RIVERDALE, N.Y. — Manhattan picked up a signature win on Friday night, using a buzzer beater from Wesley Robinson to defeat Army 80-79 at Draddy Gymnasium. Robinson's floater as time expired is the Jaspers' first buzzer beater since Emmy Andujar's game-winning three over Iona in 2012.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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52 seconds in, Jaden Winston opened the scoring with a steal and fast break lay-up that put the Jaspers up 2-0.
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AJ Allenspach scored seven early points for Army to put the Black Knights ahead 17-12 at the 13:45 mark of the first half.
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A jumper from Isaiah Caldwell established a 19-14 lead before the Jaspers unleashed an 8-0 run capped by back to back threes from Fraser Roxburgh and Winston.
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A three from Masiah Gilyard yielded a 26-23 lead for Manhattan until a mini 5-0 run from Army's Jalen Rucker put the Black Knights up again.
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Manhattan then engineered a 6-0 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 34-30 lead with 3:42 left in the first half. The Jaspers defense was the catalyst, turning an Army turnover into easy points on the other end for Shaquil Bender to grab the four-point lead.
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All told, the first half featured six lead changes, including a three from Devin Dinkins that gave the Jaspers a 39-38 lead heading into halftime.
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With nearly two minutes gone, Rucker's second three of the game earned a 43-41 lead for West Point.
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An and-1 from Gilyard tilted the lead back to the Jaspers at 44-43 at 17:36, but Army would respond with the next five points including another trifecta from Rucker.
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The theme of Army getting big points to stymie Jasper runs continued for much of the second half. With 10:33 left, Manhattan fell behind 60-52 before cutting the deficit to 61-59 following five straight points from Bender, including a bank three.
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Manhattan would then fall behind by nine points, the largest lead of the game for either team, at 71-62 following a basket from Allenspach. The Jaspers responded with seven straight off a basket from Bender, a pair of free throws from Winston, and a three from Dinkins to get back into the game at 71-69 with 5:06.
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A second-chance opportunity for Josh Scovens opened up a 78-73 lead for Army with 2:42 left, setting the stage for the late-game drama.
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A dunk from Robinson on an assist from Bender brought the Jaspers to within one at 79-78 with 21 seconds left.
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Coming out of an Army timeout, the Jaspers forced Ryan Curry into a travel at mid-court, putting the ball back into Manhattan's hands for the final shot.
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The Jaspers' prospects looked bleak after Dinkins stepped out of bounds with three seconds left near the Jaspers' bench. However, an errant in-bounds pass from Caldwell was intercepted by Bender who found Robinson for the last-second floater from the left block to win the game.
STATS AND NOTES
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Winston led Manhattan with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. The five takeaways for the point guard matched a career high that he set last season at Canisius.
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Robinson's memorable night included him posting 11 points and 9 rebounds.
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Manhattan shot 4-10 from three in the second half, settling at 8-24 (33.3 percent) from long range on the night.
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Dinkins' 11 points gave him his fourth double-digit scoring effort in five games this season.
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Manhattan forced 13 Army turnovers while only turning it over six times.
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Manhattan got out in transition and scored 20 points on Army turnovers, while only letting the Black Knights score two points on Jasper turnovers.
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Manhattan only led for 7:50 of game time.
QUOTES FROM MANHATTAN
Manhattan head coach John Gallagher: "This is a program win because there are so many things we could have done where we could have folded. I give Wes so much credit. He made big play after big play and was just awesome tonight."
Gallagher on erasing a nine-point deficit in the second half: "I'm a little speechless because this team never quits and I'm really proud of them."
Gallagher on the last sequence leading to Robinson's floater at the buzzer: "They called a full timeout and we put Wes on the ball. I went into full denial. I said 'if they throw over the top they throw over the top.' We stole it and a miracle happened."
NEXT TIME OUT
Manhattan will look to secure their second two-game win streak of the season when it faces Virginia (3-2, 0-0 ACC) on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 PM from John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville live on the ACC Network.
Purchase your tickets today!
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