Manhattan Basketball

Tip-Off

Saturday, Feb. 26, 7:30 PM at Draddy Gymnasium, Bronx, NY

Manhattan (10-17, 4-12 MAAC) will play its final home game of the season on Friday night against Niagara (16-13, 8-8) as the second game of a doubleheader with the Lady Jaspers.

The Jaspers have a class of five seniors. These seniors have spent all four of their years at Manhattan College and are loved by the fans, despite not being able to bring success to Riverdale. 

1. Darryl Crawford has turned into the best of this class. Crawford showed clear potential in his freshman year, along with a few of the other seniors, and he was the only one that developed into a great player. Crawford has emerged as one of the greatest Jaspers of all-time and is No. 8 all-time in Manhattan scoring. Crawford is currently 79 points away from moving to No. 7.
2. Antoine Pearson appeared to have the best potential as a freshman. Pearson had a sweet stroke from beyond the arc and a sick crossover that put some of the other MAAC guards on their backsides. Pearson has remained a solid player, but has not fully blossomed. His best year was as a freshman when he averaged 12.2 points per game. Despite having a relativley down year as a senior, Pearson still posted a career-high against William & Mary back in November with 24 points.
3. Patrick Bouli has always been a great defender. Bouli does not add too much to the offense except for an occasional three-pointer, but he has managed to shut down some of the better guards in the MAAC.
4. Brandon Adams has become Manhattan's best post threat in the second half of the season. Adams posted a career-high with 18 points last Saturday against Towson.
5. Finally, there is Victor Jackson. Jackson is listed at 5'8", although he appears a couple of inches shorter, and has played 54 minutes in his entire career. He has scored three points in his career, which came on a three-pointer in his freshman year at Siena. Jackson is always spirited on the bench and brings a new life to the team. Also, I have never seen him miss a layup in warmups. Jackson will definitely be missed on the bench next season.

Now, on to Friday's game.

Even though Manhattan will play Loyola (MD) in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in the first round of the MAAC Tournament, it would still be nice for the Jaspers to finish in eighth place. The only way to guarantee eighth place for the Jaspers is to win their final two games.

Niagara might finally be finding themselves, although it is a little late, with three straight wins. This streak includes wins over Siena and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Niagara is currently in sixth place and the best possible finish for the Purple Eagles would be fifth place.

Keys for Niagara

Take and Make the Three—Manhattan has improved its three-point defense, but there are still some holes. Niagara is not outstanding from beyond the arc, but Tyrone Lewis, Demetrius Williamson, Rob Garrison, and Austin Cooley are all solid three-point shooters.

Lewis is by far the best three-point shooter and can even hit contested three-pointers. The others should be able to hit some three-pointers if they are left open.

Rebounding—Niagara does not have a true big man this year that will be able to dominate the glass. However, Bilal Benn averages 9.9 rebounds per game, despite being 6'5". Niagara tends to lose when it gets outrebounded.

Guards Need to Take Care of the Ball—Manhattan's defense is pesky and can force a lot of turnovers. Manhattan's best defenders are its guards. Niagara has three guards that average more than two turnovers per game.

These guys need to take care of the ball.

Keys for Manhattan

Defend Tyrone Lewis on the Perimeter—Lewis is a dangerous three-point shooter. When he gets in a groove, it can be hard to get him out of it. Lewis has the ability to hit contested three-pointers.

Manhattan needs to do everything possible to minimize Lewis' scoring.

Rico and Darryl Do the Scoring—Rico Pickett and Darryl Crawford lead Manhattan in scoring. They are by far the most consistent scorers, too. Pickett and Crawford should do the main part of the scoring and also find Adams in the post.

Take Advantage on Niagara not Having a True Big Man. Manhattan has to take advantage of this by using its big men more and crashing the boards.

For more college basketball, follow Jesse Kramer on Twitter by clicking here.

The Manhattan Jaspers gave the few fans that showed up on Saturday something to cheer about in a 78-62 rout of Towson. The Jaspers are now 3-4 all-time in Bracket Busters. This is the first time Manhattan has won a Bracket Buster game at home.

Manhattan (10-17, 4-12 MAAC) started the game on a 20-0 run and from that point on, Towson (7-20, 4-12 CAA) had no chance. Towson could not come close to hitting a shot for the first 9:42. On a bunch of possessions, Towson just turned the ball over without Manhattan applying any pressure.

After Manhattan went up 4-0 on an Andrew Gabriel jumper, Towson brought the ball up the court and Calvin Lee had the ball on the left wing. Without any Manhattan player pressuring him, Lee put the ball on the floor, not even trying to make any move to the basket, and was called for traveling. 

With Manhattan up 6-0, Darryl Crawford missed a three-pointer. Lee got the rebound and held the ball as the Jaspers ran back to play defense. With no defender within at least 30 feet, Lee simply walked with the ball. He might have tripped over his own feet or the player he was going to pass to might not have been paying attention and Lee hesitated to pass and shuffled his feet. It is not for me to say, but regardless it is unacceptable.

Towson continued to commit unforced turnovers, such as players dribbling the ball of their foot while bringing the ball up the court.

Manhattan capped its 20-0 run on a Gabriel layup with 11:43 remaining. The way that Towson was playing, the thought of a shutout actually seemed possible.

On the next possession, Crawford committed a shooting foul and Isaiah Philmore went to the line. He missed the first free throw and the rowdy Manhattan students laughed. Philmore stepped back to the line and made the second free throw to break the shutout.

Towson would not make its first field goal until the 10:18 mark in the first half on a Lee jumper.

Following the jump shot by Lee, Towson started playing a little better and even cut the lead as low as 29-18. Towson kept the game in reach for a second half comeback, trailing 33-21 at halftime.

Things were not looking good for Towson to start the second half. Manhattan quickly stretched its lead to 47-26, its largest of the game.

Towson still had some fight in it and cut the lead back to 66-54 on Troy Franklin free throws with 4:30 remaining. Manhattan responded with an 8-0 run.

Brandon Adams started the run with a layup. After a Franklin turnover, Adams was found open under the basket for a two-handed dunk. After another Franklin turnover, Patrick Bouli found Rico Pickett for a fastbreak layup. On the ensuing possession, Lee turned the ball over. Pickett threw up a pass from just in front of the mid-court line and Crawford slammed it home for an alley-oop to put the game away.

George Beamon's buzzer-beater layup, which was assisted by walk-on Victor Jackson for his first assist of the season, made the final score 78-62 in what was most likely Manhattan's best outing of the season.

RaShawn Polk led Towson with 16 points. Polk shot 7-of-12 from the field.

Philmore scored 11 points, while Lee and Franklin each scored 10 points. Lee shot 5-of-6 from the field and had four rebounds.

I guess that the one positive thing for Towson in this game was that it shot pretty well from the free throw line, making 11-of-15.

Adams set a career-high in scoring with 18 points, while Gabriel tied his season-high with 13 points. Adams shot 8-of-19 from the field and Gabriel shot 6-of-9. Adams had eight rebounds to lead the team and Gabriel grabbed seven rebounds.

Pickett had another solid performance with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He set a season-high with five assists. Pickett remains the leading scorer in the MAAC at 17.8 points per game.

Bouli had a good game with nine points, five rebounds, and five assists. Bouli did take a couple of bad shots throughout the game.

Crawford had a very good game with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

As a team, the Jaspers had 22 assists.

Manhattan remains at home for senior night with a game against Niagara (16-13, 8-8) on Friday night. Niagara is riding a three-game winning streak. The opening tip is will be at 7:30. 

Notice "BracketBuster," not BracketBuster.

Notice Towson, not Northeastern, Wichita State, or Akron.

A meaningless game that's not going to bust anyone's bracket. A game against a 7-19 team. 

These are just two signs of how far the Manhattan College basketball program has fallen since Barry Rohrssen replaced Bobby Gonzalez at the helm. 

For four years now, Manhattan's "BracketBuster" has been played only because the Jaspers are in a participating conference. Not because the Jaspers have been on the bubble.

When Bobby Gonzalez roamed Draddy Gymansium's sidelines, the Jaspers consistently posted records capable of drawing the best mid-majors on ESPNU's BracketBuster weekend.

In 2005-06, Manhattan finished 20-11 and hosted a Long Beach State team that went 18-12 and fell eight points shy of a Big West championship. The Jaspers drew George Mason a year before that and Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2003-04.

Under Rohrssen, Manhattan has lost by double-digits to Eastern Michigan and Binghamton and beaten an anemic William & Mary program. Not what most would call impressive.

Obviously the BracketBuster scheduling committee won't slate a 9-17 Manhattan team against an 18-9 Northeastern squad, but the problem is inherent in the statement. How could Manhattan possibly be 9-17 in its coach's fourth season?

Well, the list of answers could fill a book, but to summarize, Coach Rohrssen has been incapable of maintaining his best recruits. He hasn't signed a decent post players in his four years. With the exception of Darryl Crawford, none of Rohrssen's Jaspers have developed under his instruction.

Rohrssen was also a notorious New York City recruiter as a Pitt assistant, but he hasn't brought any of the Big Apple's best high school seniors to Riverdale. Until this past spring, when Rico Pickett signed his Letter of Intent, Rohrssen had not signed MAAC-plus talent like Bobby Gonzalez so frequently did.

If Manhattan's Athletic Director, Bob Byrnes, thinks three of four losing seasons and two appearances in the MAAC tournament's opening round isn't enough evidence that Rohrssen will never be successful at Manhattan, maybe he can look at the Jaspers' BracketBuster history.

Then, he might notice the difference between his current coach and a winner. If Byrnes wants his school to have a team capable of busting brackets, he'll find a new head coach this spring.

For more Manhattan, MAAC, and mid-major basketball, follow Ari Kramer on Twitter by clicking here .

Photo from Aaron's UK Basketball Blog

Tip-Off

Saturday, Feb. 20, 2:00 PM at Draddy Gymnasium, Bronx, New York

Manhattan (9-17, 4-12 MAAC) got a horrible opponent in the BracketBuster for the fourth straight year.

This is Manhattan's seventh BracketBuster. The Jaspers are 2-4 all-time. They beat Milwaukee in their first year and William & Mary last season. The losses came in between to George Mason, Long Beach State, Eastern Michigan, and Binghamton.

Towson (7-19, 4-12 CAA) is participating in its fourth BracketBuster. The Tigers are 1-2 all-time. Towson lost to Bucknell in 2007 and to Morgan State in 2009. In 2008, the Tigers beat High Point.

Towson is a poor defensive team, allowing 76.2 points per game. This should benefit Manhattan. Both Manhattan and Towson score in the mid-60s. 

Towson has been atrocious on the road, where they are 2-10. In these games, they lost by an average of 14.7 points. Manhattan has played its best ball at home despite winning only five of 12 home games. 

Keys for Towson

Take and Make the Three

Towson has multiple three-point threats. Josh Thornton leads the team at 37.9 percent. Jarrel Smith shoots 37.1 percent, and RaShawn Polk shoots 36.9 percent. Manhattan is not too good at defending the perimeter. Unfortunately for Towson, many of Manhattan's struggles to guard the perimeter come when the opponent has a big man that can shoot. Towson does not have that.

Use Lee and Nwankwo in the Post

Manhattan's big men are weak. Two of Towson's leading scorers, Calvin Lee and Robert Nwankwo, stand at 6'8" and have big bodies. Towson needs to take advantage of having better post players.

Ball Control

Manhattan's guards are very pesky. They are not afraid to come after the ball handler and force a turnover. Towson has many players that are prone to turning the ball over and does not have one player it can count on to control the ball. 

Keys for Manhattan

Defend the Perimeter

Manhattan should do better defending the perimeter in this game than it has in the past few games. Towson does not have a big man that can shoot, which is usually Manhattan's biggest problem. 

Rico and Darryl Do the Scoring

Rico Pickett and Darryl Crawford are the two leading scorers for the Jaspers. Pickett is the leading scorer in the MAAC and goes through stretches where he is unstoppable. Crawford and Pickett are Manhattan's best scorers, and the Jaspers need to look to put the ball in these guys' hands.

Get to the Line and Make Free Throws

Manhattan has had trouble getting to the charity stripe. Brandon Adams and Darryl Crawford are usually the only players that can be counted on to shoot free throws. Luckily for Manhattan, they are the two best free throw shooters on the team. Manhattan needs to draw fouls and, more importantly, make its free throws.

Defensive Pressure

Towson turns the ball over more than 13 times per game. Manhattan has the ability to play strong defense when it hustles.

Also, senior guard Darryl Crawford moved to No. 8 on the Manhattan College all-time scoring list. Crawford, with 1,351 points in his career, is 92 points behind Larry Lembo ('65) with at least four games remaining in his Jasper career.

Prediction: Manhattan 66, Towson 58

Tip-Off: Monday, February 15, 7PM @ Draddy Gymnasium, Bronx, New York

In the first meeting between Manhattan and Fairfield, the Jaspers played close with the Stags the whole way, but could not execute in the final minute and lost 88-85. Andrew Gabriel missed two wide-open layups that would have tied the game with under a minute left. Anthony Johnson dominated the game for Fairfield, scoring a career-high 27 points. Rico Pickett scored what was then a career-high with 29 points. 

Manhattan (9-16, 4-11 MAAC) have surprisingly been playing fairly well recently, winning two out of their last three. In their last game, the Jaspers beat second place Iona 66-60. 

Fairfield (17-8, 10-5 MAAC) has also won two out of their last three, with the one loss coming at Siena, who has the second longest home winning streak in the nation, 69-67. This game against Manhattan will be the third game of a four game road trip. 

Mohammad Koita, who joined the Jaspers at the start of second semester and is averaging six points per game, left the Jaspers last game at the start of the second half with an unspecified wrist injury. It is unknown if Koita will play on Monday night.

Keys for the Fairfield Stags

Anthony Johnson Has a Repeat Performance—Anthony Johnson scored 27 points in the first meeting with the Jaspers. Manhattan is weak in the post, and this should allow Johnson to have a similar performance as long as he does not get into foul trouble.

Make Free Throws—Fairfield is an inconsistent free throw shooting team. On the season, the Stags shoot 68.7 percent from the line, but in some games, they have been absolutely horrible. In the first meeting, Fairfield made 29-of-37 free throws, including a few free throws in the final minute that iced the game. 

The key for the Stags free throw shooting is Anthony Johnson. Johnson shoots 59.1 percent from the stripe on the year, but he does occasionally have games where he shoots much better. In the Stags last game against Rider, Johnson made 13-of-15 free throws. In the first meeting with Manhattan, Johnson made 7-of-11. Anthony Johnson needs to have a good game from the charity stripe so that he can have a game similar to his first against the Jaspers.

The Big 3—Derek Needham, Anthony Johnson, and Yorel Hawkins all score more than 14 points per game. In the first meeting, Johnson had a big game and Yorel Hawkins scored 19 points. Derek Needham was limited in the first half and for most of the second half, scoring only 11 points. Hawkins and Johnson need to have similar outings, and Needham needs to do better than he did in the first meeting to help Fairfield get a comfortable lead.

Keys for the Manhattan Jaspers

Balanced Scoring From Pickett and Crawford—In the first meeting against Fairfield, Rico Pickett, the MAAC's leading scorer, scored 29 points and Darryl Crawford scored 21. Manhattan needs Pickett to score, but he will also need help from Crawford. The majority of Manhattan's wins come when Crawford scored above his average. 

Make the 3—Manhattan shot 2-of-13 from the field in the first meeting with Fairfield. Manhattan has the ability to make three-pointers, but it is very streaky. 

For more college basketball, follow Jesse Kramer on Twitter by clicking here.

Picture credit to gojaspers.com

Manhattan and Iona had yet another close, hard-fought game in their first meeting of the year. The Gaels won 56-53 as a Manhattan comeback fell short.

Since then, Manhattan (8-16, 3-11 MAAC) has continued to lose, dropping into ninth place in the MAAC. Iona (18-7, 10-4) has won nine out of 10, on their way to second place. The Gaels are beginning to look like a NIT team. 

This coming game should be fairly easy for the Gaels, considering that Manhattan has really struggled recently, especially on the road.

Keys for the Iona Gaels

Get Alejo Rodriguez Involved—Alejo Rodriguez is averaging nine points and seven rebounds per game. He has had his best games against teams who do not have great big men. Manhattan does not have great big men. In their first meeting, Rodriguez was in foul trouble, and his playing time was limited.

If Rodriguez can stay out of foul trouble, his addition will really help the Gaels get a lead.

Take and Make the 3—Iona has multiple three-point shooters. Trinity Fields leads the Gaels in percentage (46.2 percent), and Kyle Smyth leads the team in three-pointers made with 41. Smyth shoots (40.7 percent).

Jermel Jenkins, Jonathan Huffman, Scott Machado, Rashon Dwight, Rashard McGill and Milan Prodanovic all shoot over 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. 

Keys for the Manhattan Jaspers

Make Free Throws Down the Stretch—Manhattan has struggled to hit their free throws in close games down the stretch. If the game stays close in the final two minutes, Manhattan needs to hit free throws to stay in the game.

Put the Ball in the Right Player's Hands—Manhattan's worst execution comes when the ball is in the hands of the wrong person. Rico Pickett and Darryl Crawford are the best creators on offense, and Djibril Coulibaly might be staring to turn into a potential threat in the post. When Antoine Pearson is in the game, he has the ability to create off the dribble. Manhattan needs to trust these guys to score the majority of their points.

Team Stats

Iona

Scoring Leader—Scott Machado (12.5)

Rebounding Leader—Alejo Rodriguez (7.3)

Assists Leader—Scott Machado (4.0)

Manhattan

Scoring Leader—Rico Pickett (17.5)

Rebounding Leader—Darryl Crawford (6.0)

Assists Leader—Darryl Crawford (2.2)

To see about some of the history of the Manhattan vs. Iona rivalry, click here .

Tip-Off: Friday, Feb. 12, 7:30 PM

Manhattan (8-16, 3-11 MAAC) really struggled on Saturday in a 62-56 loss. Loyola (12-12, 5-9) did not play especially well on offense, but poor execution by the Jaspers, especially down the stretch, allowed the Greyhounds to walk away with a win. 

For the second straight game, Rico Pickett, the MAAC's leading scorer, was not in the starting lineup. Pickett would appear at the first TV timeout and would still play 30 minutes. 

The first half was close the whole way, with the largest lead being 18-12 in favor of Loyola with just over eight minutes left. Manhattan took their first lead with 10:04 left on a Rico Pickett layup. After the Jaspers lost their small lead, they came back to take a 26-22 lead on a Rico Pickett dunk late in the first half. Loyola finished the half on an 8-2 run to take a 30-28 lead into halftime.

Rico Pickett scored 15 points in the first half, and scored the final eight points of the half for the Jaspers.

The second half remained close from the beginning. Manhattan found a tiny bit of breathing room as a Mohammed Koita three-pointer gave the Jaspers a 41-36 lead. 

Following the three-pointer, Loyola went on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 43. A Jamal Barney and-one with 5:39 left gave Loyola their first lead since the beginning of the second half. Barney converted the free throw and Loyola led 48-46.

After Mohammed Koita missed a jumper and a long rebound went out to Robert Olson, a turning point of the game occurred. Loyola's Julius Brooks was already most of the way down the court and Andrew Gabriel lackadaisically ran back down the court. When Olson passed ahead to Brooks, Gabriel made an effort to make a late defensive play, but just fouled Brooks as he converted a two-handed flush. Brooks made the free throw and Loyola went up 51-47 with 4:25 left.

Manhattan stayed within four entering the final minute. The Jaspers have struggled all season to execute down the stretch. There was plenty of time to drive to the hoop or at least work for a good three-pointer. Instead, Patrick Bouli, one of the worst three-point shooters on Manhattan, ran up the floor and chucked up a long three. Bouli's three-pointer was no where close and Tony Lewis grabbed the rebound. 

Robert Olson made two free throws with 45 seconds left to just about put the game away. A split pair of free throws by Brian Rudolph gave Loyola 62-56 victory.

Loyola had a balanced scoring attack on Sunday, with every player who played scoring at least four points. Seven players scored at least seven points.

Shane Walker recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Walker also had three blocks. Jawaan Wright had eight points and five rebounds off the bench.

Julius Brooks, Brett Harvey, Robert Olson, and Jamal Barney each scored seven points. Robert Olson scored five points in the final two minutes.

Brian Rudolph had a solid all-around performance with six points, five rebounds, and six assists.

Manhattan managed to out-rebound Loyola 40-38, despite losing.

Darryl Crawford and Rico Pickett led the Jaspers with 19 apiece. Crawford had 10 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks. Pickett scored 15 of his 19 in the first half. He was not too aggressive in the second half.

Mohammed Koita scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting. The freshman guard also grabbed five rebounds. 

Freshman George Beamon scored four points coming off a career-high 13 point performance against Marist. 

The best news that can be taken out of this game for Manhattan fans is that Djibril Coulibaly could possibly be turning into a solid big man. Despite only scoring two points, Coulibaly had seven rebounds and has looked much better in Manhattan's last few games. Coulibaly was able to catch the ball in the post, a quality that a Manhattan big man has not had in a while.

Manhattan continued to appear to have poor team unity. Most of the players walked up and down the court and looked like they did not want to play every time Loyola scored. At least nobody lost their temper and picked up a technical foul.

Manhattan did not come out for second half warmups until 1:30 left until the start of the second half. I did not see one Jasper with a happy look on his face.

Loyola plays their next game at home against St. Peter's (14-10, 9-5).

Manhattan goes back on the road to play against the rival Iona Gaels (18-7, 10-4).

Manhattan (8-15, 3-10 MAAC) ended a seven game losing streak with a 72-47 win over Marist on Friday night. If Barry Rohrssen wants to keep his job for the 2010-11 season, if his hope is not completely gone already, he has to get his Jaspers winning some games down the stretch.

Loyola (11-12, 4-9) ended a two game setback with a win at Rider on Friday. The Greyhounds have come close to winning in many of their recent games, despite losing seven of their last 10 with two of their wins coming over Marist. After being blown out by Siena, the Greyhounds lost in a close game at Fairfield. Following the loss to Fairfield, the Greyhounds could not cap a comeback over Iona, losing 59-50.

After beating Marist, Loyola lost two close road games against St. Peter's and Siena. The Greyhounds then beat Marist again, but a four point loss to Fairfield followed. The Greyhounds have come close many times, but have not been able to prevail down the stretch. A win over Manhattan would give them back-to-back wins for the first time since they beat Rider on Jan. 2. 

Keys For the Loyola Greyhounds

Hold Darryl Crawford to a Slow Start. When Darryl Crawford gets off to a good start for the Jaspers, not only does Crawford tend to have a huge game, but the Jaspers tend to play better. Against Marist, Crawford scored the seven of the first 11 points for the Jaspers, and Manhattan ran away with a 25 point victory.

Feed the Post. Loyola does not have especially good big men, but they are much better than the big men on the Jaspers. In addition to the Jaspers not having much talent in the post, they do not have a lot of depth in the front court. Even if Loyola can't score in the post, they should be able to draw some fouls and force the Jaspers to go deep into their bench.

Don't Let George Beamon Drive. George Beamon is only a freshman for the Jaspers and has had limited playing time for Manhattan. There is no guarantee that Beamon will even play to much on Sunday, but if he does, he is a great driver and that is how he scores just about all of his points. All of Beamon's shots against Marist were off drives.

Beamon also found ways to get fouled off the drive and made all five of his free throws against Marist. 

Keys for the Jaspers

Get Rico Pickett and Darryl Crawford Scoring. Crawford was already mentioned. His good games tend to result in good games for the Jaspers as a whole. Not only does Crawford need to get scoring, but so does Rico Pickett. Pickett is the MAAC's leading scorer at 17.4 points per game. Pickett is averaging more than 20 points per game in conference games. When he gets in a groove, it is hard to stop him.

Defend the Perimeter. Loyola has three of the MAAC's top eight three-point shooters in J'hared Hall (41.5 percent), Robert Olson (40.7 percent), and Brett Harvey (38.5 percent). Manhattan's guards have got to stick to their men on the perimeter and keep them from knocking down three-pointers.

Make Good Substitutions. One of the many horrible things about Barry Rohrssen's coaching is his substitutions and who he puts in the starting lineup. Antoine Pearson, who might be the quickest guard in the MAAC, rarely gets much playing time.

Also, Rico Pickett did not even start against Marist. Once Rohrssen remembered that he had the MAAC's leading scorer on his team and put him in, Manhattan started scoring. Rohrssen has got to do better with his substitutions to help his team.

Tip-Off: Sunday, February 7, 2 PM @ Draddy Gymnasium

Manhattan's Darryl Crawford got Manhattan off to a solid start, while Marist struggled from the field. Marist would not lead once, losing 72-47.

For an unknown reason, Rico Pickett, the MAAC's leading scorer, did not start for the Jaspers on Friday night. Pickett finally entered the game four minutes in and got the Manhattan offense moving. 

Pickett entered with 15:47 left on the clock and immediately forced a steal and then made a layup on the other end. Two possessions later, Pickett made a jumper, and on the next possession, Pickett dunked on a fast break to give the Jaspers a 15-6 lead.

Manhattan (8-15, 3-10 MAAC) continued to score, stretching their lead to as many as 15 on a George Beamon and-one.

Marist (1-22, 1-12 MAAC) made two three-pointers in the final 1:30, including a buzzer beater, to cut the lead to 29-22 at the half. But the Jaspers would not let Marist's late run in the first half give the Red Foxes momentum entering the second half.

Manhattan opened the second half on a 12-0 run, in which Laurence Jolicoeur scored his only seven points of the game. Mohammed Koita scored the other five points during the run, including his first three-pointer as a Jasper.

The Jaspers continued to dominate in the second half, as the lead never went below 13. Manhattan would stretch their lead to as many as 27 in the final two minutes, before two free throws by Pat McDerby ended the game at 72-47.

Marist only made 6-of-20 shots from the field in the second half and shot 31 percent for the game. The Red Foxes only made 3-of-18 three-pointers. 

Candon Rusin led the Red Foxes in scoring with 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Daye Kaba, a transfer from Boston College, scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Korey Bauer scored 10 points and Devin Price scored eight points on poor 2-of-12 shooting.

The Jaspers had a solid rebounding performance, out-rebounding the Red Foxes 40-27. Manhattan shot 29-of-60 for an above average 48 percent. Although the Jaspers only shot 11 free throws, they still converted nine of them.

Darryl Crawford led the Jaspers in scoring with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Crawford also had five rebounds.

Rico Pickett and George Beamon each scored 13 points. Despite down performances for Pickett in his last two games, he still leads the MAAC in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Beamon's 13 was a career-high for the young freshman. Beamon averaged 35 points per game in high school and is starting to show his ability to put the ball in the basket, scoring over seven points per game in his last four appearances. Beamon made all five of his free throws and had a few and-one's that helped Manhattan get out to an early lead in the first half.

Mohammed Koita scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds. Laurence Jolicoeur had seven points, all of them coming within the first few minutes of the second half.

Despite not scoring, Patrick Bouli helped the Jasper offense with six assists. Djibril Coulibaly scored four points and grabbed seven rebounds. Coulibaly had a career-high four blocks. With two minutes left in the first half, Coulibaly slammed back a Rico Pickett miss. Coulibaly put all his strength into the slam back, and the ball bounced straight up into the air, and then came right back down into the basket. Get up early next Friday morning to look for this play on ESPN's Not Top 10.

Manhattan walk-on Liam McCabe-Moran scored his first career points on a layup late in the game.

One-handed Kevin Laue made a jump shot with 2:40 left for his only basket of the game.

This win was the ninth straight for Manhattan at home against the Marist Red Foxes.

Marist plays next on Sunday afternoon against the Iona Gaels (17-7, 9-4).

Manhattan's next game is on Sunday against the Loyola Greyhounds (11-12, 3-4).

For more on Manhattan, follow Jesse Kramer on Twitter by clicking here .

Picture credit to gojaspers.com

In the words of Mad magazine, the "usual gang of idiots" showed up for Manhattan on Thursday night.

The Jaspers gave Manhattan fans hope in the first half, but once again fell short, 74-71.

Manhattan (7-14, 2-9 MAAC) was off to a great start, jumping out to an early 13-4 lead. Rico Pickett had 11 of the first 13 points. 

Rider (12-11, 5-6 MAAC) climbed back into the game, staying within one point at the 12-minute TV timeout in the first half. But Pickett would catch fire, and the Jaspers would go up 31-19 with 7:08 left in the first half.

Once again, Rider found a way back into the game. The Broncs cut the lead to 31-27 in the final four minutes.

Pickett would score eight straight points in the final two-and-a-half minutes, and the Jaspers went into halftime with a 39-30 advantage.

Pickett dominated the first half. He scored 28 points in the first half alone on 12-of-18 shooting. His 28 in the first half was one point short of his career high for a whole game. Pickett made three of five three-pointers.

In addition to Pickett having a mind-blowing first half, Andrew Gabriel also stepped up after having a stretch of rough games. Gabriel made his first three baskets, leading to six early points. Gabriel also had five rebounds and two blocks in the first half.

Darryl Crawford was absent in terms of scoring during the first half. Crawford only took one shot, and he missed it. However, Crawford did get three assists.

The Jaspers went into the locker room with Pickett looking in the face of a Jasper record and the whole Jasper squad ready to end their five-game losing streak.

Flashing back, in the first meeting this season between Manhattan and Rider, Manhattan led by as many as 16 in the first half, as Pickett was off to a great start. Manhattan would blow that lead, and Mike Ringgold's tip-in with six seconds left gave Rider a 65-64 victory.

Talk about déjà vu—the Jaspers held a double-digit lead in the first half but would not be able to replicate the first 20 minutes in the second half.

Pickett would need to keep scoring if the Jaspers hoped to keep a commanding lead. His second half looked promising after he hit a jump shot on the first possession of the second half. However, Pickett would only hit one more shot for the rest of the half.

Rider would end up making half of their shots in the second half. The Broncs outscored the Jaspers 20-11 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 50-49 lead, their first lead since the first basket of the game, when they led 2-0.

The lead was then traded back and forth. Crawford kept the Jaspers in the game, scoring 15 points in the second half. 

With Rider trailing 65-62 with under 2:30 left, Rider's Justin Robinson took matters into his own hands. Robinson hit a jump shot to cut the lead to 65-64, and after Mohamed Koita split a pair of free throws, Robinson drained a three-pointer to give the Broncs a 67-66 advantage.

As the clock ticked into the final minute, the Jaspers bench exploded after a two-handed dunk by Koita, giving Manhattan a 70-69 lead. The momentum was going towards the Jaspers as the shot clock wound down below five seconds for Rider. As Robinson had down of the previous possessions, he corralled a pass from Ryan Thompson and knocked down a three-pointer.

The Jaspers trailed 72-70. Crawford took the ball on the wing and drove to the basket. In the act, Crawford drew a foul on Jhamar Youngblood with 22.9 seconds, and he went to the line with a chance to tie the game with two free throws.

Another flashback went through the minds of Jasper fans. In their previous game against Siena, Crawford was shooting two free throws with a chance to cut the Siena lead to one possession in the final minute. He could not hit the first pressure free throw, as it hit off the back of the rim and rolled out.

Crawford's first free throw against Rider hit off the back of the rim and rolled out. Just like Crawford did against Siena, he hit the second free throw.

As usual, poor coaching kept the Jaspers from making a comeback in the final seconds. 

Justin Robinson is far and away Rider's best free throw shooter at 91 percent. With nearly 23 seconds left, there was enough time for Manhattan to trap Robinson when the Broncs undoubtedly gave him the ball and then foul the next person that the ball went to. 

The Jaspers did the right thing by trapping Robinson when the ball was inbounded. Robinson passed to Ryan Thompson, a 78.3 percent free throw shooter, and then Thompson threw the ball upcourt to Novar Gadson, a 77.8 percent free throw shooter.

Although Thompson and Gadson are not "bad" free throw shooters, they are still much worse than Robinson, and there is a much better chance that one of those two would miss at least one of the free throws.

Manhattan did not foul either of them; instead, 14 seconds came off the clock, and the ball fell back into the hands of Justin Robinson. Robinson was fouled, and he shot two free throws with nine seconds left. The 91 percent free throw shooter would not let the big opportunity pass through his hands—he hit both free throws.

The Jaspers brought the ball up the court and called a timeout with 5.1 seconds left. Out of the timeout, the Jaspers inbounded to Pickett, who put up a three-pointer as time expired. Pickett's shot went halfway through but bounced out.

Ryan Thompson, the brother of Sacramento Kings center Jason Thompson, led Rider with 25 points, playing all 40 minutes. Thompson shot 10-of-17 from the field, while hitting all three of his free throws. He continued his very good overall play with nine rebounds and four assists.

Despite not leading the team in scoring, Justin Robinson was the reason that the Broncs won. Robinson caught fire in the second half, scoring all 16 of his points in the final 20 minutes. Robinson scored 10 points in the final 1:45 and hit a jump shot to give Rider their final lead, and then he hit two free throws to give Rider a three-point lead with nine seconds left.

The Rider big men both scored in double digits. Novar Gadson scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Mike Ringgold scored 12 points. Luckily for the Broncs, Ringgold did not shoot any free throws. Ringgold is a 30 percent free throw shooter, among the nation's worst.

Rider only had four bench points.

Manhattan did a much better job limiting offensive rebounds for the Broncs. The Jaspers outrebounded Rider 33-32.

Rico Pickett led Manhattan with 32 points, 28 of them being in the first half. Pickett only made two of nine second half shots. He shot 4-of-9 from three-point range.

Darryl Crawford scored 15 points, all in the second half. Crawford also had five rebounds and five assists. Crawford made eight of 10 free throws but could not hit a big one in the final minute.

Andrew Gabriel scored eight points and had 11 rebounds. After making his first three shots, Gabriel only made one of his last five.

Despite only scoring two points, Patrick Bouli had a good all-around performance with five assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

Mohamed Koita and Antoine Pearson were the only Manhattan players to score off the bench. Koita had five, and Pearson had six.

Rider plays their next game at Fairfield (15-6, 8-3 MAAC) on Saturday.

Manhattan's next game is at St. Peter's (12-9, 7-4 MAAC) on Sunday.

Picture credit to gojaspers.com

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