EMMITSBURG, M.D. — The Jaspers delivered the knockout punch late with the help of Devin Dinkins to knock off Mount St. Mary's on the road by a final score of 74-64. Manhattan led the entire second half and withstood a 10-0 run late from the Mountaineers who refused to go away easily.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Both teams started off cold but it was the Jaspers who emerged with a 5-2 lead at the first media timeout (16:00).
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Mount St. Mary's snapped a four minute-plus drought without a basket when Arlandus Keyes finally found back iron at 15:19 to tie the score at 5.
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A 6-0 run by Manhattan off back-to-back finishes by Jaden Winston and an and-one by Dinkins stretched the Jaspers' advantage to 12-6 at 12:25.
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5 straight free throws—three from Dinkins and two from Masiah Gilyard—stretched the Jaspers lead to 10 with 8:22 left in the opening half.
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Manhattan opened up its biggest lead at 12 on a driving finish by Bender to make the score 28-16 with 7:10 left until the break.
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Mount retaliated with a quick 7-0 run, but the Jaspers were able to get one last basket from Bender just before time expired in the first half.
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Manhattan led 35-25 at halftime thanks to rock solid defense and timely shot-making.
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The Mountaineers opened the second half with a pair of threes which cut their deficit to just four less than two minutes into the half.
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A basket from Wesley Robinson snapped a near three-minute scoring drought for the Jaspers, raising the advantage back to 6.
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Moments later, Manhattan never looked back, launching a 15-1 run that changed the game for good. The Jaspers cashed in on a string of three consecutive threes, and emerged from the run with a 54-38 lead with 10:37 left.
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The Mount made things interesting again with a late 10-0 run which cut the Jaspers lead to 5 with 4:31 still left on the clock.
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Back-to-back threes from Dinkins pushed the Jaspers lead back out to double digits, eventually sending the Jaspers to a 10-point victory at Knott Arena.
STATS AND NOTES
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Dinkins' 23-point performance set the Jaspers on a winning path against the Mount. The redshirt sophomore nailed 3-7 three-point attempts, including stealing the show late with his back-to-back makes from behind the arc.
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19 of Dinkins' 23 points came in the second half
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Dinkins was 10-11 from the charity stripe and raised his season percentage to 84.1% (69-82)
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Shaquil Bender was a spark early, producing a team-high 10 first-half points. He finished with 12 points after pouring in 18 vs. Fairfield on Thursday night.
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Gilyard grabbed 13 rebounds which ties his D1 career-high that he set in the home win vs. Niagara a week ago.
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Sydnor ended his day with 11 points, marking his 14th double-figure scoring performance in 18 games this season.
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Over the past two games, Sydnor is averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds on 52% percent (12-23) from the field and 54.5% from three-point range (6-11).
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Manhattan's 10-point triumph is its first double-digit win since the 80-66 victory at Wagner on December 18.
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Manhattan improves to 13-9 all-time vs. Mount St. Mary's.
QUOTES FROM MANHATTAN
Head coach John Gallagher on his team's ability to turn the page after Thursday's loss vs. Fairfield: "Thursday night was hard for us. The group I'm coaching right now are men. This response after Thursday night is a reason why I love them and why I love coaching them."
Gallagher on tightening up the defensive game plan on Saturday: "I was embarrassed by our defense on Thursday night, and I challenged the group. It was a lot of mental (prep) and film and it was challenging… If we want to get anywhere, we have to appreciate these experiences, and for us to come on the road and beat a team that beat us two weeks ago is a great sign for the program."
NEXT TIME OUT
After a full week of practice, Manhattan will play host to long-time rival Iona (8-12, 5-4 MAAC) on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 PM. The action will be streamed live on ESPN+ between the Jaspers and Gaels, who are winners in three straight games.
Follow Manhattan Basketball on X @JaspersMBB and on Instagram @jaspers.mbb.
