RIVERDALE, NY – After falling in the last two contests, the Manhattan Jaspers Men's Basketball team (8-10, 4-3 MAAC) rolled against the Purple Eagles of Niagara University (4-12, 1-5 MAAC) by a score of 79-70 inside Draddy Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After falling behind by two possessions off the jump, the Green and White found its rhythm with Marko Ljubicic finding a lane to cut the Purple Eagles' lead to four.
- The Jaspers would continue to further stack their response with a Fraser Roxburgh three-pointer to slim the margin to just five.
- Eight minutes into the contest, back-to-back baskets for the Purple Eagles gave them their largest lead of the day at nine points.
- Down the stretch of the first half, Ljubicic hit his first three of the day that forced a Purple Eagles timeout, before Roxburgh sank home his second three of the day to capture double-digit first-half points for the Australian native.
- With time winding down, the dynamic combination of Jaden Winston and Devin Dinkins came to life once again, with the latter sinking home a near-buzzer-beating three-pointer to bring the Jasper deficit to just two points heading into the locker room.
- Continuing right where it left off were the Green and White, and most notably, Devin Dinkins, who hit another three-pointer just 15 seconds into the second stanza for their first lead of the night.
- Off a missed triple attempt for the Purple Eagles, Winston found Erik Oliver-Bush, who joined the party for a successful alley-oop to leap in front of Niagara.
- Five minutes later, Niagara continued to make life difficult for the Jaspers, but Winston's marvelous footwork and step back widened the margin to three in favor of Manhattan.
- The Jaspers were on an 8-2 run and made it a double-digit lead with Terrance Jones' dunk, which brought the fans to their feet and gave them their largest lead of the day.
- With seconds remaining, the Jaspers extended their lead to double digits with 10 off an Anthony Isaac jumper for the dagger.
STATS AND NOTES
- Redshirt junior guard Devin Dinkins bounced back in a masterful way with 16 points on four-of-six from the floor, while converting a perfect six-of-six, grabbed three rebounds, and added one steal in 34 minutes on the floor.
- Sophomore forward Fraser Roxburgh posted 13 points on five-of-eight from the field that included three triples, and five rebounds, with one steal and one assist in 29 minutes of action.
- Junior guard Jaden Winston added 16 points to the scoresheet on five-of-10 shooting, while converting six-of-seven from the free-throw line. Additionally, Winston continued to climb the all-time steals category with another two, assisted on nine baskets, and grabbed three rebounds in 38 minutes registered.
- Junior forward Anthony Isaac logged his third double-double of the campaign with 14 points and 10 rebounds in six-of-10 shooting, while assisting on three baskets in 27 minutes off the bench.
- Manhattan won the battle of the boards by a five-board margin. The Green and White logged 10 points off turnover, compared to Niagara's seven. Manhattan also won the second-chance battle with 19 points, compared to the Purple Eagles' four. Finally, the Jaspers logged 10 fast break points compared to Niagara's four.
- The Jaspers won their fourth straight contest against the Purple Eagles.
NEXT UP
The Jaspers are back in action on Wednesday, January 14, when the Green and White continue conference play against the Stags of Fairfield University inside Leo D. Mahoney Arena beginning at 7 p.m. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
