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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Manhattan's last-second defensive stand lifted the Jaspers to a 69-65 win over Quinnipiac on Senior Day before 1,819 fans and a nationally televised ESPN3 audience at Draddy Gymnasium.Click HERE to see the decisive play.
With the victory, Manhattan (16-13; 13-7 MAAC) clinched the No. 3 seed for the upcoming conference tournament and will face either the No. 6 Bobcats (15-14; 9-11 MAAC) or No. 11 Marist on Saturday, March 7 at 8:00 p.m.
Senior Emmy Andujar (Bronx, N.Y. / Rice) led the charge on Senior Day with a team-high 18 points with seven rebounds. Junior Ashton Pankey (Bronx, N.Y. / Maryland) was the only other Jasper to notch double-figures, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Playing before a frenzied senior day crowd, Manhattan sprinted out of the gates in scoring nine of the first 11 points. Pankey opened the scoring with a pair of free throws. After a QU bucket, Andujar and Pankey each hit layups before junior Shane Richards (New York, N.Y. / York Prep) blew the lid off the building with a three pointer while forcing a Quinnipiac timeout.
The lead would grow to a half-high eight at 14-6 following a Rich Williams (So., Brooklyn, N.Y. / Vermont Academy (Vt.)) free throw before the Bobcat offense awoke. Dimitri Floras hit a jumper for Zaid Hearst followed with a triple. Following an errant Jasper shot, Hearst collected the offensive rebound on the ensuing possession before laying it up and in to draw the visitors to within one. Hearst then capped the 9-0 Quinnipiac spurt with a jumper as the Bobcats took their first lead of the game at 15-14 with 10:27 to play until halftime.
Later in the half with the score now tied at 23-23, Richards hit a three pointer before Pankey cashed in two more at the line to stake Manhattan to a 28-23 lead at the 5:45 mark before entering halftime up 37-34.
Pankey scored the first eight Jasper points of the second stanza before senior RaShawn Stores (Bronx, N.Y. / Robinson School (N.J.)) hit a three pointer to cap a half-opening 11-4 run in extending the Manhattan advantage to 48-38 with just under 17 minutes to play. The lead would grow to a game-high 11 at 53-42 at the 12:51 mark following an Andujar three-point play.
The Bobcats answered with five-straight points to fuel a 10-3 run in cutting the deficit to 56-52 with 6:26 to play. Williams momentarily stopped the run with a three pointer only to see Justin Harris hit a layup and James Ford a pair from the line to make it a one-possession game at 59-56 with 5:19 to play.
After Andujar converted a pair from the line, Hearst drained a three pointer to trim what was an 11-point second-half deficit to 61-59 with 4:40 remaining. Quinnipiac then held strong on the opposite end but misfired on a pair of shots on the ensuing possession.
Andujar then split a pair from the line before Tyler Wilson (Bronx, N.Y. / Cardinal Hayes) converted a layup and Andujar a jumper in extending the advantage out to 66-59 with 2:14 to play.
While Manhattan would ultimately win the game, the victory didn't come without excitement. Hearst and Ford following the five-point Jasper spurt with three pointers sandwiched between an Andujar layup to again make it a one-possession game at 68-65 with 1:14 to play.
The Bobcat defense then forced a stop with just over 35 seconds to play and had one last chance to send it to overtime. However, Manhattan's defense would prove to be airtight in forcing Evan Conti into a heavily-contested triple try that was well off the mark. Richards grabbed the defensive rebound and split a pair to seal the Jaspers' 69-65 victory.
In defeat, Hearst scored a game-high 22 poitnts to go along with a game-high matching nine rebounds and is now averaging 21.0 ppg over five career match-ups with Manhattan. Drame also had a big game, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks and three steals.
The Jaspers shot just 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the floor, including 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from long range, but made good on 80.0 percent (16-of-20) from the line. Manhattan also notched 13 steals while improving to 17-2 over the last two years when recording double-figures in thefts.
Quinnipiac won the battle of the boards by a decisive 44-32 advantage but was outscored in the paint by a 30-20 margin.
Andujar, Pankey, Stores and Donovan Kates (Hopkinsville, Ky. / Christian County) were honored in a pregame ceremony and improved to 76-52 (49-27 MAAC) as a class, including finishing up 35-13 at Draddy Gymnasium.
