Box Score
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - The Manhattan men's basketball team delivered its second consecutive wire-to-wire victory picking up a 68-59 win at Hofstra (3-7) on Saturday at the Mack Sports Complex. The Jaspers were clicking on all cylinders as Manhattan (7-4) remained undefeated in December with its fourth straight victory, the program's longest win streak in nearly five years.
George Beamon led the Jaspers in scoring for the seventh time this season finishing with 14 points going along with eight rebounds. It was the 25th straight contest Beamon posted double-digits in the scoring column. Manhattan sophomore forward Rhamel Brown delivered another monstrous effort in 25 minutes off the bench. Brown flirted with a triple-double as he exploded for a season-high 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and swatted a career best six shots. He shot 5-for-8 (62.5%) from the field and swiped three steals.
The Jaspers were ready to go right from the opening tip. Manhattan rolled out to a 14-4 advantage that was powered by five points from senior co-captain Kidani Brutus and a 3-pointer from Liam McCabe-Moran . McCabe-Moran registered 11 points, the fifth time this season he posted double-figures, and he and shot 3-for-4 from downtown.
Manhattan didn't stop there. Beamon got going midway through the stanza as he completed a four-point play and a three-point play all coming within 32 seconds. After hitting a 3-pointer and finishing it off with the free-throw at 9:38, the Roslyn, N.Y. native sank a lay up and hit another free-throw to give Manhattan a 17 point lead (23-6) at 9:05, its largest lead of the contest.
Hofstra quickly responded with a 14-2 run which made it a five point game with 5:04 left in the first half. Pride senior guard Mike Moore led the effort by scoring eight of Hofstra's first 20 points and he hit the jumper to make it a 25-20 ballgame.
The Jaspers defense finished the half strong as it propelled Manhattan into the break with a 13 point advantage. Hofstra was limited to only one point and did not hit a field goal in the final five minutes of the first half. Jaspers' freshman Emmy Andujar scored four of his 10 points during this timeframe. McCabe-Moran then hit a 3-pointer with 46 ticks on the clock to send Manhattan into the locker room ahead 34-21.
Eight Jaspers got in the scoring column before halftime. Manhattan shot 44.4% (12-27) from the field in the first half and held Hofstra to 28.6% (8-28).
The Pride could not get any closer than seven points in the second half as Manhattan had an answer to each of their scoring surges. After Hofstra guard Shemiye McLendon cut the Jaspers lead to 44-37 with a 3-pointer at 10:27, Manhattan rallied off eight unanswered points to go back up by 15 on senior forward Roberto Colonette's put back with 8:23 left.
With 6:06 remaining, Hofstra cut it to 53-46 on Nathaniel Lester's lay up, but Beamon responded with a big 3-pointer. Then at the three minute mark, Lester finished a three point play and had a dunk off a steal to cut the deficit to 62-55. Again, Manhattan silenced the spurt with a three point play from Brown on the next trip down court.
Lester had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Moore posted a game-high 20 points shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Manhattan dominated the boards for the fifth straight game owning a 43-32 advantage. Nearly half of the Jaspers points came from reserves as the bench outscored Hofstra 32-15.
Jaspers' sophomore guard Michael Alvarado scored six points and dished out four assists. Andujar led Manhattan with five assists in 37 minutes of work.
Brown's sixth block of the game marked the 100th of his young career, putting him in elite company as only the fourth Jasper in program history to reach the milestone. It was the fourth time in the last six games Brown rejected five or more shots.
Manhattan gets a nine day breather before it returns to action on Dec. 20 at Towson. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
