Phoenixville, PA – The University of Valley Forge Men's Basketball team welcomed Pine Manor College to UVF on Saturday afternoon.  The Patriots (2-11) came back from a 10-point deficit to beat Pine Manor (7-11) 76-72.

Offensively Alex Sanchez could not be stopped.  Sanchez poured in 30 points and gathered 9 rebounds.  Sean Word was a man amongst boys on the glass.  Word had a game high 19 rebounds while scoring 17 for the Patriots.  Arthur Wilborn,  and Emanuel Toms each scored 11 points for UVF. 

Pine Manor was led on offense by Jamel Hamans with 16 points and 6 rebounds.  Ellis Reid added 13 points and 6 rebounds for the Gators.

As things got underway there was a sense that this would be a tightly contested game.  Both teams battled back and forth for most of the first half.  The Patriots took a 12-10 lead when Alex Sanchez drilled a three at the 13-minute mark.  After a tip-in from Sean Word the Patriots led 14-10 in the early stages of the first half. However, Pine Manor used a 17-5 run to grab a 38-29 advantage with 3:25 left in the half.  The Gators entered halftime with a 42-34 lead.

Almost as soon as Pine Manor switched from a zone defense to man to man, the Patriots started to make a comeback.  Down 10 and with only 5 minutes remaining, Arthur Wilborn made a steal and drove to the hoop and laid it up and in.  After another Wilborn layup and trey from Cody Collins, UVF trailed 66-63.  The Patriots were able to tie the game thanks to an Alex Sanchez made layup and free throw. Moments later Pine Manor's Steven Collins made a jumper to give the Gators a 70-68 lead.  With 1:38 left to play and UVF in the bonus, Emanuel Toms was fouled and sent to the free throw line.  Toms took a deep breath and made two important free throws that tied the game at 70-70.  The Patriots tightened on defense and forced an errant pass that went out of bounds.  On the following Valley Forge possession and time running out on the shot clock, Alex Sanchez had no choice but to shoot the ball from deep.  Sanchez's shot tickled the twine and gave UVF a big 73-70 advantage.  Emanuel Toms would again step to the free throw line and bury both attempts.  The Patriots earned their 2^nd victory of the year by defeating Pine Manor 76-72.
 
Coaches Quotes
DJ Damazo Said: "This week was very interesting to say the least.  I'm happy to end it with a win.  I thought our guys really battled and showed toughness.  I am especially proud of our defensive effort in the second half.  We seem to finally be getting comfortable with our man to man principles and are taking pride down on that end.  We will look forward to building on this win."

Up Next
The Patriots will be back in action on Wednesday, January 31st at 6:00 pm when they face University of Pitt Greensburg at home. 

Go Patriots!