RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan men's basketball concludes the 2022-23 regular season this week at Siena and hosting Mount St. Mary's.
The Jaspers visit the Saints on Thursday in Albany on ESPN+ before hosting the Mountaineers for Senior Day on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN3. Manhattan is seeking a season sweep against Siena and Mount St. Mary's.
Manhattan is coming off a thrilling 72-70 win at Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon.
Ant Nelson hit the game-winning shot as time expired to complete a 21-point comeback for the Jaspers. The bucket capped a 21-point afternoon for the guard, with 17 coming in the second half. Nelson scored the final six points for Manhattan over the final 2:04. Quinnipiac led 57-42 with 15:25 remaining in the game. Manhattan scored the next 13 points to pull within three.
Josh Roberts and Nelson combined for 11 of the 13.
Raziel Hayun came off the bench to supply three crucial 3-pointers in the second half. Hayun's third 3-pointer gave Manhattan its first lead at 64-63 with 3:47 to play.
Siena has lost three in a row, at home to Quinnipiac and at Rider and Iona. The Saints fell 93-60 at Iona on Sunday to fall to 17-12 overall and 11-7 in MAAC play. Javion McCollum, who only played 14 minutes in the first meeting between the Saints and Jaspers, paces the team in scoring at 14.7 per game. The sophomore also averages 3.7 assists per game. Jackson Stormo and Andrew Platek average in double figures for the Saints. Stormo shoots over 50-percent from the field, and Platek hits 3-pointers at a 45-percent clip.
Mount St. Mary's will enter Saturday at 11-19 overall and 7-12 in MAAC play. The Mountaineers are 3-1 in their last four games, with wins over Rider, Canisius, and Niagara. Jaylen Benjamin averages 15.6 points per game to lead the offensive attack. Dakota Leffew is close behind at 13.1. In league play, Benjamin is averaging close to 17 points per game. Mount St. Mary's is eighth in the MAAC and can move as high as seventh for the MAAC Tournament next week.
The Jaspers have surpassed last year's MAAC win total of eight, with the win on Sunday giving them nine this season. The nine wins are the most since 2017-18, when the Jaspers finished 9-9. The last time the Jaspers won double-digit games in MAAC play was 2014-15.
Manhattan can still earn the number three seed and be no worse than the sixth seed in the MAAC Tournament next week.
Nelson's 21 points on Sunday marked his ninth 20-point game. That is the third most in the MAAC behind Patrick Gardner's 11 (Marist) and McCollum and Walter Clayton Jr's (Iona) 10.
Manhattan is seeking a fourth straight win over Siena on Thursday night. However, the Jaspers are 1-4 in their last five trips to New York state's capital.
For the latest on the Manhattan College men's basketball program, follow the Jaspers on Twitter @JaspersMBB and Instagram @Jaspers.MBB.
