Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. - Sophomore guard George Beamon scored a team-high 17 points and freshman point guard Michael Alvarado added 15 points, but Manhattan (4-19, 2-10 MAAC) dropped a 64-57 decision to Siena (10-12, 7-5 MAAC) on Friday at the Times Union Center. The Jaspers clamped down defensively on Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter limiting him to 3-for-12 shooting, however Saints' forward O.D. Anosike picked up the slack with a career-high 17 points going 8-for-13 from the field.
Jaspers' graduate transfer Demetrius Jemison was a major factor in holding Rossiter seven points below his MAAC leading scoring average (19.1 ppg). The Birmingham, Ala. native was sound defensively, while exploding for a career-high 16 rebounds and nine points.
The squads battled in an offensively challenged first half where each teams' leading scorer was held scoreless through nearly 17 minutes of action and they each posted just one field goal. Rossiter did not get in the scoring column until his 3-point play with 3:03 on the clock and Beamon was scoreless until one minute later when he knocked down a layup. Siena carried a 29-21 into the break, capitalizing on Manhattan's 27.6% field goal mark, including a 14.3% (1-7) rate from beyond the arc.
Siena opened its largest lead in the early minutes of the second stanza jumping out to a 37-27 advantage with 15:22 remaining on a pair of Rossiter free-throws. The senior forward finished with his 17th double-double and 49th of his career recording 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Jaspers quickly stormed back from its 10 point deficit with a 12-0 run featuring a big 3-pointer from Alvarado, a game-tying layup from Beamon and then his go-ahead free-throws to take a 39-37 advantage with 12:28 on the clock.
Saints' guard Clarence Jackson responded giving Siena a big lift with a 3-pointer to regain a one point lead 26 seconds later. Then a Manhattan turnover coming out of a media timeout led to Owen Wignot's trey from the corner to make it a two possession advantage (43-39). Jackson had nine points on three 3-pointers and Wignot scored 11 points with six rebounds.
The pesky Jaspers held close and wouldn't go away easy cutting their deficit to 47-45 at the 7:22 mark after a one-handed breakaway jam by junior forward Djibril Coulibaly. Siena answered again, outscoring Manhattan 11-4 over the next five minutes. Anosike's dunk with 2:56 left pushed Siena out to a 58-49 advantage, and then Saints executed down the stretch.
Coulibaly gave the Jaspers quality minutes off the bench for the second straight game recording six points in 23 minutes of work.
Manhattan shot a hot 52.2% (12-23) in the second half. The Jaspers also went 82.4% (14-17) from the free-throw line in the contest to Siena's 52.0% (13-25) mark.
Manhattan junior guard Kidani Brutus added six points shooting 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Manhattan looks to bounce back on Monday night when the Jaspers visit Iona for a MSG televised contest. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
