Manhattan University Athletics

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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan will be playing for the first time in exactly nine months, when it hosts Rider (0-2) on Friday, December 11 at 6:00 pm in the MAAC lidlifter for each team.

The Worldwide Leader
* For the second-straight season all of Manhattan's MAAC games will air on the ESPN family of networks. Most games will air on ESPN3 or ESPN+, with ESPN3 games able to be accessed through a cable subscription, and ESPN+ a standalone subscription to ESPN.
* Manhattan's game with Fairfield at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday, February 5 has been flexed to national television and will air on ESPNU at 9:00 pm. This marks the second-straight season that the Jaspers will host an ESPNU affair, besting Niagara 77-59 this past February.

Run It Back
* The Teams will also play on Saturday, December 12 at 6 pm, with the live stats link remaining the same.

It's Been A While
The last time that the Jaspers opened up in December was during their MAAC Championship season of 1992-93, as Manhattan defeated Hofstra 80-58 on December 1, 1992.

2020 Happenings
For the first time in program history, the Jaspers will be playing a MAAC game in their season opener.

Quick Hits
* Head Coach Steve Masiello, who inked a three-year extension in February, is the longest tenured MAAC Coach in this his 10th year.
* Masiello is fourth in school history with 140 wins, just two behind Jack Powers (142), while his 68 victories at Draddy match Bobby Gonzalez for the most in program history.
* Masiello is in his 25th season as a player, assistant or a head coach, and holds a career record of 501-295 (.629).
* Manhattan is beginning its 115th season of play, and is 75-39 (.658) in openers.
* The Jaspers will be opening up MAAC play against Rider for the first time since defeating the Broncs by a 71-53 count on December 2, 2011, which also doubled as Masiello's first MAAC win. 
* Manhattan was slated to finish fifth in the annual MAAC Preseason Poll, and returns 10 letterwinners, two starters, 46.2 percent of its scoring and  32.2 percent of its rebounding.

About Rider
* Rider, which won 18 games last year, graduated six seniors and saw Frederick Scott (Boston College) and Dimencio Vaughn (Ole Miss) transfer to Power Five Schools, returns just four letterwinners from last year's team.
* Rider lost eight letterwinners that helped contribute mightily to a Broncs' program that won 56 games over the last three years, including 38 during league play.  Rider opened the season with losses at Syracuse and St. John's, and is led by Dwight Murray, Jr. (19.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 6.5 apg) and Rodney Henderson, Jr. (14.5 ppg).
* The Broncs' four returning players have combined to score 12 career points against Manhattan.

Player Notes
* Junior Warren Williams was named to the preseason All-MAAC Second Team after a solid second year in Riverdale. He averaged 8.3 ppg, including 9.7 ppg during league play, and scored in double-figures 11 times, while pacing the squad on five occasions.
* Williams ranked third in the MAAC in field goal percentage last year, and his combined .572 mark over the last two years is tops in the MAAC.
* Junior Samir Stewart is the top returning scorer for Manhattan after averaging 8.4 ppg, to go along with 3.0 apg (10th MAAC), and is averaging 11.0 ppg and 4.0 apg in four career match-ups with Rider. 
* Manhattan is 16-3 over the last two seasons when Stewart has notched double-figures in scoring. 
* In two career games against the Broncs in Draddy, Stewart is averaging 18.0 ppg and 6.0 apg, while shooting 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the floor and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from deep. Last season, he had 17 points and a career-high seven assists in the team's Draddy match-up.  
* In Manhattan's 73-66 win over Rider on February 5, 2019, Stewart scored 19 points with five assists, while junior Ebube Ebube drew six offensive fouls.
* Junior transfer Samba Diallo narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds for UMass last year in a win over Rider.
* Diallo is one of five transfers, including three in the D-1 ranks, to join the program in 2020-21. He averaged 6.7 ppg and 5.9 rpg with 10 double-digit scoring performances and three double-doubles a year ago for the Minutemen. 
* Fellow junior transfers Jason Douglas-Stanley (George Mason) and Ant Nelson (Seton Hall) also transferred into the program, with all three earning waivers for immediate eligibility from the NCAA.
* Douglas-Stanley was a standout at nearby Mount Vernon High School, before playing two years at George Mason, while Nelson averaged 2.7 ppg and 2.3 apg last year at Seton Hall.
* Nelson helped the Pirates to a berth in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the 2020 Big East Co-Regular Season Championship and 41 victories over his two seasons in South Orange.
* Last season, Nelson handed out five assists vs. No. 3 Michigan State, before scoring 10 points with four assists in a win over No. 7 Maryland.
* Junior Elijah Buchanan had a breakout year as a sophomore, averaging 7.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 2.0 apg, and scored 15 points with seven rebounds in the victory at Fordham in collecting 'Battle of the Bronx' MVP honors.
* Masiello also welcomes JUCO  transfers Nick Brennen (Harcum College) and Marques Watson (Miami Dade College), along with freshmen walk-ons Amir Britt and Sean Duke to the program.
* Brennen is the fourth Harcum product to suit for the Jaspers in the last four years, and is the third Iona Prep product under Masiello.

Head Coach Steve Masiello
* Under Masiello, the Jaspers are 58-11 (.841) when holding teams to less than 60 points, 46-15 (.754) when registering double-figures in steals and 28-14 (.667) when turning the opposition over at least 20 times.
* Entering last year, Masiello was one of just nine active Division I coaches with a National Title as a player. He is also one of seven coaches that is 43 or younger with two conference titles and two trips to the NCAA Tourney, and has posted a school-record 11 MAAC Tournament wins.
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 140-149 (.484) record, including going 88-84 (.512) during MAAC play. At Draddy Gym, he is 68-44 (.607), including 53-32 (.624) vs. league opposition, while going 12-9 (.571) in overtime games. He has won two MAAC Championships, advanced to the title game three times and claimed two Metropolitan Coach of the Year awards with a pair of 20-win campaigns. Masiello has also participated in the NCAA Tourney in 13 of his 24 full seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title.
* In his first tenure as an assistant, Masiello was a part of two MAAC titles and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of Manhattan's five MAAC Championship teams and five of the school's 12 20-win seasons in recording a combined 223-185 (.547) record.

Meet The Staff
* Masiello is joined on the bench by Matt Grady, RaShawn Stores, Doug Thibault, Jon Mangel and Tyler Wilson. Grady is in his 10th year, Stores his fifth, Thibault his third, Mangel his second and Wilson his fourth.

Last Year
* Last season, Manhattan again ranked among the NCAA leaders in scoring defense (64.2 ppg-40th), turnovers forced (14.9-60th), blocks (4.0 bpg-76th), offensive rebounds (11.1-82nd), steals (7.0 spg-99th) and field goal percentage defense (.418-107th). 
* Manhattan turned Quinnipiac and Delaware State each over 25 times last year, while also matching the most forced turnovers by a Masiello-coached team.
* The Jaspers also overcome second half double-digit deficits in victories over UAlbany, at Elon and at Fordham.

What Is A Jasper?
The unique nickname of Manhattan College's athletic teams, the Jaspers, comes from one of the College's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who served as the College's athletic director in the late 19th century. One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team's first coach. Since Brother Jasper was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan baseball games while also directing the team itself. During one particularly warm and humid day when the college was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy with the team coming to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called timeout and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed. Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880's and into the 1890's at the old Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the "seventh inning stretch" spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by millions of fans annually.

This Is Manhattan College
* Why is Manhattan College in the Bronx? Our campus was originally located in Manhattan at the intersection of 131st Street and Broadway. In 1923, Manhattan College moved to its present Riverdale location in order to accommodate a growing student body. But with more than 60 years of history established as Manhattan College, the institution decided to retain the name despite the geographic misnomer.
* 17 alumni are members of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering — an impressive number for an institution the size of Manhattan College.
* Manhattan is one of only 182 remaining colleges founded in the United States before the Civil War.

This Is Manhattan Basketball
* Manhattan has three wins in NCAA Tournament play, defeating West Virginia (1958), Oklahoma (1995) and  Florida (2004).
* The Jaspers have won five MAAC Tournament titles in the last 25 years (1993, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2015).
* Manhattan received an at-large berth in 1995 and defeated Oklahoma before falling to Arizona State.
* Was the first team in NCAA history to a win a game in Europe, defeating Holy Cross 70-54 on December 1, 2017 as part of the inaugural Belfast Classic.