Box Score
West Long Branch, NJ - Despite dominate 20-point performances from seniors
Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA / Altoona Area) and
Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY / James Madison), Manhattan College found itself on the losing end of its first overtime game in five seasons Monday, February 12, falling to Monmouth 63-59 at the OceanFirst Bank Center. The loss brings the Jaspers to 10-15 overall for the season and 7-7 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Hawks improve to 8-17 and 6-8 in the MAAC.
Similar to Manhattan's last meeting with Monmouth at Draddy Gymnasium on January 28, the Jaspers set the pace for the start of the game, up 18-11 after the first 10 minutes of play. Tatum put in 10 points in the first quarter alone, going 4-7 from the floor and hitting two threes.
Manhattan went up by as many as nine midway through the second quarter, getting a steal/lay-in from
Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) and another trey from Tatum four minutes into the period. But the Hawks held the Jaspers scoreless for the next minute and a half, putting together a 6-0 run of their own. Manhattan would hold a one-point lead (26-25) going into halftime.
Monmouth took its first lead of the game just a minute into the second half on a layup by McKinzee Barker. The Hawks would go up by as many as seven in the third, shooting 63.6 percent from the floor, despite a Herculean effort by Grimme, who was held scoreless until she went off for 14 of Manhattan's 16 points in the quarter. Grimme went 6-9 in 10 minutes, in addition to pulling down five boards and adding a block. Her efforts kept the Jaspers within one going into the fourth.
Grimme continued her tear in the final minutes of regulation, as she and Tatum combined for 13 points in the quarter. But the Jaspers were unable to capitalize on Monmouth's five fourth-quarter turnovers, or shut down the Hawks' leading scorers, Rhai Spooner-Knight and Kayla Shaw, who each had seven in the period.
Tied at 57 with 1:45 left to play, the Jaspers, who held possession for the final 50 seconds of regulation, missed three shot attempts that would have sealed the win. Instead, Manhattan headed into overtime, the first OT the Jaspers have played since losing to Niagara 71-67 in single overtime at Draddy on January 23, 2014. Their non-overtime streak of 125 games was one of the longest in DI.
But snapping the non-OT streak didn't bring much luck to the Jaspers, who went 1-8 in extra time, managing just two points. On the other end, the Hawks went 2-5, netting six points and cementing the win.
Manhattan committed just nine turnovers, tying their lowest TO performance of the season, and their lowest in conference. With 18 assists, the team's collective assist/turnover ratio was 2.0.
Grimme finished the game with 12 rebounds, her eighth double-double of the season. It was also her eighth double-rebounding game of the season. It was the 20th double-figure scoring game for both Grimme and Tatum, who also contributed six assists, a game-high matched only by Cajou, who added three steals.
Up Next:
Manhattan returns home Thursday, February 15th to play Siena at 7 p.m in Draddy Gymnasium, the second-to-last home match-up for the Jaspers this season.
