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New Rochelle, NY - Manhattan (10-20; 5-14 MAAC) concludes the regular season at rival Iona (18-11; 11-7 MAAC) on Friday, February 24 at 9:00 pm in a game that will be televised by ESPNU.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - The Jaspers dropped the first meeting with the Gaels by an 82-67 count despite 20 points from junior Zavier Turner and 15 from classmate Zane Waterman.
#2 - Manhattan is 40-27 (.597) in the months of February/March since Steve Masiello took over prior to 2011-2012, including 30-20 (.600) in February.
#3 - Waterman notched his second 30-point game of the year the last time out at Rider and is averaging 24.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg over the last three games while shooting 54.1 percent from the floor, including 40.0 percent from deep, and 81.8 percent from the line.
QUICK HITS
* The Jaspers scored a season-high 53 first-half points, on 62.1 percent shooting (18-of-29) at Rider, fueled by 23 from Waterman.
* Manhattan's first-half explosion was its best since notching 53 in the first half of a 95-82 victory over Saint Peter's on January 8, 2006.
* In Sunday's 95-74 win over Quinnipiac, the Jaspers season-highs for points (95), FG % (.550), 3-pt % (.556), forced TOs (22), blocks (7) and points off TOs (30).
* Manhattan also improved to 38-7 when registering at least 10 steals - including 27-4 in the last four years - and 21-11 when forcing at least 20 turnovers under Masiello.
* Waterman paced three 20-point performers in the Jaspers' most-recent victory over QU with a game-high 26.
* Junior Calvin Crawford (22) matched a career-high while freshman Aaron Walker Jr. (20) set a career-high as Manhattan had three players score at least 20 for the first time since a 97-87 victory over Canisius (2/10/08).
* The Jasper trio finished up with 68 points, on 23-of-40 shooting, including 9-of-14 from deep.
* Over the last two games, Manhattan is averaging 88.5 ppg while shooting 50.4 percent (60-of-119) from the floor, including 51.1 percent (22-of-43) from deep, and will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak in New Rochelle - last defeating the Gaels by a 75-72 count on January 12, 2012.
* Masiello, who recently became the fifth coach in school history with 100 wins (currently 102), is 5-9 against Iona.
* Lost amidst the offensive explosion in the win over Quinnipiac was the Senior Night Festivities that recognized Tyler Wilson's contributions to the program. The lone Jasper senior has helped Manhattan to 67 wins, two MAAC Titles and two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
* Wilson, who has played in 127 straight games, handed out a season-high five assists against the Bobcats while moving into seventh place on the program's all-time assist list and after dishing out two more at Rider now has 360. He is now three away from former teammate and current coach Michael Alvarado, '14.
* Waterman narrowly missed his first double-double of the year at Siena, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds, after pulling down a career-high 15 caroms against Monmouth and has recorded double-figures on the glass twice this year ands seven times over his career.
* Waterman, who has started 57 straight games, delivered the game-winning plays against Marist and at Niagara and ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (14.3 ppg-13th), rebounding (7.1 rpg-6th), FG % (.474-14th) and FT % (.777-11th).
* In a one-point victory against the Red Foxes he scored 22 points - highlighted by draining the winning three pointer with 5.6 seconds to play - after converting the winning free throws and drawing the game-clinching charge in a one-point victory against the Purple Eagles in Niagara Falls.
* Since the start of 2017, Waterman is averaging a team-best 16.9 ppg with 7.0 rpg over 17 games while scoring at least 20 points six times.
* The North Carolina native's aforementioned 35 points in the most recent win over Rider was the most scored by a Masiello-coached player and the most by a Jasper since George Beamon, '14 had 35 in an 84-81 win over Siena on February 13, 2011.
* Waterman also hit the 20-point mark this year at Monmouth (28), against Fairfield (26) and at Morgan State (23) and has six 20-point performances this year and eight for his career.
* Junior Zavier Turner added 23 points in Manhattan's win over Rider as the Jaspers had two 20-point scorers for the first of three times this year.
* The Ball State transfer recently scored a game-high 27 points against MAAC Regular Season Champion Monmouth while going over 1,000 for his career.
* Over the last six games, Turner is averaging 15.5 ppg, 4.0 apg and an impressive 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio while notching his 10th 20-point performance of the year and the 16th of his career at Siena.
* The Ball State transfer ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (15.5 ppg-12th), free throw percentage (.880-2nd), three-point percentage (.407-11th) and assists (3.4 apg-10th).
* In the final five minutes of games/ot, Turner is shooting 40.6 percent (28-of-69) from the floor and 80.3 percent (49-of-61) from the line. In the first win over Niagara, he notched 12 points over the final 3:53 while going 9-of-10 from the line.
* Turner recorded 26 points in the victory over St. Francis Brooklyn, making good on 7-of-9 from long range, after scoring a career-high 32 points in the win at Detroit Mercy, including 10 in overtime, to go along with six assists. He also had 30 against Saint Peter's, 28 at Temple, 23 against Quinnipiac, 21 against Niagara and 20 vs. Iona.
* The duo of Turner and Waterman has notched four 30-point performances for the Jaspers after Manhattan recorded just four over the previous three seasons.
* Crawford, who is averaging 19.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg over his last two games, hit on his first six shots at Rider en route to scoring 15 of the first 24 Jasper points and finished 17 while pulling down a season-high nine rebounds after matching his career-high with 22 markers in the victory over Quinnipiac
* Crawford dropped 20 in the first win over Niagara before going for a team-high 18 in securing a season sweep of the Purple Eagles has now hit for at least 20 points twice this year and five times in his career and is averaging 9.4 ppg.
* Junior Thomas Capuano had 16 points at Siena and over his last four games is averaging 9.8 ppg while shooting 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the field and 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from deep.
* Capuano scored a career-high 18 at Morgan State to go along with five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
* Walker Jr. is averaging 15.0 ppg over his last two games, highlighted by his aforementioned career-high 20 in the win over Quinnipiac.
* The Brooklyn native earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors earlier this year after averaging 12.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg over three games during the week ending November 20 and is averaging 8.4 ppg.
* Freshman Na'Quan Council scored a career-high 14 points at Canisius and 13 in the win over Niagara while notching a career and team-high five steals on two occasions.
* Junior Ahmed Ismail scored a career-best 10 points at Canisius with 10 rebounds en route to earning the second Jasper double-double of the year and is averaging 5.0 rpg (19th MAAC) and 1.1 bpg (10th MAAC).
* The seven Manhattan newcomers are averaging a combined 38.9 ppg and 16.5 rpg while accounting for 54.5 percent of the offense and 46.2 percent of the rebounding
* In the first meeting with Quinnipiac, junior Samson Usilo registered career-highs in points (12) and rebounds (11) while notching his first career double-double and was joined in double-figures on the boards by junior Zavier Peart, who added a career-high 10 rebounds.
* Thanks to Usilo and Peart, the Jaspers placed two in double-figures on the boards for the first time since Emmy Andujar, '15 (11) and Ashton Pankey, '15 (10) did so in a 79-69 win over Iona in the 2015 MAAC Championship on March 9, 2015 as Manhattan posted a 44-36 advantage on the glass.
* Usilo then narrowly missed his second-straight double-double with a career-best matching 12 points and nine rebounds in the first win over Niagara.
* Sophomore Ak Ojo scored a career-best nine points in the win over Detroit Mercy before grabbing a personal-best seven rebounds against Fairfield.
* Wilson converted the momentum-changing three-point play that gave the Jaspers the lead for good in the victory over Fordham after drawing the game-clinching charge at Detroit Mercy.
* Manhattan registered its second one-point victory of the year against Marist and is 7-2 when limiting the opposition to less than 70 points.
* Over the last three games, the Jaspers have drawn 12 offensive fouls leading to 17 points off offensive fouls after notching just 12 offensive fouls and four points over the previous nine games.
* Manhattan notched its 11th different starting line-up in the win over Marist with Turner, Capuano, Crawford, Waterman and Ismail garnering starts.
* The Jaspers limited Niagara to just 69 points in securing the season sweep while forcing 16 turnovers and recording 11 steals.
* Manhattan concluded non-conference play with a 27-point come-from-behind victory over EKU thanks to recording a season-high 13 steals. The 13 thefts are the most since recording 13 in a win over Quinnipiac on March 1, 2015 while the 27-point margin of victory is the third-highest in Masiello's six years.
* The Jaspers finished non-conference play with a 5-6 record with their six losses coming to teams that have a combined 113-55 record (.673), as Bucknell, Winthrop, Florida State and West Virginia have all won 20 games,
* Masiello has led Manhattan to a 102-91 (.528) record, including going 63-52 (.548) during MAAC play and 49-26 (.653) at Draddy Gym over his six seasons with three MAAC Title Game appearances, three postseason berths, two Metropolitan Coach of the Year honors and two 20-win campaigns. He has also participated in the NCAA Tournament in 13 of his 20 seasons as a player or coach, including being a part of eight conference champions and one National Title.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has guided the Jaspers to a pair of MAAC Titles as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he 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 185-127 record.
* In his 21st season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 465-237, including 344-209 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship Game appearances, two Final Fours, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
WHAT'S 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
• U.S. News & World Report ranks Manhattan 15th out of 138 in the Best Regional Universities (North) category of its 2016-17 Best Colleges list. This is the tenth year in a row the College has placed in the regional top 20. U.S. News & World Report also ranks Manhattan College as 8th among 52 regional universities that are attractive colleges for veteran students.
• Brookings ranks Manhattan College 9th out of more than 7,000 two and four-year schools in an analysis that examined how well schools prepare students for successful careers.
• 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.
• Alumni include Rudy Giuliani '65, former mayor of New York City; James Patterson '69, best-selling author; and Raymond Kelly '63, former commissioner of the NYPD.
• Manhattan is one of only 182 remaining colleges founded in the United States before the Civil War.
PLAYOFF PERISCOPE
The Jaspers will be either the No. 9, No. 10 or No. 11 seed for the upcoming MAAC Tournament. Manhattan has never been the No. 11 seed, has twice been a No. 10 seed and once was a No. 9 seed.
SCOUTING IONA
The Gaels are a free-flowing offensive based squad that is averaging 80.8 ppg with several explosive scoring options. Senior Jordan Washington paces the squad and is averaging a team-best 17.4 ppg and 7.4 rpg. Jon Severe (12.2 ppg), Sam Cassell Jr. (11.8 ppg) and Rickey McGil (10.7 ppg) round out the double-figure scorers.
YOU CAN'T WEAR CASHMIR IN THE SUMMER
Sophomore Schadrac Casmir checks in at seventh on the squad in scoring at 6.5 ppg but went for a game-high 21 in the teams' first meeting. The Jaspers will have to do a better job of defending the Nutmeg State native, who is averaging 22.7 ppg in four career games against the Riverdale-based school while shooting 58.8 percent (20-of-34), including 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from deep, and 100.0 percent (17-of-17) from the line.
GLOBALLY SPEAKING
Manhattan boasts five foreign-born players in R. Williams (Jamaica), Ismail (Egypt), Usilo (Nigeria), Ojo (Nigeria) and freshman Oliver Ehrnvall (Sweden).
REMEMBERING FATHER HILL
At halftime, Manhattan College President Dr. Brennan O'Donnell and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Marianne Reilly honored Fr. George Hill, the College's longtime chaplain who passed away in September, as Father Hill's family was presented with a framed Jaspers' jersey. Masiello also is keeping a seat behind the bench vacant all season in honor of Father Hill with Manhattan basketball players are wearing memorial patches on the left shoulder of their jerseys in his honor.
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
Seven of Manhattan's 15 student-athletes - R. Williams, S. Williams, Wilson, Crawford, Capuano, Maloney, Walker Jr. - hail from the state of New York.
111TH SEASON OF JASPERS BASKETBALL
In its 111th season, the Manhattan men's basketball program boasts a 1350-1208 overall record (285-306 MAAC). The Jaspers' storied men's basketball team was established in 1904-05 and took a two-year hiatus during the 1943-44 and 1944-45 season due to World War II.
