Riverdale, NY (November 21, 2004)- Manhattan senior
Peter Mulligan tallied a game-high 20 points and the Jaspers held off a determined South Dakota State team, 73-69, in the season opener for Manhattan today at Draddy Gym. Manhattan won its seventh straight home opener to improve to 1-0 on the season. South Dakota State falls to 0-2 on the year.
The Jaspers raced out to an 11-0 lead behind 11 straight points from Mulligan, who tallied 17 of his 20 points in the first 6:57. A layup by Mulligan with 13:03 left in the first half game Manhattan a 24-6 lead, its largest of the game. The Jackrabbits would not roll over and, with the score 28-11 with 11:26 remaining before the break, responded with a 17-2 run, capped by a Joe Green layup, to pull within a basket at 30-28.
Jason Wingate responded with a three to push the lead back to five, 33-28, but South Dakota State was able to pull within two points on two more occasions in the first half before the Jaspers used a 6-3 spurt to take a 44-39 lead into the break. Manhattan scored 23 of its 44 first half points off of 12 Jackrabbit turnovers.
The teams played even in the second half, as South Dakota State could not get closer than three points, and the Jaspers could not push their lead to larger than nine points. The Jackrabbits made a late run to pull within three at 67-64 with 38 seconds remaining, but
Mike Konovelchick and
Kenny Minor combined to make six of six free throws to close out the game.
Joining Mulligan in double figures for Manhattan were
CJ Anderson (14 points, game-high nine rebounds), Minor (13 points in a career-high 38 minutes), and
Arturo Dubois (11 points, five rebounds, and four blocks). Ben Beran led three Jackrabbits in double figures with 20 points, while Steve Holdren and Jared DeJong chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Manhattan returns to action when the Jaspers take on Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island at Draddy Gym on Tuesday, November 23. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m.
