RIVERDALE, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers Men's Basketball team (12-19, 8-12 MAAC) dropped their regular season finale to the Gaels of Iona University (18-13, 10-10 MAAC) by a score of 69-65 inside Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Jaspers fall to the #10 seed in the 2026 Air Force Reserve MAAC Men's Basketball Championships and will play the #7-seeded Fairfield Stags to open the tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Jaspers opened its afternoon by honoring its two seniors, Michael Lawlor and Terrance Jones. At the same time, the team's managers, Talita Salci and Emilia Lynch, were also recognized for their ongoing efforts to support the team.
- Manhattan started its home finale with Jones netting an opening triple before Fraser Roxburgh found a lane to extend its lead to as much as five.
- Midway through the first half, both teams were trading buckets before an Iona triple began separating the two rivals. Then, it was Roxburgh who cooled the temperature with a booming three-pointer to pull within one possession of the Gaels.
- Nearly five minutes elapsed before either team scored again, with Terrance Jones responding to an Iona three-pointer to shrink its deficit to as little as four with three minutes remaining.
- Out of the locker room and trailing, Marko Ljubicic provided a much-needed Jasper spark with a quick three-pointer. Then, it was Winston with back-to-back floating layups, before Roxburgh added one more of his own to shrink Iona's lead to just three.
- With the Gaels' timely shooting, Ljubicic, again, stopped the bleeding with another triple of his own, before Jones provided another layup to pull within four.
- Continuing to put pressure on the opposition were the Green and White, who put together six straight points highlighted by a Jones three-pointer from the corner, to bring its deficit to just one possession midway through the stanza.
- Proving resiliency were the Green and White, who, again, found a way to pull within one courtesy of five straight points from Terrance Jones to make it a 55-54 contest down the stretch.
- Just shy of five minutes remaining, Ljubicic provided his first steal of the game, before finding Jaden Winston, who then found Anthony Isaac underneath just under five minutes remaining.
- Two additional three-point attempts were unsuccessful, and corralled by Iona, before Devin Dinkins sank home a quick three with just five seconds, which was ultimately not enough to capitalize.
STATS AND NOTES
- Graduate guard Terrance Jones paced the Green and White with 23 points on eight-of-18 shooting from the field. Jones was a perfect four of four from the charity stripe, while grabbing four rebounds and stealing four in a game-high 37 minutes on the floor.
- Junior forward Anthony Isaac joined the quartet of double-figure scorers with 12 on six-of-nine converted from the charity stripe, while grabbing three rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes off the bench.
- Sophomore forward Fraser Roxburgh posted 11 points on five-of-11 from the floor, while grabbing seven rebounds in 35 minutes.
- Junior guard Jaden Winston logged 10 points on a perfect six-of-six from the free-throw line. Winston also made noise with seven rebounds, eight assists, and five steals in 36 minutes. Additionally, with the first two steals of Winston's afternoon, the junior broke the Jaspers' single-season record with 77 steals on the year and counting.
- Manhattan tallied one more assist on the afternoon than Iona, 14-13. The Jaspers also posted 17 fast-break points, compared to the Gaels' five. Additionally, the Green and White logged 14 steals, opposed to four. Points off the turnover were also in favor of the Jaspers, 18-5.
NEXT UP
The #10 Jaspers begin their quest for a MAAC Championship on Thursday, March 5, when the Green and White take on the Stags of #7 Fairfield University to open the 2026 Air Force Reserve MAAC Men's Basketball Championships beginning at 8:30 p.m. (ET) from inside the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
