Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan men's basketball team dropped its final contest of the preseason falling to Concordia 82-80 on Tuesday at Draddy Gymnasium. The Clippers buried 11 3-pointers, shot 40.7% from downtown and were led by senior big man William Eason who posted a double-double (17 points, 18 rebounds). Sophomore George Beamon led the way for the Jaspers finishing with 22 points, to go along with seven rebounds.
Concordia forced the Jaspers into 10 of their 16 turnovers with an energetic full court press to take a 21-9 lead seven minutes into the game. Manhattan responded after the sluggish start with a 17-4 run over a four minute span and earned its first advantage of the contest with a Kidani Brutus 3-pointer at the 9:16 mark in the first half.
Brutus, a junior transfer from Carl Albert State, had 14 points in 29 minutes off the bench going 4-for-6 from the field. The Bronx native had five rebounds and buried two treys.
The lead traded sides six more times, before Concordia buried three 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the stanza to take a 50-43 lead into the break. Beamon had 15 of his 22 points in the first half when he shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore forward Argelix Gil, freshman guard Norman Pope and Eason each scored in double figures in the first 20 minutes and combined for 36 of the Clippers 50 points. Gil finished the night with a team-high 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
Manhattan possessed the ball well in the second half, limiting itself to only three turnovers. The Jaspers erased their seven point halftime deficit outscoring Concordia 19-9 in the first 11 minutes to take a 62-60 advantage with a Robert Martina layup.
The Jaspers led by as many as five points with less than five minutes in the second stanza, but Concordia's 3-pointers became contagious. The Clippers buried four shots from downtown in the final 3:40 to hold off the Jaspers. Sophomore guard Lavor Morris connected on two of the four treys to finish with 17 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Freshman point guard Michael Alvarado carried Manhattan in the second half scoring 12 of his 15 points. The product of All Hallows High School in the Bronx played 33 minutes, shot 4-for-8 from the field and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. Classmate Rhamel Brown put up seven points and six rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
Manhattan has four more days to tune up before traveling to NJIT for the regular-season opener on Saturday in Newark, N.J. Tip off is slated for 2 p.m.
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