Box Score (PDF)Â
Albany, NY - Fueled by an outstanding defensive effort, Manhattan defeated Fairfield 57-53 in the opening round of the 2019 MAAC Championship at the Times Union Center.
The Jaspers advance to the quarterfinal round to face No. 2 Canisius tomorrow night at 9:30 pm.
Prior to the game there will be a 7:00 pm meet-up for Manhattan supporters at the City Beer Hall, located on 42 Howard St, Albany, NY 12207.
In the decisive second half, the Jaspers limited the Stags to just 30.0 percent (6-of-20) shooting, forced eight turnovers that led to 11 points and didn't allow a three pointer.
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Freshman
Christian Hinckson (Queens, NY / TIlton School (NH)) led the way for Manhattan with a career-high 16 points, finishing 5-for-8 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the line.
As a unit, the Jaspers converted a season-high 19 free throws (24 attempts) en route to making good on a blistering 79.2 percent.
Trailing 33-28 with 2:33 to play in the first half, Manhattan scored eight-straight points in a run that stretched into the second half, taking a three-point lead following a
Samir Stewart (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, FL / American Heritage) triple with just over 18 minutes remaining.
Fairfield would then respond with six-straight points, before sophomore
Nehemiah Mack (Harrisburg, PA / Massanutten Prep (VA)) answered with a fast-break layup while sparking a 6-0Â Jasper spurt.
Later in the half with the score now tied, freshman
Warren Williams (Kingston, Jamaica / St. Benedict's Prep (NJ)) converted a layup off a nifty pass from classmate
Elijah Buchanan as Manhattan took a 48-46 lead with 7:34 to play and would not trail the rest of the way.
The teams would go scoreless over the next two-plus minutes, before the Stags split a pair from the line and Stewart immediately responded with a huge three pointer off an
Ebube Ebube (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico / Lawrenceville Academy (NJ)) offensive rebound.
With Manhattan now up one with 1:15 remaining, Hinckson converted a three-point play to take the air out of the Fairfield comeback while making it a two possession game.
Despite this, Fairfield had a chance to tie the game only to be denied when Jonathan Kasibabu missed a fast-break layup attempt with 16 seconds remaining and Stewart canned a pair from the line to cement the victory.
Highlights
Notes
*Â Â Head Coach
Steve Masiello collected his school-record 10th MAAC Tournament win.
* Masiello is also 15-10 (.600) when playing in March and 50-8 (.862) when limiting teams to less than 60 points during his eight years at the helm of the Jaspers.
* Williams had 10 points while finishing in double-figures for the team-leading 15th time this year.
* Manhattan improves to 3-3 as the No. 7 seeds, as seven seeds have now won at least one game in 10-straight MAAC Tournaments.
* The Jaspers are 28-32, all-time, in MAAC Tournament play, including 20-16 when playing in Albany.
* In games decided by 10 points or less against MAAC opposition, Manhattan is 7-3 while shooting 73.3 percent (33-of-45) from the line in the last five minutes.
* The Jaspers won for the second this year when allowing the opposition to shoot at a higher percentage and make good on at least 40 percent from distance.
* Manhattan's reserves posted an 18-5 scoring advantage and has now bettered the opposition in bench production in 28-of-31 games.
* Neftali Alvarez scored 18 points with five rebounds to pace the Stags while Landon Taliaferro added 12 points.
* The Jaspers trailed just 33-30 at the break, despite shooting a season-high 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the line in the opening stanza.
* Manhattan improves to 11-20 while Fairfield sees its season end with a 9-22 record.
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