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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan (5-11; 0-5 MAAC) will open a three-game homestand against Niagara (5-11; 2-3 MAAC) on Tuesday, January 10 at 7:00 pm.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - The teams split last year's series with the Jaspers taking the match-up in Draddy Gym by a 69-64 count.
#2 - Manhattan leads the all-time series by a 49-32 count, including going 20-10 at Draddy since the Purple Eagles joined the MAAC in 1989-1990
#3 - The Jaspers have won three-straight and five-of-six at home against Niagara since the 2010-2011 season.
QUICK HITS
* The Jaspers have won three-straight and five-of-six at home against Niagara since the 2010-2011 season.
* Head Coach Steve Masiello holds a 6-4 career record against the Purple Eagles, including going 4-1 at home.
* The last time out at Quinnipiac, junior Zavier Turner notched at least 20 points for the fifth time this year and the 11th of his career with 23 while adding six assists, against just one turnover.
* Turner is ninth in the MAAC in scoring (16.3 ppg), second in free throw percentage (.920) and third in three-point percentage (.461).
* Classmate Zane Waterman added 17 points vs. the Bobcats and is averaging a team-best 15.1 ppg and 7.1 rpg over his last eight games while shooting 57.3 percent.
* Waterman scored a career-high 26 points with eight rebounds previously against Fairfield after going for 17 points and nine caroms at Marist en route to averaging 20.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg last week.
* Waterman, who has started 43 straight games for Manhattan, ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (12.5 ppg-21st), rebounding (7.3 rpg-5th) and field goal percentage (.533-6th).
* Turner, recorded 26 points in the win over St. Francis Brooklyn, making good on 7-of-9 from long range, after scoring a career-high 32 points at in the victory at Detroit Mercy, including 10 in overtime, to go along with six assists. The Ball State transfer also had 30 against Saint Peter's and 28 at Temple.
* Waterman, who scored 23 points at Morgan State, pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds against Canisius.
* Junior Samson Usilo had a career-high 12 points and 11 rebounds against Quinnipiac while notching the first Jasper double-double since Waterman had 18 points and 10 rebounds against Iona on February 26, 2016.
* Classmate Zavier Peart added a career-high 10 rebounds after pulling down just nine over the previous six games.
* Thanks to Usilo and Peart, Manhattan placed two in double-figures on the boards for the first time since Emmy Andujar (11) and Ashton Pankey (10) did so in leading the Jaspers to a 79-69 win over Iona in the 2015 MAAC Championship on March 9, 2015.
* Usilo is now averaging 9.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg over the last two games after notching just 1.9 ppg and 2.4 rpg over his first 14 games.
* Peart has scored in double-figures three times this year and is shooting 56.4 percent (31-of-55) from the floor.
* The Miami native earned his first collegiate starting nod at Florida State as Manhattan has now used seven different line-ups this year.
* Senior Tyler Wilson had 10 points earlier in the week against Fairfield while freshman Aaron Walker Jr. added 14 points and classmate Na'Quan Council chipped in with 10.
* Wilson, who had the momentum-changing three-point play that gave the Jaspers the lead for good. No stranger to big-time plays, Wilson drew the game-clinching charge in the win at Detroit Mercy.
* Walker Jr. is averaging 10.1 ppg and 3.0 rpg over his last six games while Council is notching 8.0 ppg, 2.0 apg and 2.0 spg over his last four, highlighted by a career-high 12 points with five assists and five steals in the win over EKU.
* Walker Jr. earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors earlier this year after averaging 12.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg over three games during the week ending November 20, fueled by a career-high 15-point effort against Winthrop and is averaging 9.0 ppg.
* The Jaspers concluded non-conference play with a 27-point come-from-behind victory over EKU thanks to recording a season-high 13 steals.
* Manhattan's 13 thefts are the most since recording 13 in a win over Quinnipiac on March 1, 2015 while the 27-point margin of victory was the third-highest in Masiello's six years on campus.
* Over the last three-plus years, the Jaspers are 25-3 when recording double-figures in steals and 36-6 since Masiello took over prior to the 2011-2012 season.
* Manhattan has won the rebounding battle in 13 of their 16 games while ranking fourth in the MAAC in rebounding offense (38.5), second in rebounding defense (34.2) and first in rebounding margin (+4.2) while registering at least 40 caroms seven times, highlighted by a season-high 51 at Marist, including 21 offensive caroms.
* In the last three wins, the Jaspers have held EKU to just 54 points, SFBK to 54 and Fordham 53 in moving to 38-4 in the Masiello era when limiting teams to less than 60 points.
* The 51 rebounds are the most since registering 51 in a season-opening 99-90 win at La Salle on November 9, 2013.
* Junior Calvin Crawford scored a season-high 19 in the victory over EKU before hitting for a team-high 18 at Marist and has notched double-figures in scoring seven times and is averaging 8.2 ppg.
* Thanks to Crawford's production off the bench, the reserves outscored the starters in the win over EKU (45-36) before matching the second unit against Marist (44-44).
* The Manhattan reserves are averaging 33.5 ppg and 14.8 rpg over the last four games.
* The Jaspers opened the second half against EKU on a 23-5 run, including 12-straight at one point after ripping off a 13-4 run to start the second half against St. Francis Brooklyn.
* After halftime, Manhattan limited the Colonels to just 37.2 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent from deep, and the Terriers to just 30.9 percent, including 24.0 percent from long range.
* Thanks to the aforementioned total second-half performance against EKU, the Jaspers' scored a season-high 53 second-half points while shooting 68.0 percent (17-of-25) from the floor.
* At Morgan State, Junior Thomas Capuano finished with a career-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and four steals in 48 minutes of action before following that up with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists in the victory against Fordham.
* Sophomore Ak Ojo pulled down a career-high seven rebounds against Fairfield after scoring a career-high nine points in the win over Detroit Mercy.
* Also at Detroit Mercy, the Jaspers went 9-for-12 from the line in overtime with Walker Jr. sinking two free throws to tie the game up with 0.7 seconds remaining in the first extra session.
* In the final five minutes of games/ot, Turner is averaging 3.8 ppg while shooting 48.6 percent (17-of-35) from the floor and 91.3 percent (21-of-23) from the line.
* Through 16 games, the seven Manhattan newcomers are averaging a combined 42.6 ppg and 18.9 rpg while accounting for 57.0 percent of the team's offense and 48.9 percent of the rebounding.
* In an 80-68 win over Hofstra, the Jaspers shot a blistering 53.7 percent (29-for-54) from the floor, including a perfect 100 percent (17-for-17) from the line, and scored on seven of the Pride's nine first-half turnovers, parlaying the miscues into 17 points.
* Setting the tone was Peart, who scored 14 points in the opening half while connecting on all seven of his shots en route to finishing with a game and career-high 16.
* Wilson handed out five assists, against just one turnover, against Hofstra while moving past RaShawn Stores into ninth place on the program's all-time assist list and now has 332.
* Manhattan finished non-conference play with a 5-6 record with its six losses coming to teams that have a combined 66-29 record (.694), including games against No. 9/No. 10 Florida State and No. 10/No.9 West Virginia.
* The Jaspers were slated to finish sixth in the annual preseason MAAC Coaches Poll with Williams earning All-MAAC Second Team honors.
* Williams and Wilson, the team's lone seniors, have helped Manhattan to a 62-51 record during their three-plus years with two MAAC titles, two trips to the NCAA Tournament and a MAAC-best 7-1 conference tourney record.
* Williams, who has yet to play due to injury, averaged 14.8 ppg and a team-best 6.0 rpg last year, highlighted by seven 20-plus point performances and three double-doubles. Additionally, he raised both his scoring (+9.3 ppg) and rebounding (+4.5 rpg) numbers and took his game to another level at the MAAC Tournament, averaging a team-leading 21.0 ppg.
* The Jaspers boast five foreign-born players in R. Williams (Jamaica), Ismail (Egypt), Usilo (Nigeria), Ojo (Nigeria) and Oliver Ehrnvall (Sweden).
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 97-82 (.542) record, including going 58-43 (.574) during MAAC play and 45-22 (.672) at Draddy Gym over his six seasons with three MAAC Title Game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns.
* Masiello has participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his 20 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Championship.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has guided the program to a pair of MAAC Titles as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC Championships and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of the five Jaspers' MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in accruing a 180-118 record.
* In his 21st season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 460-228, including 339-200 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.
