RIVERDALE, N.Y. — Manhattan made a valiant effort to overcome a six-point deficit late to force overtime, but Fairfield emerged victorious by outscoring the Jaspers by three in the extra stanza. The final scoreline read 87-84 in favor of the visitors.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Fairfield scored the first five points of the game before Shaquil Bender broke the seal for the Jaspers with a three just under two minutes in. Manhattan then banged home the next five points on a step-back three from Will Sydnor and a basket from Wesley Robinson.
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Robinson stayed hot, answering a three by Fairfield's Jamie Bergens at the 15:23 mark with another basket off an assist from Sydnor. Robinson scored 6 of the next 8 points for the Jaspers to knot the score at 18 with 10:47 left in the first half.
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Fairfield launched a 6-0 run to take a 27-21 lead with 7:08 left. The Stags drove the advantage to 29-22, the largest of the half, following a lay-up by Deon Perry.
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Manhattan ended the half on a 14-8 run over the final 5:23, slicing the deficit to one at halftime (37-36). Sydnor delivered the last five points of the first half, including a bank-in three with three seconds left.
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Sydnor started the second half with a basket to snag the lead, and both teams proceeded to exchange baskets. Back to back conversions over 5 minutes in regained a 46-44 lead for Fairfield.
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The Stags upped their lead to seven at 58-51 following a three by Perry with 9:53 left.
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However, Manhattan wouldn't back down, launching a 6-0 run on a lay-up from Devin Dinkins and back to back finishes for Sydnor, who jammed his fast break dunk with authority to cut it to one.
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On Winston's third foul of the game, Manhattan head coach John Gallagher disagreed with the call, and was whistled for a technical foul. Perry sunk two free throws following the technical, and etched his name next to another three-pointer to get the advantage back to six.
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Down six and with things beginning to look in doubt, Bender fired back with a trifecta to cut it to three. And after Dinkins was fouled by Bergens on his three-point attempt at 1:06, the guard stepped up and hit all three throws, tying the score again at 72-72.
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Neither team scored over the final 1:06 of regulation. Bender's step-back three with two seconds left rimmed out, thus forcing the extra five minutes.
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Fairfield scored the first seven points in overtime to give themselves a cushion that wouldn't be relinquished, despite a last-second three almost tying it from Bender.
STATS AND NOTES
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Manhattan outscored Fairfield 38-26 in points in the paint.
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Fairfield had the upper hand in second-chance points, 22-12.
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The Jaspers turned the ball over 14 times to Fairfield's 7.
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Manhattan was +3 on the boards.
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Robinson churned out 13 points in the first half before tying his D1 career-high 20 points.
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Bender produced his second-highest point total of the season with 18.
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Sydnor did his part in the second half, contributing 13 points to finish with 21.
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Swish Gilyard led the way on the glass with 11 rebounds.
QUOTES FROM MANHATTAN
Manhattan head coach John Gallagher on the nature of Thursday's game: "Give Fairfield a lot of credit. They made one more play than us. I thought we showed great toughness and grit, just hanging around despite not playing great. We gave up too many offensive rebounds."
Gallagher on missing freshman Fraser Roxburgh (foot) the last six games: "We're on the way, but we have to get Fraser back. From the glass standpoint, we really need him back. He's such a physical guy and we're in need of that body. We expect him back next week."
NEXT TIME OUT
Manhattan (8-9, 3-5 MAAC) hits the road to face Mount St. Mary's (11-8, 4-4 MAAC) on Saturday at 4 P.M. on ESPN+. The Jaspers and Mountaineers previously faced off on January 10, resulting in a 75-66 win for the Mount.
Follow Manhattan Basketball on X @JaspersMBB and on Instagram @jaspers.mbb.
