Box Score
BRIDGEPORT, CONN.- Manhattan sophomore George Beamon missed a 3-point shot as time expired and the Jaspers (6-25) fell to Siena (13-18) 68-66 in overtime at the 2011 the MAAC Championships in Bridgeport, Conn.
A thrilling First Round matchup pitting the no.7 and no.10 seeds of the conference, featured 20 lead changes and five tied scores in 65 minutes of basketball. For the first time all season, Manhattan had five different players in double figures offensively, including a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds from junior Kidani Brutus.
"We gave the building an exciting game," explained fifth year Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen. "Unfortunately, for us we didn't have enough in the tank, we didn't have that one more shot that we needed at the end."
One of the most complete performances of the season, sophomore guard George Beamon chipped in with 14 points and seven boards, while graduate forward Demetrius Jemison added a double-double effort with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"It was a great game, my guys and I went out to battle. We did everything we could to get a win," explained Jemison. "We just kept fighting."
In the first half of play, each team held significant advantages with the Jaspers leading by seven points and the Saints by as many as eight. Manhattan got into the flow early holding a 19-11 lead at the 13:42 mark of the half after back-to-back dunks by Rhamel Brown and Jemison and an inside layup by Beamon.
Answering back, the Saints finished the half on a 12-1 run, thanks in part to the stellar play of guard Clarence Jackson. Clutch throughout the contest, the senior hit two treys to end the half and finished with a game-high 24 points to put Siena up 40-33 going into the break.
After splitting the regular season series 1-1, it was only fitting that the final half of basketball would come down to big baskets and finally overtime.
Manhattan's very active zone defense stifled the Saints for a good part of the second half. The Saints lived on six consecutive Rossiter free-throws, while struggling for nearly eight minutes without a field goal. The Jaspers' defensive energy poured on to the offensive side of the floor as Manhattan outscored Siena 14-4 to take its largest lead of the second half going up 55-52 on Beamon's lay-up with 7:05 remaining.
Tension rouse in the final seven minutes of regulation with the Jaspers and Saints trading blows as the score switched sides five times. Michael Alvarado lifted the Jaspers with clutch buckets scoring eight of his 10 points in the final 6:09. The freshman point guard's biggest shot of the night came after Jackson's layup, which gave Siena a 63-61 lead with 35 seconds remaining. Coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds on the clock, Alvarado took his defender one-on-one and buried a step-back, midrange jumper to go into overtime.
Wignot scored all five of Siena's points in overtime, delivering the dagger with a 3-pointer at 1:28 after a costly Manhattan turnover to go up 68-66. The Jaspers missed two opportunities to tie the game, and then with 10 second left Beamon's game-winning 3-point attempt rolled off the rim as time expired.
Wignot finished with nine points and four rebounds. Rossiter posted his 25th double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Brown delivered one of his best all around performances of the year for Manhattan scoring 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting with four blocks. He finishes the season second on the Jaspers' single season blocks list with 68.
