Riverdale, NY - Sophomore Pauly Paulicap (Elmont, NY / Harcum College) had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lift Manhattan to a 61-58 win over Fairfield in the Jaspers' MAAC opener at Draddy Gymnasium.
With its MAAC-opening victory, Manhattan improves to 6-7 and 1-0 in the league while the Stags fall to 6-7 and 1-1 in the MAAC.
Early in the second half with Fairfield leading 34-28 with 18:39 to play, Manhattan made its move in ripping off 12-straight points highlighted by senior Zane Waterman's (Winston-Salem, NC / Fayetteville Academy) thunderous dunk.
Fairfield would rally to reclaim the lead only to see junior Thomas Capuano (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY / Iona Prep) give the Jaspers the lead for good with a back-breaking three pointer with 7:46 to play.Take a look at this #SCTop10 Dunk from Zane Waterman! pic.twitter.com/Jk0K0MIZDy
— JaspersMBB (@JaspersMBB) December 31, 2017
The advantage would grow to a game-high seven at 56-49 with 3:55 remaining before the Stags cut the deficit to one with 1:12 remaining.Capuano hits the huge triple! pic.twitter.com/kGXIQ9CHKF
— JaspersMBB (@JaspersMBB) December 31, 2017
However, down the stretch Manhattan came up clutch at the line as senior Rich Williams (Brooklyn, NY / Vermont Academy (VT)) and classmate Zavier Turner (Indianapolis, IN / Ball State) each hit a pair to help secure the Jaspers' 61-58 win.
Waterman added 12 points and Turner 11 to round out the double-figure scorers for Manhattan.
Jonathan Kasibabu paced Fairfield with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Tyler Nelson added 15.
The Jaspers will look to make it two in a row at Marist on Tuesday, January 2 at 7:00 pm.