Sioux Falls, S.D. (December 20, 2005)- CJ Anderson scored seven of his 23 points, and Jason Wingate converted six of six free throws as Manhattan downed South Dakota State, 73-70, in overtime tonight at the Sioux Falls Arena. With the win, the Jaspers even their season record at 4-4, and have now won four straight games and three straight road games. SDSU falls to 3-8 on the year.
Manhattan opened the game strong, scoring 13 of the game's first 18 points to take a 13-5 lead at the 13:33 mark. The Jackrabbits responded with an 8-0 run to knot the score at 13-13, and the game was nip and tuck the rest of the half, as each team could not build a lead bigger than four points. Manhattan was able to score six of the final nine points of the opening stanza to take a three point lead, 33-30, into intermission.
In the second half, Manhattan scored the first six points to open up a nine point lead, 39-30, with 14:56 left. The Jaspers maintained the lead over the next 10 minutes, holding an eight point lead, 51-43, with 5:23 remaining before the Jackrabbits began a furious comeback. SDSU chipped away at the lead by hitting long, contested, three's, and the Jaspers led by one, 54-53, before Anderson hit two big pressure free throws with 15 ticks left to give Manhattan a three point cushion, but Matt Caldwell hit a deep trifecta to tie the game at 56 and send the game into overtime.
Mike Konovelchick's putback off the initial tip gave Manhattan an early two point lead in overtime, and, after Cadwell made two from the line to tie the game, the Manhattan defense caused turnovers on three of the next four SDSU possessions as the Jasper lead grew to six, 67-61, with 43 seconds left. The Jackrabbits was able to cut the lead to two, 69-67, after a Cadwell three with 15 ticks left, but Wingate and Arturo Dubois each made two free throws to put the game out of reach. Ben Beran hit a three at the buzzer to provide the final margin.
Anderson added a game-high and career-high tying 16 rebounds. Wingate scored 14 points, Kenny Minor added 10 points, and Dubois chipped in with six points but a career-high 10 rebounds.
Cadwell led all scorers with 25 points, while Mohamed Berte tallied a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
Manhattan gets back in action on Friday, December 23, hosting local rival Fordham in the 98th Battle of the Bronx game at Draddy Gym, with the game slated to start at 7:00 p.m.