LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Manhattanville College men's basketball team claimed the championship of the W&L Tip-off Tournament on Saturday evening with a 78-74 victory over Mary Washington. In the consolation game, the host Generals fell to Southwestern, 59-44.
In the championship game, the Valiants (2-0) led by as many as 16 points in the first half only to see Mary Washington cut it to a two-point (41-39) game at the half. The second half saw the lead change hands four times and neither team held a lead larger than six points. Manhattanville took the lead for good at 73-72 with 1:30 remaining on a free throw by sophomore guard Brian Fink (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep).
Senior forward Mike Benzinger (Sonoma, Calif./Sonoma Valley) paced five MC players in double-digits with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Junior guard Cody Moffett (Brooklyn, N.Y./Edgemont) added 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting off the bench. Fink added 11 points and eight boards.
Mary Washington (1-1) was led by sophomore guard Justin Baker (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), who totaled 26 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard A.J. Fitzgerald (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield) posted 21 points, four assists and three steals.
In the consolation game, Southwestern forced 21 W&L turnovers and held a 32-19 rebounding advantage en route to a 59-44 victory. The Pirates closed the first half on a 13-2 run to post a 31-19 halftime lead. The Generals began the second half on an 8-0 run to close to 31-27 with 15:28 remaining, but SU pushed back out to a double-digit lead and cruised to the victory.
Junior guard Chris Halkitis (New Port Richey, Fla./Ridgewood) led the Generals (0-2) with 14 points, while sophomore forward John Mumper (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) added 12 points.
Southwestern (1-1) was led by sophomore guard Matt Caplan's (Sugar Land, Texas/Kansas) 13 points. Senior forward Robert Cates (Houston, Texas/Cy-Springs) also contributed 12 points and four steals.
Benzinger, Baker, Fitzgerald, Halkitis and Caplan were all named to the all-tournament team, with Baker taking home tournament MVP honors.
Washington and Lee returns to action on Tuesday as it travels to Emory University for a 7:00 pm contest.
-- GENERALS --
