3-point range (5-of-12) and 74.1 percent from the free-throw line (20-of-27) as Manhattanville hit on 42.3 percent from the floor (30-of-71), 30 percent from deep (9-of-30) and 37.5 percent from the charity stripe (3-of-8).  The Cardinals won the boards battle, 49-42, scoring 11 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. York also outplayed Manhattanville in steals (8-2) and assists (19-18) as the Valiants produced 24 points off 16 Cardinal miscues.  

The Cardinals (3-8, 0-2 CUNYAC) start the new year on January 4 with their CUNYAC home opener against the Hunter College Hawks (1-8, 1-1 CUNYAC) at 2 p.m. on York Basketball Alumni Appreciation Day inside York College Gymnasium.  Cardinal basketball alumni can register for the event by visiting www.yorkathletics.com/hoopsalum.   

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