Riverdale, N.Y. (December 7, 2007)- Sophomore Antoine Pearson connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key as time-expired to give Manhattan College a 65-62 win over Saint Peter's College tonight at Draddy Gym in the MAAC opener for both teams. The Jaspers improve to 5-3, 1-0 in MAAC play.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH PEARSON'S BUZZER BEATER
With the score knotted at 62 following a Nick Leon layup with 22 seconds remaining, Manhattan held for the last shot of regulation. Pearson held the ball near the time line as the clock dipped under 10 seconds. At that point, he drove the lane and kicked the ball to Andrew Gabriel on the baseline. Gabriel fed Patrick Bouli on the wing, and Bouli got off a three pointer with 5.2 ticks remaining. Devon Austin came up with a weak-side offensive rebound and found Pearson alone at the top of the key, and the guard calmly shot the ball with 0.5 seconds left, and the ball found nothing but the bottom of the net as time expired to give the Jaspers the dramatic win.
“”After I grabbed the rebound, I saw I was too far under the basket,” stated Austin. “I looked around and saw Antoine open at the top of the key.”
“The coaches had been telling me I was falling back on my shots,” added Pearson. “I just left my hand up and followed through. I knew it was good all the way.”
Neither team found an offensive rhythm in the opening stanza, as the first 20 minutes saw five ties and eight lead changes. The Peacocks led by four, 26-22, following a Darrell Lampley three with 2:17 left before the break, before Manhattan closed out the half with a 6-2 run, capped by a Pearson free throw that knotted the score at 28 heading into the half.
The Jaspers came out of the gates quickly in the second half, as two Gabriel hoops and two Austin three pointers in a 10-2 run over the first 2:28 gave Manhattan an eight point lead, 38-30. Saint Peter's responded by climbing right back into the game, and the neither team led by more than four until Manhattan was able to build the lead back to eight, 62-54, with 3:26 to play. Saint Peter's responded yet again, scoring eight straight points, capped by Leon's layup, to set up the final play.
Gabriel paced Manhattan with a season-high 15 points. Austin (13 points, six rebounds) and Pearson (11 points) joined him in double figures.
“It was extremely important to come out on the upside of this game,” commented head coach Barry Rohrssen. “It's a result of the guys working hard in practice all week and in the game tonight as well.”
Manhattan gets back into action on Sunday, December 9, traveling to Baltimore, Md. to take on the Loyola College Greyhounds in a MAAC contest. The game is slated to begin at 12 noon.
