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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Driven by a relentless defense and critical offensive rebounds, Manhattan outscored Saint Peter's 40-27 in the second half to capture a 72-58 victory over Saint Peter's in the quartefinal round of the 2014 MAAC Championships on Saturday night.
With the win, the second-seeded Jaspers will play third-seeded Quinnipiac on Sunday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in the MAAC semifinals.
After both teams started slow offensively, Manhattan ran out to a 22-15 lead on a Rhamel Brown dunk at the 8:42 mark in the first half. Saint Peter's then grinded out a 14-6 run over the next 7:30 to take a one-point lead, its first lead since it was 7-6.
Michael Alvarado responded by scoring the last four points of the half for Manhattan, giving the Jaspers a 32-31 edge going into halftime.
Ashton Pankey scored the first bucket of the second half on a nice post move and jump hook, making it a 34-31 game. The Peacocks then went on an 8-0 run to take a 39-34 lead, its largest of the game.
On the next possession, Emmy Andujar drove the lane for two and Shane Richards followed with a steal and a three-pointer on the other end to tie the game at 39. With the score 45-43 in Manhattan's favor at the 13-minute mark, Brown scored seven of the Jaspers' next nine points to put the Jaspers in front, 54-48.
With six minutes left and Manhattan still ahead by six, Andujar converted a critical putback on a missed three-pointer and made the three-point play to push the Jaspers' lead to nine. On Manhattan's next trip down the floor, Brown also scored on a putback to make it an 11-point lead, 63-52 with five minutes left.
The Jaspers led by double digits the rest of the way, as the score belied how close the game was during most of the contest.
"I thought our experience kicked in," head coach Steve Masiello said about Manhattan's late spurt to put the game out of reach. "We played through it, we found ourselves in the second half and got some big-time rebounds and three-point plays. This win is about having great seniors that I think are as good as any seniors in the country."
Rhamel Brown (18 points, 10 rebounds) finished with his second double-double of the season. Michael Alvarado added 17 points, on 13-of-16 from the foul line. Marvin Dominique's 14 points paced Saint Peter's.
NOTES:
Manhattan won its first game in the MAAC Championships for the second straight year ... the Jaspers have won nine of their last ten games ... Manhattan has won 14 games at road/neutral sites, two fewer than Wichita State's 16 wins, which leads the nation ... the Jaspers outrebounded the Peacocks 33-27 and 13-9 on the offensive glass ... Emmy Andujar finished with seven points and seven rebounds ... Ashton Pankey made all three field goals and both of his free throws to finish with eight points ... Rhamel Brown has blocked at least two shots in 27 of 30 games this season ... George Beamon had three steals to move into fifth place on Manhattan's career steals list, past Tarik Thacker ''97 ... Michael Alvarado, who ranks fourth on the career steals list, moved into fifth place on Manhattan's all-time assists list with 356 ... the Jaspers won all three games against Saint Peter's this season ... Manhattan forced 19 Saint Peter's turnovers ... the Jaspers are 19-1 when leading at halftime.
