Box Score
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Manhattan men's basketball team kept the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's longest active win streak alive as the Jaspers rolled to an 87-70 victory at Niagara (9-14, 4-7 MAAC) on Sunday in an ESPN3 telecast. Michael Alvarado had a game-high 20 points and Liam McCabe-Moran exploded for a career-high 18 points as Manhattan (16-7, 9-2 MAAC) snapped a five game winless streak at the Gallagher Center dating back to February 2006.
By winning its seventh straight game Manhattan also completed the challenging Western New York conference sweep which the program has only done five other times since Niagara and Canisius joined the MAAC in 1989-90. The Jaspers were coming off a 78-66 victory at Canisius on Friday night.
The last time Manhattan completed the sweep was in 2003-04 when Jaspers first year head coach Steve Masiello was an assistant on the staff. With the victory, Manhattan holds serve with Iona and Loyola who are all tied for first place in the MAAC with all three teams improving to 9-2 in conference play on Sunday.
Five Jaspers in total scored in double-figures with senior forward Roberto Colonette posting 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Junior guard George Beamon delivered his 37th straight double-digit scoring effort with 14 points. Beamon led Manhattan shooting 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. Senior co-captain Kidani Brutus added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting to lead the Manhattan bench.
McCabe-Moran got the Jaspers going scoring 13 points in the first half as he led Manhattan into the locker room with an eight point advantage. The senior guard gave Manhattan a much needed spark off the bench as he knocked down his first of five 3-pointers with 9:13 left in the half, which sparked an 8-0 run as Manhattan took a 22-15 edge. Then after the Purple Eagles pulled within two points, McCabe-Moran answered again with another 3-pointer at 5:52.
Manhattan took a 38-30 advantage into intermission after McCabe-Moran buried his fourth trey right in front of the Niagara bench with 29 seconds on the clock. McCabe-Moran was assisted by freshman forward Emmy Andujar who scored all seven of his points in the opening stanza by shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field. Andujar finished with a game-high seven assists for the second straight contest to go along with seven rebounds.
The Jaspers used a 12-2 run early in the second half to establish a double-digit lead it would not relinquish. Alvarado scored the first six points and Brutus put the finishing touches on the surge with back-to-back 3s as Manhattan went on top 52-35 with 15:30 to go. Alvarado scored 16 of his 20 points in the final 20 minutes shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. He was 7-for-10 from the free-throw line in the contest and dished out four assists.
Manhattan built its lead as large as 21 courtesy of a 62.5% (15-24) shooting effort in the second half. The Jaspers shot 53.1% (26-49) from the field in the contest and dished out 20 assists for the second straight game. Manhattan won the battle of the boards for the fourth consecutive game with a 34-26 advantage over the Purple Eagles on the glass.
Niagara was led by freshman guard Juan'ya Green who scored 18 points and shot 9-for-11 from the free-throw line. Purple Eagles' red-shirt freshman Antoine Mason posted 17 points along with a team-high five assists, while sophomore Marvin Jordan pitched in 16 points off the bench with four 3-pointers.
The Jaspers look to defend the program's longest win streak in six seasons on Thursday when Manhattan returns to Draddy Gymnasium to host Marist. It will be the second game of a doubleheader with the Manhattan women who square off with Siena at 6 p.m.
