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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan begins its 112th year of intercollegiate basketball at home against St. Francis Brooklyn on Wednesday, November 15 at 7:00 pm. DJ Ferg will be performing for fans before and after the game.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - The Jaspers are the second to last team in Division I to open their season with Temple kicking off on Thursday, November 16.
#2 - In a series that dates back to 1907-1908, Manhattan holds a commanding 53-19 edge, including going 4-0 when opening the season against St. Francis Brooklyn.
#3 - The Jaspers were tabbed to finish second in the annual MAAC Preseason Poll and paced the circuit with three All-League selections. Seniors Zane Waterman (1st), Rich Williams (2nd) and Zavier Turner (3rd) were all named to the All-MAAC preseason teams.
QUICK HITS
* Manhattan will open the season at home for the first time since besting NJIT 62-48 on November 12, 2011 as Head Coach Steve Masiello picked up his first collegiate win.
* With a victory in the opener, Masiello would collect his 50th career win at Draddy Gym.
* The Jaspers last opened the season against the Terriers on November 29, 1983, besting SFBK by a 60-59 count.
* Manhattan has defeated St. Francis Brooklyn in each of the last two years, shooting a combined 47.9 percent from the floor, including 51.6 percent (16-31) from deep.
* Turner scored 26 points while draining seven three pointers in last year's victory while Williams hit for 15 and Waterman 13 two years ago against the Terriers.
* The Jaspers have registered at least 10 steals in each of the aforementioned victories over SFBK and is 38-8 when notching double-figures in thefts under Masiello, including, 27-5 in the last four years,
* The Jaspers are also 21-11 when forcing at least 20 turnovers under Masiello.
* A victory would give Manhattan its first win in an opener since besting La Salle 99-90 in double overtime on November 9, 2013.
* The Jaspers return 76.8 percent of its scoring, 64.6 percent of its rebounding and 72.6 percent of its assists from a year ago as well as its top-five leading scores.
* Manhattan also brings back Williams, who missed all of last year due to an injury. Two seasons ago, Williams averaged 14.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg.
* An experienced squad, Waterman (15), Turner (14), Crawford (8) and Williams (7) have combined to pace the Jaspers in scoring 44 times over the past two seasons.
* Williams is the lone remaining member of Manhattan's Back-2-Back MAAC Championship squads while Crawford and Waterman were also on the 2015 squad.
* Waterman, who enters his final season just 95 points shy of 1,000, averaged 14.5 ppg (13th MAAC) and 7.0 rpg (7th MAAC) a year ago en route to earning Third Team All-MAAC honors.
* Waterman has started 59 straight games and drained the game-winning three vs. Marist after securing Masiello's 100th career victory at Niagara thanks to drawing a late charge.
* The North Carolina native also hit for 35 points in a win over Rider, which was the most by a Jasper since George Beamon had 35 in an 84-81 win over Siena on February 13, 2011.
* All told, Waterman had eight 20-point games last year, including two of at least 30, and has notched at least 20 on 10 occasions during his career.
* Turner led Manhattan in scoring 14.9 ppg (12th MAAC) and with 3.3 apg (10th MAAC) a year ago while hitting for at least 20 points 10 times, including on four-straight occasions midway through the season.
* The Ball State transfer scored a game-high 27 points against MAAC Regular Season Champion Monmouth while going over 1,000 for his career before notching his 10th 20-point performance of the year and the 16th of his career at Siena.
* The duo of Turner and Waterman has notched four 30-point performances for Manhattan as the Jaspers had recorded just four over the previous three seasons.
* Crawford (22) matched a career-high while sophomore Aaron Walker Jr. (20) set a career-high against Quinnipiac as Manhattan had three players score at least 20 for the first time since a 97-87 victory over Canisius (2/10/08).
* Crawford (9.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg) enters his final season with five career 20-point games as the current roster brings back 24 games of 20 points in Green & White uniforms.
* Walker Jr. (8.9 ppg) ended the year on a roll, averaging 15.8 ppg over his last four games, including a team-high 18 in the MAAC Touranment vs. Rider.
* Junior Thomas Capuano averaged 6.2 ppg and 1.1 spg (14th MAAC) a year ago and rounds out the list of returning letterwinners from a year ago.
* Classmate Matt Maloney also returns after missing last season due to injury.
* Manhattan welcomes scholarship newcomers Pauly Paulicap (So.), Ebube Ebube (Fr.), Nehemiah Mack (Fr.), Patrick Strzala (Fr.) and Warren Williams (Fr.) as well as walk-ons David Varoli (GS), Jesse Boyce (So.) and Kevin Salis (Fr.).
* The Jaspers boast nine student-athletes from New York and one each from Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
* Last year, Manhattan played an arduous schedule that included 14 games against teams played in the postseason, including six against NCAA Tournament teams.
* This season the Jaspers will be among the first teams in NCAA Division I history to play in Northern Ireland as part of the Belfast Classic while also participating in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida.
* After serving as a special assistant to the Head Coach last year, former All-MAAC guard Michael Alvarado has been promoted to assistant coach.
* Joining the staff this season is last year's graduating senior Tyler Wilson, who played in 129-straight games over the last four years. Wilson and second-year staff member RaShawn Stores are former Manhattan student-athletes on staff under Masiello.
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 102-93 (.523) record, including going 63-53 (.543) during MAAC play and 49-26 (.653) at Draddy Gym over his six seasons with three MAAC Title Game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns. He has also participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his 20 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has guided the Jaspers to a pair of MAAC Titles as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC Titles and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of Manhattan's five MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in recording a 185-129 record.
* Now in his 22nd season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 465-239, including 344-211 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship Game appearances, two Final Fours, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
