Manhattan University Athletics

RIVERDALE, NY — Manhattan erased a 12-point deficit late in the first half with a 23-5 run that put Manhattan on a fast track toward finishing off Mercy by a score of 88-71 at Draddy Gym. Senior guard Shaquil Bender poured in 28 points in leading the Jaspers to their first victory of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-After committing a few early turnovers, Manhattan faced a 7-1 deficit following a floater from Taj Chiles at the 16:38 mark. An easy lay-in from Masiah Gilyard cut the deficit to four 50 seconds later. 
-Mercy extended their lead to 12-3 after a three-pointer from Ethan Robertson at the 14:13 mark. 
-Junior guard Devin Dinkins hit his first of three triples at the 13:38 mark to cut the deficit to 12-6 before a lay-up from Jaden Winston whittled it to four. 
-Dinkins stepped up again with a triple at the 11:17 mark to cut the deficit to five at 16-11. 
-The Jaspers faced their largest deficit of the half at 29-17 before Dinkins lined up another trey to bring it back to single-digits. 
-Manhattan used Dinkins' third three to outscore the Mavericks by 18 over the last 6:27 of the first half.
-The Jaspers added two more threes from Bender and Wesley Robinson—the fourth and fifth threes of the half—to close within 31-29 with 3:58 left in the first half.
-A little over a minute later, Jaden Winston hit his first three of the season, and Sydnor followed that up with his first of the season to cap off a 12-0 run for Manhattan that put the Jaspers ahead 38-31 with 1:06 left. 
-Manhattan overcame 10 first-half turnovers to post a 40-34 lead at the half. Bender's 11 and Sydnor's 9 combined for half of Manhattan's points at the half. 
-The Jaspers drilled 7-15 from three-point range over the first 20 minutes with the help of Dinkins' trio of triples
-Manhattan exploded out of the gates in the second half with a 6-2 run off back-to-back baskets from Wesley Robinson and a lay-up from Bender.
-Manhattan would raise their lead to as high as 20 in the second half, leading 83-63 with 1:55 left. 

-Bender's 28 points were two short of his personal best at Manhattan, having scored 30 with five threes vs. Niagara back on January 5th. 
-Sydnor's memorable home opener ended with him scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds on an efficient 6-10 shooting from the field to go along with two threes.
-Dinkins' 15 points matched his college best, after scoring 15 points when George Mason played Buffalo on 11/21/22. 
-Manhattan went 19-23 from the line, tallying the program's most points from the charity stripe since hitting 21 vs. Saint Peter's on 2/12/23.
-Bender and Dinkins were a perfect 10-10 combined from the line on the night. 
-Manhattan out rebounded Mercy 43-23. 

-Head Coach John Gallagher on tonight's opponent: "Let's give credit to Mercy. They came out with great energy and were prepared. They made 11 threes so I don't want to sit here and say we weren't ready." 
-Gallagher on his team's turnaround midway through the first half: "Over the last 30 minutes I thought we were more together and we communicated better."
-"I thought Shaq (Bender), Will and Devin did a great job controlling the game." 
-On looking ahead to the Battle of the Bronx on Friday night: "We need to be the more urgent team (on Friday night). We have great respect for the Fordham program but we need to be ready to go.

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