Manhattan Heads To Elon

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Elon, NC - Manhattan continues its five-game road swing with a return game to Elon on Saturday, November 23 at 4:00 pm, in a game will be streamed for a nominal fee through FloSports.
 
Start Me Up!
* The Jaspers have opened up the year with back-to-back wins for the second time in three years and third time under Head Coach Steve Masiello.
* Manhattan will be aiming for its first 3-1 start since the 2013-14 season.

Mas Against The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
* Masiello is 8-5, all-time, against members of the CAA, including posting an impressive 5-1 mark when playing on the road.

Roadtrippin
* Saturday's game is the second of a five-game road trip, as the Jaspers will play nine of its next 10 games on the road.

The Tar Heel State
* Saturday's match-up marks the first time that Manhattan has played in the state of North Carolina since December 15, 2013, when the Jaspers posted a 77-72 win over UNC Wilmington.

#GoGreene
* Sophomore Tykei Greene led the way at Samford with 13 points and eight rebounds and has paced the squad in scoring in all three games to start the year.
* The Queens native is averaging a team-best 15.0 ppg and 7.3 rpg.
* In the win over UAlbany, Greene scored 10 of his career-high 17 points over the final six-plus minutes, while also corralling a personal-best nine rebounds.
* This year after halftime, Greene is averaging 9.7 ppg while shooting 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from the field.

Sophomores Stand Up
* Over the first three games, the sophomore fivesome of Elijah Buchanan, Greene, Christian Hinckson, Samir Stewart and Warren Williams have combined to account for 66.3 percent of the offense (44.0 ppg) and 50.0 percent of the rebounding (18.7 rpg).

DYK?
* Manhattan has not been outrebounded this year, while winning the offensive glass in all three games.???????

Samford Notes
* Hinckson matched Greene with a career-best matching eight rebounds, while adding 12 points and has seen marked improvement in his numbers this year, checking in with 8.7 ppg and 6.0 rpg.
* Buchanan had another solid all-around game, finishing up with eight points, three assists and two steals. This year, he is second on the team with 9.7 ppg.
* Stewart posted his second five-steal performance of the year and is averaging 3.3 spg to go along with 9.0 ppg.
* Senior Pauly Paulicap swatted two shots for the second-straight game, while adding eight points and six rebounds. On the year, the 2018 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year is averaging 8.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, including over four on the offensive end each time out, and 1.3 bpg.
* Paulicap also moved into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time blocks list with 93, and with one more rejection will join the top-five.
* Williams made his season-debut, scoring five points in limited action. 

About Elon
* Elon enters Saturday's game with a record of 2-3 and are led by Marcus Sheffield, who is averaging a team-best 17.6 ppg and 3.6 apg, while pulling down 5.4 rpg.
* The Phoenix defeated Mars Hill and Milligan to open the year, but have dropped three-straight at Georgia Tech, Michigan and North Carolina.
* Elon took the first meeting between the teams a year ago, despite 10 points from junior Nehemiah Mack.

UAlbany Recap
* The Jaspers defeated UAlbany 57-51 while improving to 51-9 (.850) under Masiello when limiting the opposition to less than 60 points.
* Greene scored 10 of his career-high 17 points over the final six-plus minutes against UAlbany, while also corralling a personal-best nine rebounds.
* Over the final six-plus minutes against the Great Danes, Manhattan posted a dominating 11-2 advantage on the glass, while ending the game on a 14-8 run - including scoring the final seven of the contest.

Pretty, Pretty Good
* Ticket holders for all remaining basketball home games will now be able to receive 20 percent off in-restaurant orders on game days at Italian eatery Bella Notte by showing tickets to that day's contest. Bella Notte is located in central Riverdale on Johnson Avenue. This promotion covers all weekday and weekend games including Sunday Brunch, which starts at Noon. Click HERE for more information

Delaware State Recap
* Greene paced five double-figure scorers in the 85-74 victory over the Hornets, registering a team-high 15 points.
* The Jaspers placed five in double-figures for the first time since an 101-96 double-overtime victory at Marist on January 2, 2018.
* Manhattan forced 25 miscues that led to a 33-14 advantage in points off turnovers, while also registering 16 steals.

Mas = Defense = Success
* Since Masiello took over 2011-12, the Jaspers are 43-14 when notching double-figures in steals and 27-14 when forcing at least 20 miscues.
* Manhattan's aforementioned 25 forced turnovers (3x last- Siena (1/13/18)) and 16 steals (Buffalo (12/21/13)) match the most recorded by Masiello in his nine years at the helm of the Jaspers.
* Last year, the Jaspers ranked 15th nationally in scoring defense, yielding a MAAC-low 62.8 ppg, 54th in turnovers forced (14.8/game) and 92nd in steals (6.9/game).

More Mas
* Masiello is one of just seven Division I coaches that is 42 or younger with two conference titles and two trips to the NCAA Tourney.
 
* Masiello also has a school-record 10 MAAC Tournament wins, while his 129 victories are tied for fourth in program history.
* Additionally, Masiello holds a sterling 63-38 (.624) record at Draddy Gymnasium, including 48-27 (.640) vs. league opposition, and just five behind Bobby Gonzalez's school-record total of 68 victories.
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 129-132 (.494) record, including going 80-72 (.526) during MAAC play, over his nine seasons.
* He has won two MAAC Titles, advanced to title game three times, claimed two Metropolitan Coach of the Year awards with a pair of 20-win campaigns. Masiello has also participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his 24 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title. 
* Now in his 24th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 490-278 (.638), including 369-250 (.596) 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.

More From The Win Over Delaware State
* Manhattan now holds an all-time record of 75-39 in season openers.
* The Jaspers opened the season with a 13-0 run to fuel a wire-to-wire victory over Delaware State and were led by Buchahan, who scored all of his career-high 12 points in the opening stanza.
* Manhattan converted a blistering 78.4 percent (29-of-37) from the line in moving to 75-39, all-time, in openers.
* The Jaspers were the 351st team in the Division I ranks to tip.
* Hinckson also notched double-figures for the third time in his career with 10 points and grabbed a game and career-high eight rebounds.
 
Preseason All-MAAC Recap
* Paulicap and Williams were each named to the 2019-20 Preseason All-MAAC Third Team, while Manhattan was tabbed fifth as a team.
* Paulicap averaged 8.5 points per game in limited action a year ago, while Williams notched a team-leading 9.2 points each time out in earning MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.
 
* Two years ago, Paulicap was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year following an outstanding year in which ranked 16th nationally with a MAAC-best 2.6 blocks per game (16th NCAA) to go along with 10.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
* Williams recorded double-figures a team-leading 16 times last season while pacing the MAAC with a .571 field goal percentage, and saved his best for last with a career-high 27 points against Canisius in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Championship.
 
The Returners
* Manhattan's returners have scored all but five points this year.
* The Jaspers bring back a MAAC-best 86.5 percent of their scoring, 85.4 percent of their rebounding and 83.3 percent of their assists.

DYK
* Manhattan was one of 20 teams in the Division I ranks to not lose a transfer, returning 14 letterwinners, including 10 scholarship student-athletes.
 
Off The Bench
* Mack scored a season-high nine points in the win over Delaware State and is averaging 5.0 ppg, 2.0 apg and 1.3 spg while playing an average of 22.3 minutes each time out.

Newcomers
* Joining the Jaspers this year are junior Michael Okafor, freshman Adam Cisse and classmate Romar Reid.

The Non-Conference Schedule
* Manhattan will play a nine-game non-conference schedule, highlighted by home games against Delaware State (MEAC), UAlbany (A-East) and Western Michigan (MAC).
 
* The Jaspers will also travel to Samford (Southern), Elon (CAA), URI (A-10), Stony Brook (A-East), Fordham (A-10) and Hofstra (CAA).

Repping Team USA
* Last summer, sophomore Daniel Schreier helped lead the United States to gold in the 15th European Maccabi Games.

Silver Anniversary
* This year, the Jaspers will be recognizing the 25th anniversary of the 1994-95 team's NCAA at-large berth and subsequent win over Oklahoma in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

What Is A Jasper?
* The unique nickname of Manhattan College's athletic teams, the Jaspers, comes from one of the College's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who served as the College's athletic director in the late 19th century. One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team's first coach. Since Brother Jasper was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan baseball games while also directing the team itself. During one particularly warm and humid day when the college was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy with the team coming to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called timeout and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed. Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880's and into the 1890's at the old Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the "seventh inning stretch" spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by millions of fans annually.

This Is Manhattan College
* Why is Manhattan College in the Bronx? Our campus was originally located in Manhattan at the intersection of 131st Street and Broadway. In 1923, Manhattan College moved to its present Riverdale location in order to accommodate a growing student body. But with more than 60 years of history established as Manhattan College, the institution decided to retain the name despite the geographic misnomer.
* 17 alumni are members of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering — an impressive number for an institution the size of Manhattan College.
* Alumni include Rudy Giuliani '65, former mayor of New York City; James Patterson '69, best-selling author; and Raymond Kelly '63, former commissioner of the NYPD.
* Manhattan is one of only 182 remaining colleges founded in the United States before the Civil War.

This Is Manhattan Basketball
* Manhattan has three wins in NCAA Tournament play, defeating West Virginia (1958), Oklahoma (1995) and  Florida (2004).
* The Jaspers have won five MAAC Tournament titles in the last 25 years (1993, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2015).
* Manhattan received an at-large berth in 1995 and defeated Oklahoma before falling to Arizona State.
* Was the first team in NCAA history to a win a game in Europe, defeating Holy Cross 70-54 on December 1, 2017 as part of the inaugural Belfast Classic.

Up Next
* The Jaspers will play at Rhode Island on Wednesday, November 27 with opening tip slated for 4:00 pm.