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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back en route to posting a 71-60 wire-to-wire victory over St. Francis Brooklyn at Draddy Gymnasium.
The Jaspers shot a blistering 55.6 percent (25-of-45) from the floor, including 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from long range, in moving to 2-7 while the Terriers fall to 3-7. Senior Shane Richards (New York, NY / York Prep) led the way offensively, notching a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds.
Junior Rich Williams (Brooklyn, NY / Vermont Academy (VT)) added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench while sophomore Zane Waterman (Winston-Salem, NC / Fayetteville Academy) scored 13 points to round out the Manhattan double-figure scorers. Junior Tyler Wilson (Bronx, NY / Cardinal Hayes) facilitated the offense to the tune of a game-high seven assists with nine points.
The Jaspers set the tone from the onset as Waterman hit a triple on the first offensive possession before senior RaShawn Stores (Bronx, NY / Robinson School (NJ)) found freshman Thomas Capuano (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY / Iona Prep) for an easy layup. Richards then canned a jumper to give Manhattan an early 7-0 lead that it would not relinquish.
St. Francis Brooklyn would trim the deficit to 11-9 with 12:12 to play until halftime only to see the Jaspers answer with an 11-2 spurt in opening up a 22-11 advantage at the 8:29 mark.
The lead would grow to a half-high 14 at 41-27 at the break when Capuano hit a buzzer-beating three to give the Jaspers their largest halftime advantage of the year.
In the opening stanza, Manhattan shot a blistering 57.1 percent (16-of-28), including 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from long range, while posting a +6 advantage on the glass.
After halftime, the lead would swell to 53-36 with 12:36 to play following a Richards three pointer.
However, the visitors would rally with nine-straight points in just three minutes to cut the lead to 53-45 with 9:36 to play.
Waterman would immediately answer with a layup and the Terriers never really threatened the rest of the way as the Jaspers snapped a five-game losing streak with the aforementioned 71-60 victory.
While Manhattan had its best statistical game on offense this year, it was the defense that set the tone. The Jaspers notched a season-high 11 steals while forcing St. Francis Brooklyn into 19 turnovers and won the battle of the boards (29-26).
Antonio Jenifer scored a career-high 17 points off the bench to lead the way for the Terriers.
The Jaspers will look to make it two in a row at Morgan State on Sunday, December 20 with opening tip slated for 1:00 pm.
Notes:
* Manhattan is 20-2 when recording at least 10 steals in a game over the last three years.
* The Jaspers, which led at the break for the fourth-straight game, improved to 37-4 since the start of the 2013-2014 season when holding a lead at intermission.
* Richards led the squad in scoring and rebounding for the second-straight game.
* Wilson has paced Manhattan in assists in all nine games this season and is averaging 7.0 per game.
* Sophomore Samson Akilo (Lagos, Nigeria / Nazareth) either set or matched his career-highs in points (4), rebounds (2) and minutes (17) while handing out his first career assist.
* Capuano had four steals and is averaging a team-best 2.0 per game this year.
