Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Sarah Lawrence College Athletics

The Official Athletics Website of Sarah Lawrence College
Gabe Downes SLC MBB 2025-26
Luca Mesiti
70
Winner Sarah Lawrence SLC 6-7,3-1 Skyline
67
Manhattanville Manhat 7-7,2-2 Skyline
Winner
Sarah Lawrence SLC
6-7,3-1 Skyline
70
Final
67
Manhattanville Manhat
7-7,2-2 Skyline
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Sarah Lawrence SLC 34 36 70
Manhattanville Manhat 32 35 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Basketball Holds on after Second-Half Surge For Road Victory over Valiants

PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence men's basketball team held on for a three-point road victory against Manhattanville on Saturday. The Gryphons took down the Valiants by a score of 70-67 to move to 3-1 in conference play.

Notable Performers
  • Eamon Kelly led all players with 20 points, making seven of 11 shots from the field
  • Chris Dougherty pulled down 12 rebounds in addition to 15 points and a pair of blocks
  • Braden Burman scored an efficient 14 points on 75% shooting from range

How it Happened
 
The hosts jumped ahead early with five straight points to open the day, capitalizing on a pair of SLC turnovers within the first minute. Dougherty answered to put the Gryphons on the board before long-range connections from both Kelly and Gabe Downes erased the lead and put the visitors up 8-5. The Valiants answered before Kelly found Thomas Matonti for another triple, putting the Gryphons back on top. Back-to-back scores by Manhattanville, including a three-point play, gave the Valiants a brief lead before the two teams traded points, and an Andrew Kim layup gave SLC a 15-14 lead. The score by the Sarah Lawrence point guard and an ensuing pair of made free throws by Kelly put the Gryphons ahead by three, but an answer from deep by the Valiants once again tied the game. The Valiants maintained a one-possession lead for the next few minutes, until back-to-back triples by Burman and Kelly with two minutes remaining put SLC back in the driver's seat. The teams continued to go score-for-score, with a 32-32 tie after a last-minute Valiant basket, only to be broken up by Kim's buzzer-beating bank shot to send the visitors into the break with a lead.

The back-and-forth play continued, with a 38-38 tie two minutes into the half erasing SLC's brief halftime lead. The Gryphons capitalized on a pair of stellar defensive efforts to return to the lead, with a Kelly steal turning into a jumper for the senior on the other end before a Dougherty block led to a Burman triple and put the team up by five points, forcing a Manhattanville timeout. The Valiants answered out of the break, but the Gryphons took the next nine points as Downes and Kim scored inside before Dougherty stepped out for a triple thanks to a pass from Downes. The senior big man scored the final two points of the 9-0 run, putting SLC up 52-40 with under 13 minutes to play. Burman, Kelly and John Kairouz stepped up to keep the team up by double-digits until a 5-0 run by the hosts closed the gap to 58-52 with just over eight minutes to play. Despite the brief drought, the Gryphons rebounded as scores by Kelly and Dougherty reasserted the double-digit cushion. The hosts continued to close the gap to five points, but the Gryphons answered at each turn, with Kelly doing so with 1:33 remaining and forcing a Manhattanville timeout with the game on the line. Manhattanville's Andrew Saint-Louis came out of the break by connecting from deep before an SLC miss turned into a Manhattanville layup that cut the lead to just two points with 20 seconds remaining. Luckily, Kelly got to the line for the Gryphons and knocked down both shots, re-extending the lead to four points and withstanding a last-second free throw make by the Valiants.

Up Next

The Gryphons (6-7, Skyline 3-1) will return to action on Wednesday, January 14th as they host Mount Saint Mary for a 6:00 p.m. showdown at the Campbell Sports Center.
Â