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WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Senior Emmy Andujar (Bronx, N.Y. / Rice) notched a game-high 27 points while Manhattan shot a blistering 54.2 percent (26-of-48) from the floor in defeating Monmouth 87-76 at the MAC.
Andujar, who has now hit for at least 20 points in six of his last eight games, helped the Jaspers improve to 11-10 and 8-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) while the Hawks fall to 12-11 and 8-4 in the league.
With the win, Manhattan sweeps the season series from Monmouth while moving into third place in the MAAC and is just a half game back of second-place Rider.
The Jaspers came roaring out the gates with a Jermaine Lawrence (So., Queens, N.Y. / Cincinnati) dunk off a lob from senior RaShawn Stores (Bronx, N.Y. / Robinson School (N.J.)) before Andujar hit a layup off another Stores' helper en route to building a 7-5 lead at the first media timeout.
Later in the half with the lead now at 11-8 following an Austin Tilghman free throw, Manhattan took it up a notch on offense. Freshman Zane Waterman (Winston-Salem, N.C. / Fayetteville Academy) hit a three pointer off a well-placed pass from sophomore Tyler Wilson (Bronx, N.Y. / Cardinal Hayes). Junior Ashton Pankey (Bronx, N.Y. / Maryland) then hit a pair from the line before Stores capped an 8-0 run with a three pointer to open up a 19-8 lead for the Jaspers with 10:05 until halftime.
The Hawks would briefly answer and trim the deficit to single-digits on three occasions before Andujar took over. The Rice graduate hit a layup, a jumper and a pair from the line before Richards canned a triple to double the lead to 32-14 with 4:31 to play until halftime.
Manhattan's lead would grow to a half-high 19 before the Jaspers entered intermission up 42-24 thanks to shooting 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from the floor, including 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from deep, while making good on all 10 free throw attempts.
Andujar and Pankey opened the second half with layups while sparking a 9-2 run that was capped by another Stores to Lawrence alley-oop dunk that pushed the lead out to an insurmountable 51-26 with 16:28 remaining.
Monmouth, however, would not go away and trimmed the deficit to 68-58 with 7:42 to play on a Justin Robinson three pointer. Following a timeout with the Jaspers on the verge of making it a one-possession game, Stores calmly answered with his third triple of the game to quell the spurt.
Manhattan's lead would again swell to 19 as Andujar put the exclamation point on the the Jaspers' third-straight win with a pair of three-point plays.
Pankey would cap the scoring the scoring with a fast break slam while putting the finishing touches on Manhattan's 87-76 victory.
Andujar's 27 points were one shy of his career high while Richards scored 20 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. The New York native also became the first player in Jasper annals to convert on 200 career three pointers with his third of his four triples.
Pankey rounded out the double-digit scorers for Manhattan with 11 points. Stores facilitated the Jasper attack, finishing up with a career-high nine assists to go along with nine points.
In addition to their aforementioned shooting prowess, Manhattan shot 45.0 percent (9-of-20) from long range and connected on a blistering 59.1 percent (13-of-22) after halftime.
Robinson paced four double-digit performers for the Hawks with 19 points.
The Jaspers will next host Canisius on Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in a game that will appear on ESPN3.
NOTES:
* Manhattan is now 12-2 when playing in February and March since the start of last season and is 18-5 over the last two-plus years.
* The Jaspers improved to 4-0 against Monmouth since the Hawks joined the MAAC and are 7-2, all-time, against the West Long Branch-based institution.
* Andujar has scored at least 20 points on eight occasions this year and 10 times for his career.
* He is averaging 20.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.4 apg while shooting 55.3 percent from the floor over his last eight games.
* Manhattan is 9-0 when leading at the half this season.
* The Jaspers are also 9-0 when playing in the state of New Jersey over the past three-plus seasons.
* Manhattan matched its season-highs in points (87), assists (19) and free throw attempts (39).
* The Jaspers have made good on 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from long range over the last three games.
* For the second-straight game and the fourth time this season, Manhattan recorded double-figures in steals (11) after doing so 11 times a year ago.
* The big three of Andujar, Pankey and Richards all notched double-figures for the second-straight game and the fourth time this season. Additionally, the trio has recorded 40 of the Jaspers' 51 double-digit scoring performances.
* Over two games against Monmouth, Manhattan averaged 79.0 ppg while shooting 51.0 percent (50-of-98) from the floor and 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from deep while Andujar (18.0 ppg), Pankey (16.5 ppg) and Richards (14.5 ppg) accounted for 62.0 percent of the team's offense.
