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ALBANY, N.Y. - Manhattan snapped a 10-game road losing streak to Siena while clinching a First Round bye in the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament with a hard-fought 80-74 victory at the Times Union Center before a boisterous crowd of 6,809.
The Jaspers improved to 14-12 and 11-6 in the MAAC with their series sweep of the Saints, who fall to 10-17 and 7-11 in the league.
Senior RaShawn Stores (Bronx, N.J. / Robinson School (N.J.)) scored all of his career-high matching 15 points after halftime, including a back-breaking triple with just over 16 seconds to play that gave the visitors an insurmountable six-point lead.
Stores is now shooting a blistering 61.5 (16-of-26) percent from long range in the second half of MAAC games and leads all players during league play with a 49.0 percent (24-of-49) conversion rate from distance.
Manhattan, which snapped a 10-game losing streak to Siena at the Times Union Arena, appeared to be in complete control in the first half and held a 35-23 lead with 2:01 to play until halftime following a pair of Emmy Andujar (Sr., Bronx, N.Y. / Rice) free throws.
Rob Poole had other ideas though and promptly hit two-straight three pointers before sinking a pair from the line. Evan Hymes then hit a driving layup to trim the Jasper lead to 35-33 at the break while capping a 10-0 run.
Just as quickly as the Siena got back in the game, Manhattan ripped away the momentum to start the second half with six points in just 55 seconds. Junior Shane Richards (New York, N.Y. / York Prep) converted a pair from the line before sophomore Jermaine Lawrence (Queens, N.Y. / Cincinnati) hit a layup and a jumper while forcing a Saint timeout. After Lavon Long briefly quelled the spurt, Stores hit the first of his four second-half three pointers to give the Jaspers a 44-35 lead with 18:29 remaining.
Javion Ogunyemi then converted the first second-half field goal only to see Richards drain his only three pointer of the game. Stores followed with an open-court steal before draining a pair from the line while capping a half-starting 14-4 run that took just 2:20 while giving Manhattan a 49-37 advantage at the 17:40 mark of the second half.
While the Jaspers would ultimately prevail, it wouldn't be easy.
Siena immediately ripped off eight-straight points to trim the deficit to 49-45 with 13:46 to play. The teams would then trade body blows over the next three-plus minutes before the Saints made it a one-possession game at 56-53 with 10:22 to play following a pair of Marquis Wright free throws. With the crowd picking up steam, Richards calmly drove and hit a jumper just 18 seconds later while kickstarting a 7-0 spurt that was aided by a Stores triple and an Andujar dunk to push the lead out to 63-53 with 8:26 remaining.
As would be the prevailing storyline for the night, the Siena again cut it to six only to see Stores bury a three pointer with 6:48 remaining. Manhattan's lead would again grow to double-figures at 74-64 with 2:48 to play after a jumper from junior Ashton Pankey (Bronx, N.Y. / Maryland) and an Andujar layup.
Down but not out, the Saints made one final push and embarked on an 8-1 run to trim the deficit to 75-72 with 48 seconds remaining. Stores then sank the shot of the night while for all intents and purposes clinching the first Jasper win over Siena at the Times Union Center since Jan. 30, 2006.
Andujar led the way for Manhattan, finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds while notching his fifth double-double of the year and the ninth of his career. He also handed out five assists while becoming the first player in school history to notch 1,200 points, 700 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals.
Pankey matched Stores with 15 points while pulling down nine rebounds as Richards (13) rounded out the double-figure scorers for a Jasper team that improved to 9-3 in MAAC games decided by 10 points or less.
Manhattan shot a solid 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the floor, including 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from distance, while limiting Siena to a paltry 35.5 percent (22-of-62), including 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from deep, and won the battle of the boards (41-36).
On Senior Day, Poole led all scorers with 21 points while Ogunyemi added 18 points and Long notched 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Jaspers will have little time to celebrate the win as Manhattan returns to action on Monday, Feb. 23 at Marist with opening tip slated for 7 p.m.
