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Jersey City, NJ - Manhattan trimmed a late eight-point deficit to one but could get no closer in dropping a 70-69 decision at Saint Peter's.
The Jaspers fall to 11-14 and 8-8 in the MAAC while the Peacocks improve to 12-13 and 10-6 in the league.
Trailing by five with just over six minutes to play, Saint Peter's ripped off a game-changing 13-0 run in taking a 67-59 lead with 2:25 remaining before junior Rich Williams (Brooklyn, NY / Vermont Academy (VT)) stopped the bleeding with a three pointer. After trading possessions, the Peacocks missed the front end of a one-and-one and senior Shane Richards banked in a jumper to trim the deficit to 67-64 with 1:04 to play.
After the teams again traded possessions, Antwon Portley hit a pair from the line to make it a five-point game with 13.2 seconds remaining before freshman Thomas Capuano (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY / Iona Prep) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to trim it to 69-67 with nine seconds to play.
Portley then split a pair from the line and Saint Peter's elected to foul sophomore Zane Waterman (Winston-Salem, NC / Fayetteville Academy). The North Carolina native converted both free throws with 3.9 seconds to play to make it a one-point game at 70-69. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Jaspers would get as the Peacocks successfully ran out the clock to preserve the win.
The decisive second half featured six ties and eight lead changes and for a seven-minute stretch midway through neither team was able to score on back-to-back possessions.
Manhattan appeared to grab control when Waterman broke that pattern with a three-point play and a fast-break dunk in assuming a 59-54 advantage with 6:02 to play before Saint Peter's made its big push.
Despite the defeat, sophomore Calvin Crawford (Middletown, NY / St. Thomas More (CT)) notched his first career double-double with 15 points and a career and game-high 12 rebounds while Waterman added a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds.
The Peacocks took a slim 35-34 lead into the break thanks to turning the ball over just three times against the vaunted Jasper press. However, SPU could only build up a three-point advantage due to the play of Crawford (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Richards (12 points).
Manhattan shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the floor and 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the line, but made good on just 25.0 percent (4-of-20) from deep.
Richards (16) and Williams (11) also scored in double-figures while Capuano had five points, three assists, three steals and no turnovers in 25 minutes off the bench.
Saint Peter's shot 49.0 percent (25-of-51) from the floor, including 58.3 percent (7-of-13) from distance, while posting a 33-26 advantage on the glass.
Portley paced five double-figure scorers for the Peacocks with 15 points and five assists.
After playing four games in seven days, the Jasper will now have three days off before playing at Quinnipiac on Sunday, February 21 at 2:00 pm.
