RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? Manhattan used a 20 point performance by sophomore guard Antoine Pearson to get past Siena (16-10, 11-5) 73-72 this evening at Draddy Gymnasium. Chris Smith, a freshman guard, notched his second straight double-double finishing with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Siena's Edwin Ubiles had 24 points on 9-14 from the field.
Pearson connected on six 3-point field goals and was 7-11 from the floor. It marked the 10th time this season he led Manhattan (11-15, 5-11) in scoring.
The Jaspers entered the half with a 28-27 edge courtesy of a balanced scoring attack. The lead changed five times over the first 20 minutes and 11 times in the contest.
Manhattan held strong in the second half and kept pace with the Saints thunderous offense. The Jaspers delivered its best second half shooting performance of the season going 17-28 (60.7%) from the field and a stunning 8-11 (72.7%) from 3-point territory.
With 6:45 on the clock, Ubiles connected on his third 3-pointer of the contest to give the Saints a 62-58 advantage. This proved to be Siena's largest lead of the game.
Manhattan kept it close with its sharp shooting and stellar defensive efforts anchored by Smith.
At the 4:07 mark, Smith tracked down an offensive rebound kicked the ball out to Pearson who drained a trey with the shot clock running down to give the Jaspers a 66-64 advantage. The Jaspers would covet the lead for the remainder of the contest
Sophomore guard Ronald Moore's slashing layup with 45 seconds left brought Siena within 73-72. Moore had 12 points, eight assists and four rebounds over 32 minutes of action.
The Saints stopped Manhattan on the ensuing possession earning one last shot.
Following consecutive timeouts by each team, Ubiles inbounded the ball to Kenny Hasbrouck who came up short on a tough jumper securing the Jasper's single point victory.
Manhattan held Hasbrouck to just five points on 2-11 shooting. Sophomore forward Alex Franklin picked up the slack for Hasbrouck notching a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
The victory marks the first over Siena in the last four tries. Manhattan is riding a three game winning streak, improves to 11-15 overall and 5-11 in league play.
The Jaspers return to action on Saturday for its final home contest versus America East opponent Binghamton. Manhattan will honor lone senior Franck Traore in a Senior Day ceremony prior to the contest. Game time is slated for 4 p.m.
