纽约里弗代尔-曼哈顿（5-7）连续第二年在德拉迪体育馆对阵费尔菲尔德(6-6；12月30日（星期六）晚上7点。
TOP STORYLINES
#1 -The Jaspers are the final MAAC team to open league play.
#2 - Head Coach Steve Masiello and Manhattan is a perfect 3-0 at home this year. Over his seven years, Masiello is 52-26 (.667) at Draddy Gymnasium, including 39-19 against MAAC opposition.
#3 - Prior to Saturday's MAAC opener, the Jaspers have played at home just once over the previous 40 days, an 80-66 win over Morgan State. During that time, Manhattan has played nine road/neutral games.
QUICK HITS
* Masiello is 7-7, all-time, against Fairfield.
* The Jaspers dropped a 74-62 decision to No. 22 Seton Hall the last time out, despite limiting the Pirates to 25 points after halftime.
* Senior Zane Waterman led the way against Seton Hall with a game-high 18 points in notching double-figures in scoring for the fifth time in the last seven games.
* Masiello collected his 190th career win in this his 11th season as a member of the Manhattan Basketball program last week at Hofstra (107-HC | 83-Assistant).
* Masiello, who served as an assistant with the Jaspers from 2001-2005 has been a member of four of the program's five MAAC titles.
* Against the Pride sophomore Aaron Walker Jr. scored a season-high 17 points while classmate Pauly Paulicap had nine rebounds, six blocks and six points.
* Paulicap leads the MAAC and ranks 18th nationally with 2.8 blocks per game while notching at least five rejections on three occasions.
* Manhattan ranks among the top-three in six different MAAC defensive categories, including pacing the league in blocks (4.2 - 97th NCAA) and forced turnovers (15.8-71st NCAA).
* The Jaspers have led the MAAC in forced turnovers in three of the last four years (2015-2016, 2014-2015, 2013-2014) while ranking among the top-two in each of the last five seasons.
* After allowing the opposition to make good on 9.3 threes per game the first three times out, Manhattan has limited opposing shooters to just 4.3 per game over the last nine.
* Over the last six games, the Jaspers have held teams to 66 points or less four times with the opposition averaging just 65.2 ppg, on 41.4 percent shooting (37.8 percent - 2nd half), including 31.8 percent from long range (.282-2nd).
* On the year, Manhattan has limited six of its 12 opponents to less than 70 points and is second in the MAAC in scoring defense (68.5 ppg).
* In non-conference play, the Jaspers played nine road/neutral games with the program traveling over 5,800 miles, highlighted by trips to Belfast, Northern Ireland, Oklahoma and Florida.
* Manhattan was the first-ever NCAA Division I team to win a game in Europe besting Holy Cross 70-54 on December 1, 2017 as part of the inaugural Belfast Classic in Northern Ireland before dropping a 56-55 thriller to Towson in the Championship.
* Six of Jaspers' 12 games have been decided by five points or less with Manhattan going 3-3.
* In the last five minutes/OT of those games, Manhattan is shooting 45.9 percent (17-of-37) from the field, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from long range.
* The Jaspers improved to 42-22, all-time, against Hofstra with Masiello moving to a perfect 5-0 against the Pride.
* Waterman became the 38th member of the program's 1,000 point club with his first-half slam in the win over Hofstra and currently ranks 38th in school history with 1,023 points.
* Waterman paced Manhattan with 18 points and seven rebounds at No. 22 Seton Hall after going for a 17 points with eight rebounds at Tulsa and over the last seven games leads the Jaspers in both scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) during that time.
* Waterman, who has a pair of double-figure rebounding performances, also pulled down his 500th career carom earlier in the year and is averaging 9.8 ppg and 6.2 rpg (t-7th MAAC).
* In an 80-66 win over Morgan State, Manhattan either set or matched season-highs with 80 points, 29 field goals, 21 assists and eight blocks.
* Senior Rich Williams led the Jaspers in scoring for the sixth time against Morgan State with 16 points while also handing out a career-high eight assists.
* The fifth-year senior scored a season-high 24 points against NIU and has now eclipsed the 20-point mark three times this year and on 10 occasions in his career.
* In Manhattan's season-opening win over SFBK, he had 21 points before going for 20, on the strength of a career-high five three pointers, in a victory over Harvard.
* On the year, Williams is among the MAAC leaders in scoring (13.5 ppg-15th), 3pt-FG% (.444-10th) and FG% (.482-13th) with a team-matching seven double-figures scoring performances.
* Senior Calvin Crawford earned Belfast Classic All-Tournament team honors after averaging 14.5 ppg over games against Towson and Holy Cross.
* Crawford registered his second double-double of the year against Fordham with 11 points and 10 boards after recording his first with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Harvard.
* On the year, he ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (10.8 ppg-24th) and rebounding (5.8 rpg-11th) and 3pt-FG% (.450-8th) while notching double-figures in points a team-best matching seven times.
* Walker Jr., who has hit for double-digits six times this season, finished with a team-high 16 points in the Belfast Championship game and is averaging 9.1 ppg and 1.5 spg (t-4th MAAC).
* In the victory over Holy Cross, Manhattan ripped off a 26-8 run that bridged the end of the first half and the beginning of the second into registering a season-high 26 point advantage.
* Despite the loss to Towson, the Jaspers recorded a season-high 12 steals and 20 forced turnovers while scoring 21-straight points that were a direct result of a Towson miscue.
* Manhattan is 38-9 when reaching double-figures in thefts under Masiello, including, 27-6 the last five years, and 21-12 when forcing at least 20 turnovers.
* Paulicap's six blocks in the win over Hofstra, included three in the final five minutes, and were the most by a Jasper since Rhamel Brown had nine rejections at Siena on February 21, 2014.
* Paulicap had a career-high 17 points, on perfect 6-for-6 shooting, and eight rebounds against NIU to cap a solid week at the Gulf Coast Classic, in which he averaged 10.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 4.0 bpg over the three-day event.
* On the year, Paulicap also leads the MAAC in field goal percentage (.597) and offensive rebounds (2.5 orpg) while ranking ninth with 6.0 rpg to go along with 8.2 ppg.
* Senior Zavier Turner scored 13 points in the win over Hofstra after handing out a career-high matching eight assists against NIU and is averaging 3.3 apg (8th MAAC) and 7.4 ppg with a 1.1 assist/turnover ratio (10th MAAC) while shooting 76.3 percent from the line (12th MAAC).
* The senior quartet of Crawford, Turner, Waterman and Williams has accounted for 58.7 percent (471/802) of Manhattan's scoring and 54.3 percent (208/383) of the Jaspers' rebounding. For their careers, Turner (1,165), Waterman (1,023), Williams (914) and Crawford (725) have combined for 3,827 points.
* Masiello, who collected his 50th career victory at Draddy Gymnasium against St. Francis Brooklyn, is 3-0 at home this year and has a career .667 (52-26) winning percentage in Riverdale.
* Manhattan rallied from 10 points down against SFBK in registering the team's largest comeback win since erasing an 11-point deficit against Niagara on January 10, 2017.
* In the OT win over SFBK, the Jaspers scored on four straight possessions in the extra session and 7-of-9 en route in a win that featured 14 lead changes and five ties.
* Manhattan was tabbed to finish second in the annual MAAC Preseason Poll and paced the circuit with three All-League selections: Waterman (1st), Williams (2nd) and Turner (3rd).
* Williams is the lone remaining member of the Jaspers' Back-to-Back MAAC Championship squads while Crawford and Waterman were also on the 2015 squad.
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 107-100 (.517) record, including going 63-53 (.543) during MAAC play and 52-26 (.667) at Draddy Gym over his seven seasons with three MAAC title game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns. He has also participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his first 21 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has guided the Jaspers 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 titles and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of Manhattan's five MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in recording a 190-136 record.
* Now in his 22nd season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 470-246, including 349-218 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.
SCOUTING FAIRFIELD
The Stags opened MAAC play with a 70-61 victory over Saint Peter's and have won three of their last four. Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Tyler Nelson paces Fairfield with a team-best 20.8 ppg while Ferron Flavors Jr. checks in with 11.4 ppg.
GO THE DISTANCE
The Jaspers traveled approximately 5,853 miles during its non-conference schedule:
Belfast, Northern Ireland (3,159) | Tulsa, OK (1,355) | Estero, FL (1,283) | Garden City, NY (29) | Newark, NJ (24) | Fordham (3).
OF NOTE
* Masiello has now coached Manhattan in 19 different states, the District of Columbia and Northern Ireland.
* Paulicap paces the Jaspers with 10 dunks and narrowly missed his first career double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds at Tulsa.
* Manhattan drew five charges against Morgan State and turned them into seven points.
* The Jaspers forced five shot clock violations at Fordham after drawing six charges against NIU.
* Against Missouri State, Manhattan scored 12-straight points in the first half en route to a 17-3 run that took 6:13 while turning a six-point deficit into a 27-19 advantage with 5:43 to play until halftime.
* All told, the Jaspers scored on 10 of their next 14 possessions against the Bears, spanning 8:50.
* Manhattan defeated Harvard despite trailing with five minutes to play ... A year ago, the Jaspers went 1-19 when losing with five to play.
* Also in the win, Walker Jr. registered all 11 of his markers in the final 5:51 in helping the Jaspers erase a late six-point deficit.
* Walker Jr. also came up big in the victory over SFBK, canning a pair of late free throws to force OT.
* Manhattan has played in five neutral site games this year while Masiello holds an all-time record of 15-14 in neutral site games.
FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Manhattan raised $1,200 for Hurricane Relief efforts in Puerto Rico during their exhibition game against Sacred Heart.
UP NEXT
The Jaspers will travel to Marist on Tuesday, January 2 with opening tip slated for 7:00 pm.
