Men's Basketball Meets Quinnipiac Sunday in MAAC Semifinals

2014 Manhattan MAAC Championships Guide?|?Purchase Tickets?(Manhattan fans will be in Section 7)

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass.?-?Winners of nine of their last ten games, #2 Manhattan faces #3 Quinnipiac on Sunday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in the semifinals of the 2014 MAAC Championships. The Jaspers return from a 72-58 win over Saint Peter's last night in the MAAC Quarterfinals. Rhamel Brown posted his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Michael Alvarado added 17 points.

Fans can follow our next Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Noah D. LeFevre on Twitter this weekend. Noah will be posting thoughts about the tournament, behind the scenes photos and more!

STRONG PLAY LAST TWO MONTHS
Manhattnan's recent 9-1 stretch has come since the beginning of February. During the last two seasons, the Jaspers have a record of 17-4 during the months of February and March.?

THREE NAMED ALL-MAAC, BROWN DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Manhattan guard George Beamon was named first team All-MAAC earlier this week, after earning the final MAAC Player of the Week award of the regular season. Forward Rhamel Brown earned second team All-MAAC honors and guard Michael Alvarado was a third-team selection. Brown also earned the MAAC's Defensive Player of the Year award for the third consecutive season. It is the first time in conference history that a player has earned three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards.

MAAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Manhattan has won three MAAC championships since joining the league prior to the 1981-82 season. This year's #2 seed is the highest for Manhattan since the Jaspers won the 2006 regular season title. Here is the Jaspers' tournament history during the last 10 years:

ROAD WARRIORS
Manhattan is tied for third in the nation with 13 wins away from Draddy Gymnasium in road/neutral games. The Jaspers are 12-4 in true road games and 9-3 at home.

BEAMON, ALVARADO, BROWN BYPASS 1,000 POINTS
Manhattan's senior class of Michael Alvarado, George Beamon and Rhamel Brown has been one of the most prolific senior classes in recent Jasper history. Beamon recently moved into fourth place on the Manhattan career scoring list, while Alvarado and Brown passed the 1,000-point mark earlier this season. The trio of Beamon, Alvarado and Brown is the first senior class in Manhattan College history to score more than 1,000 points.

BEAMON IS BACK
Manhattan senior George Beamon has scored 20+ points in 16 of his 27 games this season.

Beamon has also posted five double-doubles this season, leading the team in rebounds with 6.6 per game:

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Manhattan senior Rhamel Brown has blocked at least one shot in every game and has blocked four or more shots 15 times. He currently ranks second in the nation in blocks.

RHAMEL'S BLOCK PARTY
The Jaspers' all-time leader in blocked shots, Rhamel Brown recently broke his single-season blocked shots record, previously set last season.

Brown is also the active leader in career blocked shots among all Division I players.?

BOUNDING AND ASTOUNDING
Not only is Brown the Jaspers' all-time shot block king, he ranks among Manhattan's top ten in career rebounds, coming down with more than 700 rebounds during his career.

AWESOME ALVARADO
Manhattan senior Michael Alvarado finished with 17 points on 13-of-16 shooting from the free throw line to help pace the Jaspers in Saturday's quarterfinal win over Saint Peter's. Alvarado also moved into fifth place on the Jaspers' career assists list with 356.

Alvarado and Beamon both rank among Manhattan's top ten all-time in career steals.

EMMY AWARD WINNING
Junior Emmy Andujar had a fantastic all-around game against Iona on Friday, February 28. Andujar shattered his career high with 28 points on 12 of 18 made field goals. He pulled down six rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals. Andujar also blocked Iona's attempted driving layupat the end of regulation to keep the game tied. Andujar is averaging 14.0 points and 5.6 rebounds over Manhattan's last five games.

STORES READY FOR BUSINESS
Junior RaShawn Stores has started the last 21 games for the Jaspers and has had a strong last month for the Jaspers. Against Iona on February 28, Stores handed out five assists without a turnover. Two days later vs. Canisius, he poured in a career-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 3-of-5 from three-point range.

PANKEY PROVIDING SOLID POST PLAY
Sophomore Ashton Pankey has started the last 18 contests for Manhattan. Against Saint Peter's last night, Pankey made all three of his field goals and both foul shots to finish with eight points and three rebounds in 18 minutes of action.

RICHARDS BURNING THE NETS FROM DISTANCE
Sophomore Shane Richards has made a three-pointer in every Manhattan game this season and already ranks among the top five in Manhattan's program history in made three-pointers.

Entering the tournament, Richards is also just five three-pointers shy of the Manhattan single-season record for made three-pointers, set by Jeff Xavier in the 2005-06 season.

RICHLY DESERVED
Freshman Rich Williams matched his career high with 14 points in Manhattan's 90-72 victory over Niagara on February 16. Williams made 5-of-11 field goals in a variety of spots on the court, along with four of six free throws in 20 minutes off the Manhattan bench.

HEY, MISTER WILSON
Freshman Tyler Wilson had a strong game against Iona on February 28. Handling the ball for a majority of the second half and overtime, Wilson finished the game with seven points and three steals.

KATES SOLID OFF THE BENCH
Junior Donovan Kates has provided a steady presence off the Manhattan bench this season. In the Jaspers' quarterfinal win over Saint Peter's, Kates made a number of hustle plays in the second half and finished with four points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.

MASIELLO REACHES 50 WINS
Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello earned his 50th career victory in the Jaspers' 64-49 home victory over Saint Peter's on February 4. Masiello owns a career record of 58-38 in his third year on the Jaspers' sidelines. He is the fastest Manhattan head coach to reach 50 victories since Manhattan College Hall of Famer Fran Fraschilla won 50 games midway through his third season at the helm of the Jaspers.

Masiello also ranks among Manhattan's top head coaches in career winning percentage (minimum 75 games):

MANHATTAN AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
The Jaspers are ranked among the nation's top 100 in several statistical categories, in games played through Thursday, March 6.

MANHATTAN IN THE MAAC
In games played through March 8, the Jaspers rank atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in several statistical categories:

Five different Jaspers also rank among the MAAC's top ten in several statistical categories:

BEAMON GAINS LAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
George Beamon gained the final MAAC Player of the Week award of the regular season, the conference office announced on Monday, March 3. Beamon averaged 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in Manhattan's two victories this weekend. In the Jaspers' 80-77 win over Iona, Beamon posted his fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Beamon made a clutch shot that ultimately sent the game to regulation before the Jaspers prevailed in overtime.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
Manhattan has not allowed an opponent to convert 50 percent of its shots from the field this season. Against Canisius on March 2, the Jaspers limited the Griffs to 37.7 percent shooting. In the quarterfinal round vs. Saint Peter's, Manhattan forced 19 Peacock turnovers.?

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Not only has Manhattan averaged 6.3 three-pointers per game, the Jaspers have defended the three-point line well. This season, Manhattan has limited opponents to 33.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Jaspers have held opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from three-point range in 19 of their 23 wins this season.?

I'LL TAKE THAT
The Jaspers have used their pressure defense to force the most number of steals in the conference and rank 11th in the country as of March 8. The Jaspers have averaged 8.7 steals in their last three games.?

LIFE BEGINS AT 70
During the offseason, head coach Steve Masiello preached a faster pace to his team. That has resulted in final scores above 70 points in 24 of Manhattan's 30 games. Manhattan's 77.3 points per game rank among the top 50 teams in the nation, second in the conference and is nearly 20 points per game more than its average of 58.3 points per game during the 2012-13 season.?

HOME SWEET HOME
Manhattan has won eight of its last last nine games at Draddy Gymnasium, all within the conference. The Jaspers have won 12 of their last 14 MAAC games at Draddy Gymnasium, dating back to the 2012-13 season.?

HALFWAY THERE
The Jaspers are 19-1 when leading at halftime this season.?

WORKING OVERTIME
The 86-79 win for the Jaspers over Marist in overtime on January 12 was the third overtime win for Manhattan this season. The Jaspers have played five overtime games already this season and are 4-1 in those games.?

MANHATTAN WINS 1,300TH GAME
The Jaspers' 78-77 victory at Niagara on Sunday, Feb. 9 was the 1,300th win in men's basketball program history. In its 108th season, the Jaspers own an all-time record of 1,306-1,155.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
Of the 13 players on the Manhattan roster, nine hail from the greater New York metropolitan area, including eight from the five boroughs of New York City. The Jaspers also have players from Illinois (CJ Jones), Kentucky (Donovan Kates), New Hampshire (Trevor Glassman) and New Jersey (Carlton Allen). Below are the nine players from the New York City area and their respective high schools.

MANHATTAN INKS FOUR IN CLASS OF 2018
Manhattan College men's basketball coach?Steve Masiello?and his staff have inked four standout incoming student-athletes during the NCAA early signing period. Nazareth (N.Y.) high school teammates Samson Akilo, a 6-foot-8 forward, and Samson Usilo, a 6-foot-4 wing, will join the Jaspers along with 6-foot-8 wing Calvin Crawford (Middletown, N.Y.) and 6-foot-9 wing Zane Waterman (Fayetteville, N.C.) in a highly regarded Manhattan class of 2018. “It's a very important class, losing three seniors in?Michael Alvarado,?George Beamon?and?Rhamel Brown, who mean a great deal to this program,” Masiello said. “We wanted to have a very strong class overall to really complement what we have on this team. I give a ton of credit to our staff, especially?Rasheen Davis?and?Mathiew Wilson, for their help in recruiting this excellent group of young men.”

MANHATTAN ATOP MAAC POLL
The Jaspers were picked atop the 2013-14 MAAC preseason poll, as voted by the conference's 11 head coaches. Defending champion Iona was picked second, followed by Canisius, Rider, Marist, Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Niagara, Saint Peter's, Siena and Monmouth.

NEW LOOK MAAC
This season marks the first time since the 1997-98 season that the MAAC has a different conference alignment. Loyola left the MAAC for the Patriot League at the conclusion of the 2012-13 academic year and was replaced by former Northeast Conference members Monmouth and Quinnipiac. As a result of the league's expansion from 10 to 11 schools, the conference schedule was also expanded. Each team will now play 20 MAAC games per season, up from 18.

MAAC TOURNAMENT CHANGES
With the addition of Monmouth and Quinnipiac bringing conference membership to 11 schools, the MAAC Tournament will have a new format this season. The top five teams at the conclusion of the regular season will have a bye into the quarterfinals, while the remaining six teams will play first-round games on March 6. There will be a day off before the quarterfinals that begin on March 8, followed by the semifinals on March 9. The MAAC Championship game on Monday, March 10, will once again be nationally televised on ESPN2. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be broadcast on ESPN3.

BACK TO ALBANY
The 2014 MAAC Tournament will be held at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., for the third consecutive year from March 6-10. This marks the final year in which the tournament will be held in Springfield. In 2015, the event returns to its former home - the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.

NEW FACES, OLD PLACES
There are two new, but familiar faces, on the Manhattan sidelines this season.?Mathiew Wilson, formerly the director of basketball operations, was promoted to an assistant coach position on?Steve Masiello's staff over the summer. Masiello then brought in former colleague?Mike Bramucci?to fill the director of operations slot. Bramucci and Masiello coached together at Manhattan College from 2001-03.

Roberto Colonette, a 2013 Manhattan College graduate and two-year letterwinner, is also on the staff this season as the team's strength and conditioning coach. Colonette is currently enrolled in the Manhattan College School of Continuing and Professional Studies, pursuing his Master's degree in organizational leadership.

FLORES NAMED TO MAAC HONOR ROLL
Former Manhattan standout Luis Flores ?04 will be part of the MAAC Honor Roll, at the Basketball Hall of Fame, joining other Jasper greats Keith Bullock ?93 and Jack Powers ?58, who were inducted in the last two years. Flores is recognized as one of the greatest players in Manhattan College history, and helped engineer one of the greatest wins in school history. He scored 26 points to lead 12th-seeded Manhattan to a 75-60 victory over fifth-seeded Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 2004.

BROWN, MAHONEY INDUCTED INTO MC HALL OF FAME
Former Manhattan greats Durelle Brown '01 and Charles Mahoney '75 were recently inducted into the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame. Brown ranks among the top 10 in field goals made and field goal percentage in a career. Fourth on the all-time points list with 1,634, Brown was also dominant on the boards, pulling down 6.1 per game in his junior and senior years. He was named first team All-MAAC during his junior and senior years and All-Metropolitan second team in 2000-01. Mahoney set a Manhattan career assist record of 394 in only three years. The high school New York State Tournament State Championship MVP, Mahoney scored 389 points as a freshman and added 904 during his varsity years for a total of 1,293 points. Coaches and sportswriters alike considered Charlie one of the best point guards in the metropolitan area.

WATCH AND LISTEN ON GOJASPERS.COM
For the 16th year, Manhattan College men's basketball games will be broadcast live over the internet on GoJaspers.com. Former Jasper greats Brian Mahoney and Chris Williams return as the color analysts, alongside play-by-play broadcaster?Christian Heimall. Each broadcast will begin with the “Steve Masiello?Pre-Game Report” 15 minutes prior to tipoff.

WHAT'S A JASPER?
The unique nickname of Manhattan College's athletic teams, the Jaspers, comes from one of the College's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who served as the College's athletic director in the late 19th century. One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team's first coach.

Since Brother Jasper was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan College baseball games while also directing the team itself. During one particularly warm and humid day when Manhattan College was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy as Manhattan came to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called timeout and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed. Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880's and into the 1890s at the old Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the “seventh inning stretch” spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by millions of fans annually.

108TH SEASON OF JASPERS BASKETBALL
In its 108th season, the Manhattan College men's basketball program boasts a 1283-1148 overall record and 243-270 MAAC mark in 33 seasons as a conference member. The Jaspers' storied men's basketball team was established in 1904-05 and served a two-year hiatus during the 1943-44 and 1944-45 season due to World War II.