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Lawrenceville, NJ - Manhattan cut a 13-point second-half deficit to two on a pair of occasions but could get no closer in dropping a hard-fought 60-57 decision at Rider.
The Jaspers will be the No. 6 seed for the upcoming MAAC Tournament and play No. 11 Marist on Thursday, March 3 with tip slated for 9:00 pm at the Albany Times Union Center.
Manhattan, which lost for the fourth time in league play by one possession, falls to 12-17 and 9-11 in the MAAC while the Broncs improve to 12-19 and 8-12 in the circuit.
Trailing 49-37 with 8:39 to play following a Shawn Valentine dunk, sophomore Zane Waterman (Winston-Salem, NC / Fayetteville Academy) started a 10-0 run with a dunk and a layup, both off passes from junior Tyler Wilson (Bronx, NY / Cardinal Hayes), before senior RaShawn Stores (Bronx, NY / Robinson School (NJ)) knocked down a triple from the corner. Wilson then grabbed a rebound and Stores found a streaking Waterman for an old-fashioned three-point play, highlighted by a fast break dunk, to trim deficit to 49-47 with 4:11 to play.
Rider would immediately respond with four-straight points en route to opening up a 56-49 advantage with 1:39 remaining before the Jaspers would make one last push.
Stores hit a three pointer and junior Rich Williams (Brooklyn, NY / Vermont Academy (VT) a layup, sandwiched between a Bronc free throw to make it a three-point game with 9.7 seconds to play.
Rider then converted two free throws before sophomore Calvin Crawford (Middletown, NY / St. Thomas More (CT)) answered with a corner triple. The Broncs again split a pair from the line while giving Manhattan an opportunity to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, freshman Thomas Capuano's (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY / Iona Prep) triple try was off the mark as the Broncs escaped with a three-point victory.
Stores scored a team-high 12 points while Crawford (11) and Waterman (11) also notched double-figures. Wilson handed out seven assists, against just two turnovers, with six rebounds and four points to round out the top performers on offense.
Manhattan shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the floor, including 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from deep, while Rider made good on 45.2 percent (19-of-42) ,including a paltry 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from long range.
The Jaspers won the battle of the boards by a 32-30 count and were led by Williams, who pulled down seven.
Kahlil Thomas scored a game-high 19 points to pace the Broncs.
