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Riverdale, NY - Tied with less than eight minutes to play, junior
Ant Nelson (New York, NY / Seton Hall) hit an off-balance floater to give Manhattan the lead for the good en route to posting an 58-55 win over a pesky Niagara outfit.
Junior
Warren Williams (Kingston, Jamaica / St. Benedict's Prep (NJ) continued his dominant play down low, scoring 10 of his 12 points after halftime with 10 rebounds in posting his second career double-double, while classmate
Elijah Buchanan (Bronx, NY / Woodstock Academy (CT)) added a team-high 14 points with four assists.
The Jaspers swept the Purple Eagles for the third-straight season while improving to 5-4 and 4-4 in the MAAC, while the visitors fall to 5-7 and 4-6 in the league.
Manhattan, which opened up an 11-point advantage on two occasions, was able to close out Niagara by making good on a blistering 92.3 percent (12-of-13) from the line.
Nelson split a pair from the line with less than five seconds to play to cement the win, and joined Buchanan and Williams in double-digits with 12 points.
Notes
* The Jaspers have now limited the opposition to less than 60 points for the third-straight game, and fourth time (4-0) in the last five games.
* Manhattan is now 62-11 (.849) when holding teams to less than 60 points under Head Coach
Steve Masiello.
* Tied at 14-14 with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half,
Jason Douglas-Stanley (Mount Vernon, NY / George Mason) drained a three pointer, before Buchanan followed with another triple to fuel a 14-4 spurt that gave the Jaspers a 28-18 advantage at the 4:24 mark of the opening stanza.
* Niagara rallied to tie the game at 44-44 with 8:36 to play with a 13-2 run.
* Nelson's aforementioned floater broke the deadlock while sparking a 7-1 run that included a layup from Williams and a three ball from Buchanan that gave the Green & White an insurmountable 51-45 advantage at the 4:23 mark.
* The Purple Eagles would trim it to two on three occasions, but was unable to get any closer.
* Manhattan has won seven-straight against Niagara, including sweeping the season series in each of the last three seasons.
* The Jaspers own an all-time record of 58-33 against the Purple Eagles.
* When playing in Draddy Gymnasium, Manhattan has captured eight-straight against Niagara en route to owning an all-time mark 23-9 in Draddy Gymnasium.
* Head Coach
Steve Masiello is 15-5, all-time, against the Purple Eagles, including going 10-1 at home.
* Junior
Samba Diallo registered a double-digits on the glass for the seventh time in his career with a season-high 10 rebounds, to go along with six points and three assists.
* Douglas-Stanley matched Diallo with six points off the bench, with Stewart's eight points pacing the reserves.
* Stewart is now averaging 12.3 ppg and 2.8 apg over six career games against the Purple Eagles, shooting 51.1 percent (22-43) from the floor, including 47.1 percent (16-of-34).
* Manhattan improves 3-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.
* Niagara made good on just 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from long range, with opposing three-point shooters converting on just 20.8 percent (20-of-96) from deep.
* Raheem Solomon (13 points) and Marcus Hammond (10 points) paced Niagara.
Up Next
* Manhattan will host Monmouth on Friday, January 22 at 6:00 pm.
