Riverdale, N.Y. (January 6, 2007)- Arturo Dubois tallied game-highs with 20 points and eight rebounds to celebrate his 21st birthday in grand fashion, as Manhattan defeated Fairfield, 58-54, this afternoon at Draddy Gym to sweep the season series from the Stags. Manhattan won its second straight game to improve to 5-8 overall, and 2-1 in MAAC play. Fairfield falls to 3-13 overall, and 1-3 in MAAC play.
The two teams played evenly in the first half, though Manhattan built two six point leads, the second after two Guy Ngarndi free throws made the score 20-14 with 7:19 left in the opening stanza. At that point, Fairfield closed out the half with an 11-1 run to take a 25-24 lead into the break.
Fairfield maintained a slim margin for the first 10 minutes of the second half, and was able to extend the lead to as many as six on two occasions, the second making the score 43-37, following two free throws from Devin Johnson with 10:32 left in the game. The Jaspers responded with a 10-4 run to knot the score at 47-47, before a Devon Austin dunk gave Manhattan a two point lead, 49-47, with 4:12 left in the game. A Greg Nero free throw and a Mike Van Schaick layup tipped the lead back in Fairfield's favor, but Manhattan would not be denied, regaining the lead on a twisting layup from Antoine Pearson. A Dubois putback was followed by two Ngarndi free throws to push the lead to five, 55-50, with 38 seconds remaining on the clock, and the Jaspers went 3-4 from the line down the stretch to secure their second straight win. Dubois supplied an exclamation point at the end of the game, blocking two Fairfield shot attempts in the final moments.
Dubois, who celebrated his birthday one year ago with a 21 point, 14 rebound performance in a win at Iona, added three blocks and one assist to his total this year, while shooting an impressive 10-12 from the floor. Austin added 12 points, while Ngarndi tallied nine points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Pearson handed out five assists to go along with eight points, while not committing a turnover.
Van Schaick paced Fairfield with 13 points.
Manhattan returns to action on Monday, January 8, traveling to Buffalo, N.Y. to take on Canisius College in a MAAC contest slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.
