Milwaukee, WI (February 21, 2004)- In an ESPN Bracket Buster game in front of a national ESPN2 audience, Manhattan defeated UW-Milwaukee, the top team in the Horizon League, 83-76, behind a game-high 27 points from
Luis Flores. The Jaspers improve to 21-4 on the season, having already clinched the MAAC Regular Season title and the top seed in the MAAC Tournament with a 15-1 conference record.
The game see-sawed in the early going, until, with the score tied at eight 4:27 into the game,
Peter Mulligan sparked a 15-2 Manhattan run with a three pointer, as the Jaspers opened a 23-10 lead with 11:43 left in the half. Manhattan stretched the lead to 18, 38-20, on a Flores three with 7:22 remaining before halftime. The Panthers (17-9) climbed to within nine, 44-35, with four seconds remaining on a Joah Tucker free throw, but the Jaspers pushed the lead back to double-digits at the break as Mulligan nailed a running three pointer as the first half horn sounded to give Manhattan a 12 point, 47-35, lead at the break.
The Jaspers opened the second half with a 13-2 run to take an 21 point lead, 60-39, with 12:57 left, capped by a Flores three in transition. The teams played even over the next eight minutes until, with the score 72-55 with 4:14 left, UW-Milwaukee used a 21-9 run to pull within three, 79-76, with 33 seconds left on a Dylan Page jumper in the lane. However, two Flores free throws with 31 seconds left pushed the lead back to five, and after the Panthers missed two three pointers,
Mike Konovelchick capped the win with a dunk at the buzzer.
Flores paced four Jaspers in double-figures with 27. Mulligan and
Dave Holmes each scored 14 points, and
Jason Wingate added 11 points, all in the first half. Manhattan shot 56.6% (30-53) from the field, while committing just 11 turnovers.
Page led UW-Milwaukee with 25 points, while Ed McCants added 20 and Tucker chipped in with 12 points.
The Jaspers return to action on Thursday, February 26, when they get back to MAAC play with a game against Rider at the Sovereign Bank Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
