Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? The Manhattan men's basketball team used its best defensive performance of the season to roll past Iona (11-14, 6-8 MAAC), 52-39, on Monday in Riverdale. Jaspers sophomore Chris Smith led all players with 15 points helping extend the team's win streak to three games. Darryl Crawford (13) and Laurence Jolicoeur (11) added double-figures for the third straight game.
Jaspers forward Jamel Ferguson's tip in with 11:02 remaining in the first half settled a 9-9 tie and gave Manhattan a lead it held onto the rest of the way. Manhattan's defense clamped down on the Gaels and did not allow a field goal over the final 13:10 of the opening stanza. Iona was 0-for-10 from the field during this closing stretch and received just two free-throws from center Gary Springer.
Manhattan carried a 19-11 lead into intermission. It was the second fewest points the Jaspers allowed in the first half this season, behind NJIT's 10 points in the season opener on Nov. 15.
Crawford gave Manhattan (14-10, 8-6) its first double-digit lead of the contest at the 18:11 mark in the second half when he finished a lay-up through traffic, then completed the three point play knocking down the free-throw. He scored 13 points with 11 coming from the free-throw line where he was flawless.
Crawford's perfect free-throw shooting performance anchored the Jaspers 79.2% (19-24) effort from the charity stripe. It marked the third straight contest Manhattan shot higher than 70% from the line.
Iona cut the Jaspers advantage to five points several times in the second half, but with 4:23 remaining Smith's one-handed dunk on the fast break over Gaels' freshman point guard Scott Machado sparked a surge to the finish line. Manhattan closed out the game with a 16-8 run, while holding Iona to just two field goals in the final 15 minutes.
Manhattan dominated the boards outrebounding Iona 47-32. Herve Banogle anchored the effort with eight rebounds. Jolicoeur grabbed seven.
The Jaspers outscored Iona 13-0 in second chance opportunities and 20-8 in the paint.
With the win, Manhattan moves into a fourth place tie in the MAAC standings with Fairfield. The Jaspers travel to Albany on Thursday to square off with Siena.
