DAYTONA BEACH, FL - In one of the highest-scoring games for the Jaspers this season, the Manhattan University men's basketball team (17-14) fell to the University of the Incarnate Word (18-16) by a 92-85 final in the first round of the 2025 Purple College Basketball Invitational at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- A 13-4 run late in the second half by Manhattan cut into a double-digit UIW lead, closing the gap to a one-possession game with 4:52 left in regulation.
- The Jaspers took advantage of every opportunity at the line in a three-minute outburst, converting all eight of their attempts at the stripe to make it a 78-76 game.
- However, Manhattan went the final 4:02 with only one offensive bucket.
- Incarnate Word proceeded to more than double up Manhattan in the rebound column during that final stretch.
- A 7-0 first-half run, stamped by a pair of threes from Devin Dinkins and Shaquil Bender, gave Manhattan its largest lead (29-24) of the game, but Incarnate Word carried a 47-43 advantage into the locker room and never looked back.
STATS AND NOTES
- All five starters and six of the Jaspers' eight players who saw the floor finished in double figures, headlined by Masiah Gilyard's team-high 17-point performance.
- Shaquil Bender, Fraser Roxburgh, and Devin Dinkins all scored 15 points apiece.
- It was the only time this season that all five starters scored in double figures, and it was the first time since Nov. 12, 2019, vs. Delaware State that the Jaspers accomplished that feat.
- The meeting against Incarnate Word marked the first head-to-head contest between the two teams in the program's history.
- It was the Jaspers' first postseason appearance since 2015, when Manhattan last won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship before falling in the First Four to Hampton, 74-64.
- Under second-year head coach John Gallagher, Manhattan compiled its first winning season since that same 2014-15 campaign.
- The Jaspers are now 14-34 all-time in postseason competition, dating back to their first-ever appearance in 1936.
- The Manhattan University men's basketball team, led by MAAC Rookie of the Year Will Sydnor and MAAC Sixth Player of the Year Devin Dinkins, wrapped up the 2024-25 campaign at 17-14 overall, with a 12-8 mark in MAAC competition.