Box Score
JERSEY CITY, N.J. ? Sophomore guard Wesley Jenkins hit a deep 3-pointer as time expired to send Saint Peter's (11-18, 8-10 MAAC) off with a 66-63 victory over the Manhattan (16-13, 9-9 MAAC) on Sunday in Jersey City. Jaspers junior guard Darryl Crawford scored a career-high 33 points on 12-for-19 shooting. Despite the loss, Manhattan enters the 2009 MAAC Men's Basketball Championships as the #4 seed and will face #5 Fairfield (16-14, 9-9 MAAC) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Albany.
Manhattan had the contest well under control in the first half and carried a 33-25 advantage into the break. Crawford and Chris Smith anchored the Jaspers scoring effort combining for 29 points in the first stanza. Smith added 10 points.
Unlike the first 20 minutes, the second half was a see-saw battled which featured five ties and five lead changes. Peacocks guard Nick Leon capped an initial surge out intermission with a 3-pointer at 13:42 to even the contest, 41-41.
The Jaspers responded a pair of big buckets from Crawford and Patrick Bouli. On the ensuing possession, Crawford hit an acrobatic lay-up, and then knocked down a free-throw to complete the three point play. The Jaspers next time down court, Bouli spotted up in the right corner and sank a trey to extend their lead to 47-43.
Leon gave Saint Peter's its first lead of the game with a 3-pointer at the 6:48 mark. The Brooklyn native finished with 11 points.
Manhattan recaptured an advantage with another Crawford three point play at 2:46, but Saint Peter's used a pair of back-to-back buckets from Akeem Gooding to go back ahead 62-61.
Jamel Ferguson scored his only bucket of the contest just over a minute later regain a one point Jasper lead. Ferguson dished out three assists blocked two shots in 17 minutes off the bench.
Ismaila Traore evened the game at 63-63 with a free-throw at 1:18 to set the stage for the dramatic finish.
Crawford and Smith missed two go-ahead shot opportunities with less than 50 seconds on the clock giving the ball back to Saint Peter's to set up for the final play. Following a Peacocks' timeout with 6.3 seconds left, Leon drew a double team on the inbound and got the ball into Jenkins grip. Just before the final horn he heaved a deep 3 in front of the Peacocks bench which found nothing but net.
Jenkins scored a team-high 23 points, while Akeem Gooding added 19 on an efficient 9-12 shooting.
Manhattan shot well going 50% (24-48) from the field, including a 50% (5-10) mark beyond the arc. Saint Peter's shot 53.3% (24-45) from the floor.
The Jaspers finish the regular-season tied with Fairfield for fourth place in the MAAC.
