BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Darryl Crawford, Andrew Gabriel and Rico Pickett led a balanced scoring attack each posting 13 points en route to Manhattan's (6-5) 71-61 victory at Long Island (4-6) on Saturday in snowy Brooklyn. Jaspers guard Patrick Bouli added 12 points to the effort as Manhattan snapped the Blackbirds' five game home winning streak marking their first loss at the Wellness Center this season.
It was a tough night for the Jaspers shooting from 3-point range (5-19), but Manhattan did get key 3s early in the second half to build a comfortable edge. Bouli hit his first 3-pointer of the night 59 seconds into the period to give Manhattan its first double-digit lead (39-27). The Jaspers put it into overdrive using a 13-3 run, which spanned three minutes midway through the stanza to build its largest advantage (18), 54-36. The surge featured another 3-pointer from Bouli, and two more from Antoine Pearson and Pickett. Manhattan maintained its double-digit advantage for the majority of the second half.
Pearson and Laurence Jolicoeur each finished with eight points and four rebounds. Senior forward Brandon Adams added four points and a career-high four blocks in his second start of the season, despite battling foul trouble.
Manhattan rushed out to a 36-27 halftime lead behind 10 first half points from Crawford. Bouli's block to make a critical stop with just seconds remaining in the first half put the exclamation point on Manhattan's solid defensive effort. Bouli also tied a season best with three steals.
The first half featured 11 lead changes and five ties. Crawford's 3-pointer with 10:08 remaining marked the final lead change (19-18) of the game and sparked a 7-0 Jaspers' run. Seven Jaspers got in the scoring column in the opening stanza. Gabriel chipped in eight first half points and six rebounds.
The Jaspers continued its defensive stance in the second half. Over a five minute span in the final 10 minutes Manhattan limited Long Island to just one free-throw. Senior guard Jaytornah Wisseh was a bright spot for the Blackbirds as he finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Gabriel and Crawford each came up one rebound shy of double-doubles leading the Jaspers with nine boards apiece. Gabriel shot an efficient 6-for-8 from the field in his first appearance coming off the bench this season. Pickett added to the rebounding effort with seven boards of his own.
Manhattan shot 71.4% (20-28) from the free-throw line and forced 16 turnovers. Pickett was perfect from the charity stripe going 6-for-6.
The Jaspers take an 11 day break before returning to action on Dec. 30 at Vanderbilt. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn.