Manhattan Travels To Quinnipiac

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Hamden, CT - Manhattan (2-3; 1-3 MAAC) returns to league play at Quinnipiac (2-2; 0-0 MAAC) with a pair of match-ups on January 8-9, with each game starting at 4:00 pm.

Manhattan Topples Delaware State
* The Jaspers concluded 2020 with a 65-59 win over Delaware State in the Green & White's lone non-conference game this season.
* Junior Elijah Buchanan paced Manhattan in scoring with 16 points, while classmate Warren Williams registered his first career double-double thanks to 10 points and 11 rebounds.
* Manhattan closed out the win at Delaware State by converting on each of its final six possessions, and was 6-for-8 from the line over the final five minutes.
* This season in games decided by 10 points or less, the Jaspers have made good on a blistering 84.0 percent (21-of-25) from the charity stripe.
* The Green & White also registered a season-high 48 rebounds, including 17 on the offensive end, while posting their top defensive performance of the year, yielding a season-low 59 points with the Hornets shooting a paltry 37.9 percent mark from the floor.
* Senior Ethan Lasko scored a career-high matching nine points, one year after hitting the number in the home victory over the Hornets, on the strength of three triples, the last of which capped a game-changing 14-2 spurt that turned a two-point deficit into a 10-point halftime advantage.

Coach Masiello Quick Hits
* Head Coach Steve Masiello is the longest tenured MAAC Coach in this his 10th year, and with win over Delaware State matched legendary former student-athlete, coach and admin Jack Powers for the third place in school history with his 142nd victory.
* Masiello set a school record against Rider with his 69th career win at Draddy Gym.
* Masiello, who inked a three-year extension in February, led the Jaspers to back-to-back MAAC Championships in 2014 and 2015.
* Entering last year, Masiello was one of just nine active Division I coaches with a National Title as a player. He is also one of seven coaches that is 43 or younger with two conference titles and two trips to the NCAA Tourney, and has posted a school-record 11 MAAC Tournament wins.

Ant-Man Strikes
* Junior Ant Nelson is the lone Jasper to register double-figures in scoring in all five games, highlighted by a pair of 20-point performances.
* Nelson, who notched 23 points in his last MAAC game against Marist with five assists, has paced the Jaspers in scoring four times and is third in the MAAC and 61st nationally with 18.8 ppg, to go along with 2.8 apg (14th MAAC).
* The Seton Hall transfer is second in the MAAC and ranks 17th nationally from the line (.935), and after halftime, has converted on 24-of-25 (.960).
* He also ranks among the MAAC leaders in three-point percentage (.429-7th), field goal percentage (.483-12th) and minutes (31.4-12th).

Nelson Named MAAC Player Of The Week
* He earned MAAC Player of the Week honors for the week ending December 13, after averaging 23.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 3.0 apg while shooting 71.4 percent from the floor, including 85.7 percent from long range, and a perfect 100.0 percent over two games against Rider.
* The Seton Hall transfer scored 19 points in the opener, before notching a career-high 27 points with six rebounds and four assists in the finale.

In The NCAA Rankings
* Manhattan leads the MAAC and ranks 63rd with a league-best 12.4 offensive rebounds per game.
* The Jaspers also rank 54th nationally with 16.6 forced turnovers per game, and 95th with 3.8 bpg. 

Getting Defensive
* Over the last two games, the defense is limiting opposing three-point shooters to a minuscule 16.1 percent (5-of-31).
* When holding teams to less than 60 points in Masiello's 10 seasons at the helm, Manhattan is 59-11 (.843) following the victory over Delaware State.
*  The Jaspers are also 46-16 (.742) when registering double-figures in steals and 28-16 (.636) when turning the opposition over at least 20 times.
* The Green & White turned Marist over at least 20 times in each match-up, doing so in back in back-to-back games for the time since early in the 2018-19 season (UNC Asheville, George Washington), and have now forced at least 20 miscues on 44 occasions in Masiello's 10 years.
* Manhattan registered 11 steals in the first match-up with the Red Foxes, while notching double-figures for the 62nd time under Masiello. 

Through The First Five Games ...
* Six Manhattan scholarship players have not played in a combined total of 18 games.

The Big Man
* Williams notched double-figures in scoring for the 29th time in his career against Delaware State, while registering a career-high four blocks to go along with his aforementioned double-double.
* The Preseason All-MAAC Second Team selection is averaging 7.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg (15th MAAC) and 1.6 bpg (5th MAAC).

Transfer Notes
* The Jaspers' five junior transfers (Nick Brennen, Samba Diallo, Jason Douglas-Stanley, Nelson and Marques Watson are averaging 40.8 ppg and 16.6 rpg, while accounting for 63.4 percent of the team's scoring and 49.1 percent of the rebounding.
 
* Diallo (UMass), Douglas-Stanley (George Mason) and Nelson (Seton Hall) all were granted waivers for immediate eligibility from the NCAA.

Additional Player Notes
* Watson made his first start in the win over Delaware State, and finished with five points and nine rebounds. He scored a career-high 10 points in the win over Rider, and over his last two games is averaging 7.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.0 apg and 39.0 mpg while giving the Jaspers an infusion of energy.
* Buchanan also reached the 20-point mark in the win over Rider, finishing with a career-high 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the finale against Rider.
* On the year, Buchanan ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (13.5 ppg-8th), rebounding (6.0 rpg-12th), steals (2.0 spg-2nd), blocks (1.3 bpg-7th), offensive rebounds (2.5 orpg-3rd) and minutes (31.6-11th).
* Nelson and Buchanan each hit for 20 points in the victory over the Broncs, marking the first time the Jaspers had two 20-point scorers in the same game since Zavier Turner and Rich Williams did so in a 92-86 win over Quinnipiac on February 25, 2018.
* Douglas-Stanley scored a career-high 19 points in the second game against Marist, and has recorded double-figures in points three times en route to averaging 11.4 ppg (20th MAAC) and 1.6 triples per game.
* Diallo scored nine points with five rebounds and two blocks in the victory over Rider, before pulling down seven rebounds in the first game vs. Marist, and ranks among the MAAC leaders in offensive rebounds (2.3 orpg-5th) and steals (1.3 spg-13th).
* Brennen made his first start in the finale against Marist, and converted a huge four-point play in OT, after snaring six rebounds in the season opener. 
* Junior Samir Stewart is the top returning scorer for the Green & White after averaging 8.4 ppg, to go along with 3.0 apg (10th MAAC), with the Jaspers going 16-3 when Stewart has notched double-figures in scoring during his career. 

Last Year Against The Bobcats
Manhattan swept the season series thanks to a team-best 14.0 ppg from Stewart, highlighted by a season-high 20 points in the first meeting Riverdale. Williams also averaged 10.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg.

Scouting Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac, which will be playing its first game in over a month (December 6), is 2-2 with wins over FDU and UNH. Freshman Tymu Chenery (11.5 ppg) and sophomore Brendan McGuire (10.0 ppg) pace QU on offense, while sophomore Elias King and senior Jacob Rigoni are each averaging a team-best 5.8 rpg.

More Mas
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 142-152 (.483) record, including going 89-87 (.506) during MAAC play. At Draddy Gym, he is 69-47 (.595), including 54-35 (.607) vs. league opposition. He has won two MAAC Championships, advanced to the title game three times and claimed two Metropolitan Coach of the Year awards with a pair of 20-win campaigns. Masiello has also participated in the NCAA Tourney in 13 of his 24 full seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title.
* In his first tenure as an assistant, Masiello was a part of two MAAC titles and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of the Jaspers' five MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in recording a combined 224-188 (.544) record.
* Now in his 25th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 503-298 (.628), including 382-270 (.586) on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship Game appearances, two Final Fours, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.

The Worldwide Leader
* For the second-straight season all of Manhattan's MAAC games will air on the ESPN family of networks. Most games will air on ESPN3 or ESPN+, with ESPN3 games able to be accessed through a cable subscription, and ESPN+ a standalone subscription to ESPN.
* Manhattan's game with Fairfield at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday, February 5 has been flexed to national television and will air on ESPNU at 9:00 pm. This marks the second-straight season that the Jaspers will host an ESPNU affair, besting Niagara 77-59 this past February.

Preseasons Are For Polls
* Manhattan was slated to finish fifth in the annual MAAC Preseason Poll, and returns 10 letterwinners, two starters, 46.2 percent of its scoring and  32.2 percent of its rebounding.
* Williams was named to the preseason All-MAAC Second Team after a solid second year in Riverdale. He averaged 8.3 ppg, including 9.7 ppg during league play, and scored in double-figures 11 times, while pacing the squad on five occasions.

Meet The Staff
* Masiello is joined on the bench by Matt Grady, RaShawn Stores, Doug Thibault, Jon Mangel and Tyler Wilson. Grady is in his 10th year, Stores his fifth, Thibault his third, Mangel his second and Wilson his fourth.

Last Year
* Last season, Manhattan again ranked among the NCAA leaders in scoring defense (64.2 ppg-40th), turnovers forced (14.9-60th), blocks (4.0 bpg-76th), offensive rebounds (11.1-82nd), steals (7.0 spg-99th) and field goal percentage defense (.418-107th). 
* Manhattan turned Quinnipiac and Delaware State each over 25 times last year, while also matching the most forced turnovers by a Masiello-coached team.
* The Jaspers also overcome second half double-digit deficits in victories over UAlbany, at Elon and at Fordham.

What Is 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 baseball games while also directing the team itself. During one particularly warm and humid day when the college was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy with the team coming 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 1890's 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.

This Is Manhattan College
* Why is Manhattan College in the Bronx? Our campus was originally located in Manhattan at the intersection of 131st Street and Broadway. In 1923, Manhattan College moved to its present Riverdale location in order to accommodate a growing student body. But with more than 60 years of history established as Manhattan College, the institution decided to retain the name despite the geographic misnomer.
* 17 alumni are members of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering — an impressive number for an institution the size of Manhattan College.
* Manhattan is one of only 182 remaining colleges founded in the United States before the Civil War.

This Is Manhattan Basketball
* Manhattan has three wins in NCAA Tournament play, defeating West Virginia (1958), Oklahoma (1995) and  Florida (2004).
* The Jaspers have won five MAAC Tournament titles in the last 25 years (1993, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2015).
* Manhattan received an at-large berth in 1995 and defeated Oklahoma before falling to Arizona State.
* Was the first team in NCAA history to a win a game in Europe, defeating Holy Cross 70-54 on December 1, 2017 as part of the inaugural Belfast Classic.