Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Battle of the Bronx was indeed a battle. Fordham outscored Manhattan 8-2 in the final four minutes to come back to edge the Jaspers 79-75 in the 106th meeting between the crosstown rivals in front a sellout crowd at Draddy Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
Fordham freshman Jon Severe scored a game-high 30 points and was named the Doc Johnson Most Valuable Player of the Game. He introduced himself early to the Draddy Gym crowd, scoring eight of Fordham's first ten points as the Rams jumped out to a 20-9 lead after a Mandell Thomas three-pointer at the 12:44 mark of the first half.
Manhattan gradually cut into the deficit and trailed by just a point after Ashton Pankey converted a three-point play to make it a 40-39 game late in the first half. Severe answered with a jumper and Branden Frazier made one of two free throws to give the Rams a 43-39 halftime advantage.
Trailing 49-44 early in the second half, Manhattan scored seven consecutive points, capped by a George Beamon triple to take a 51-49 lead with 16:48 left. The Jaspers extended its lead to as many as six points, its largest margin of the game, on a Beamon jumper with 6:36 remaining that made it a 68-62 game.
Frazier canned two free throws on the next Fordham possession and Severe drilled a three-pointer to get the Rams back within a point, 68-67. Michael Alvarado answered with a driving, contested layup to put Manhattan in front by three but Severe hit another triple to tie the game at 70 with 4:39 remaining in the contest.
Thomas made one of two free throws to put Fordham back in front 71-70 but Beamon responded with a three-point play with 4:07 left to put the Jaspers back in front by two.
The score remained 73-71 for more than two minutes as the Jaspers could not push their lead to more than one possession and the Rams were unable to tie the game until Severe sank two free throws to tie the score with 1:39 remaining.
After Fordham forced a missed on one end, Frazier converted a whirling layup at the other end to give the Rams a 75-73 edge and a lead it would not relinquish.
While Severe's 30 led all scorers, Frazier finished with 21 and Thomas had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Beamon posted his fifth straight game of 24 points or more to start the season. His 24-point, 11-rebound performance was his tenth career double-double. Rhamel Brown also had an outstanding all-around performance with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds and a career-high nine blocked shots.
"We've just got to get better, and I think we will," head coach Steve Masiello said after the game. "It's a good group to be around. They want it. They're in it for the right reasons."
Manhattan is back in action on Saturday, November 30 at Hofstra for a 4 p.m. tip.
NOTES:
Manhattan committed a season-low nine turnovers ... the Jaspers held a 45-42 advantage on the glass and 18-14 on offensive rebounds ... Manhattan made 17 of 23 from the foul line ... Fordham went 26 of 37 from the line ... Rich Williams came off the bench to grab five rebounds and an electrifying blocked shot in nine minutes ... fellow freshman Tyler Wilson had five points, two assists and no turnovers in 12 minutes ... the lead changed hands 11 times and there were five times the score was tied ... after Fordham shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, the Rams shot just 26.7 percent in the second half ... this was Manhattan's third game against an Atlantic 10 opponent.
