Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Follow On Twitter | Game Notes
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Manhattan (4-8; 1-2 MAAC) wraps up its annual Western New York swing with a Sunday afternoon tilt at Canisius (7-5; 2-1 MAAC) with opening tip slated for 2 p.m.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - Both teams will be looking to rebound following tough losses on Friday night.
#2 - The Jaspers will be looking for their first true road victory after going 12-4 in true road games a year ago.
QUICK HITS
* Manhattan leads the all-time series by a 51-33 count and claimed both meetings a year ago and five of the last six match-ups.
* Steve Masiello is 5-1, all-time, against Canisius since assuming the head coaching reigns and was 7-1 vs. the Golden Griffins as an assistant during his first tenure in Riverdale from 2001-2005.
* Manhattan is 14-11, all-time, against Canisius when playing in Buffalo since the Golden Griffins joined the MAAC for the 1988-1989 season.
* Last season, the Jaspers shot 50.9 percent from the floor, including 45.9 percent from long range, in taking both match-ups between the teams..
* Junior Ashton Pankey averaged 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in those two wins.
* Pankey posted his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the first match-up in Buffalo.
* Pankey recorded double-figures for the team-best matching seventh time the last time out against Niagara, scoring 10 of his 11 points after halftime while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
* During MAAC-play, Pankey is averaging a team-best 14.0 points per game while pulling down 7.7 rebounds each time out while shooting a team-best 59.3 percent from the floor.
* Pankey also continues to rank continues to rank among the league leaders in scoring (10.6-22nd), rebounding (6.3-10th), field goal percentage (.511-5th), blocks (1.0-8th), defensive rebounds (4.1-12th) and offensive rebounds (2.3-10th).
* Senior RaShawn Stores tied his career-high with six assists against Niagara while freshman Zane Waterman scored a career-high eight points in just six minutes.
* Senior Emmy Andujar had his double-figure scoring streak end, finishing with nine points against the Purple Eagles.
* Andujar continues to rank among the MAAC leaders in scoring (13.2-12th), rebounding (7.2-6th), field goal percentage (.512-4rd), steals (1.6-7th), assists (3.1-8th), offensive rebounds (2.8-3rd), defensive rebounds (4.3-10th) and assist/turnover ratio (0.8-9th).
* For his career, Andujar is now just 20 points shy of becoming the 36th member of the Jaspers' 1,000-point club. Additionally, with the aforementioned 20 points and seven more assists he will become the first player in school history with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 300 assists.
* For the month of December, Andujar averaged 15.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 62.7 percent from the floor and pacing the squad in scoring in four of Manhattan's six games.
* At Pitt, Andujar notched 17 of his team-high 19 points after halftime and continues to lead the Jaspers with 8.4 points per game after halftime. Additionally, over his last seven games he is averaging 10.3 points each time out in the second half on 62.5 percent (25-for-40) shooting.
* Junior Shane Richards canned three triples against Niagara and has made good on 52.9 percent (11-for-21) from long range over his last three games en route to averaging 13.7 points each time out.
* Richards has now hit for at least three triples in a game over three-straight games for the second time this season and the third time in his career.
* For his career, Richards has a school-record 173 three pointers and is averaging 2.2 per game.
* Richards ranksamong the league leaders in scoring (11.6-15th), three-point field goal percentage (.369-15th) and threes per game (2.6-5th MAAC) and is the lone Manhattan student-athlete to start every game.
* The trio of Andujar, Pankey and Richards have combined to record 20 of the Jaspers' 25 double-figure scoring games. All three notched double-figures in the same game for the first time this season in the 71-57 win over Fordham to help Manhattan claim the Battle of the Bronx.
* Former New York City Mayor and 1965 graduate Rudy Giuliani was on hand for the win over Fordham and spoke to the team after the game.
* Andujar was named the Mike Cohen MVP after scoring 14 points with nine rebounds against the Rams. Andujar also earned MVP accolades in the annual rivalry game as a freshman.
* Manhattan erased a 12-point deficit in avenging last season's loss to Fordham while overcoming its largest deficit since battling back from an 18-point Iona lead in a 75-72 win in New Rochelle on Jan. 12, 2012. All told, the Jaspers have now eight victories when trailing by double-figures during Masiello's four-year tenure.
* Manhattan defeated Fordham for the third time in four seasons and the 10th time in 14 years and now lead the all-time series by a 56-51 margin.
* The Jaspers also improved to 2-1 at the Barclays Center with its second win in as many seasons while snapping a four-game losing streak to Atlantic 10 opposition.
* Manhattan is 2-2 in neutral site venues this season and 6-3 since the start of last season and are 3-0 when scoring 70 points and have limited each of its last nine opponents to less than 70 points.
* Thanks to back-to-back victories over Fordham and Morgan State, the Jaspers finished up non-conference play with a 3-6 record. The wins also closed out a grueling non-league slate that saw the Jaspers play six games vs. teams from the Atlantic 10, ACC and Big Ten. The Jaspers also played eight of its nine non-conference games either on the road or in neutral venues.
* The 73-69 victory over Morgan State featured 18 lead changes and 12 ties as Manhattan was led by Richards, who scored a game-high 20 points and was 6-for-9 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from long range, while breaking Devon Austin's three-point record with his 166th career trey. His performance was the second 20-plus point outing of his career and the fifth by a Jasper student-athlete this season.
* Additionally, Manhattan forced at least 16 turnovers in 10th of their 12 games and ranks 37th nationally with a +3.1 turnover rate.
* Despite ranking last in the MAAC with a 62.5 percent conversion rate from the line, the Jaspers converted a season-high 73.3 percent (10-for-13) from the line against Niagara and made good 10-for-12 (.833) to close out the Fordham win and 8-for-10 (.800) in the Morgan State victory.
* Ten games on Manhattan's 2014-2015 schedule will appear on the ESPN family of networks. The Jaspers currently have seven games slated for ESPN3, two for ESPNU and one for ESPN2.
* The Koessler Athletic Center will be the 11th different venue for Manhattan in the first 13 game this season.
* Senior Donovan Kates became the sixth different Jasper to miss a game this season against Morgan State. Kates (1), Stores (2), sophomore Jermaine Lawrence (4), classmate Carlton Allen (5), freshman Samson Usilo (12) and classmate Zane Waterman (5) have combined to miss 29 games this season.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led the Manhattan to the program's fourth MAAC Championship as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC Championships and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of three of the Jaspers' four MAAC Championship teams and five of their 12 20-win seasons while accruing a 147-83 record.
* In his 19th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 425-193, including 304-172 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship appearances, two Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight berths, seven conference championships, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
