Jan. 3, 2004

Box Score

Manhattan College (7-3, 2-0 MAAC) used a strong defensive effort in defeating Siena College tonight at the Pepsi Arena by a score of 72-50. The loss, the 9th in a row for the Saints (3-9, 0-3 MAAC), spoiled the 15th anniversary celebration of Siena's first NCAA tournament team, which was honored at halftime.

Trailing by 21 with 12:50 to go the Saints went on a 13-2 spurt to pull to 50-41 with 6:26 remaining. Austin Andrews had five points during the sequence and finished with a team-high 19 points. Andrews was joined in double figures by Michael Haddix who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Manhattan, who went scoreless from the field over a 7:06 span, pushed its advantage back into double figures on a Jason Benton tip-in. The Benton tip-in ignited a game clinching a 22-7 tear as Manhattan took its largest lead of the night at 72-48.

The Jaspers set the tone early in this evening's game as they limited the Saints to just an Andrews field goal and a pair of Jamal Jackson free throws in jumping out to a 14-4 lead with 11:18 to play in the first half. After an Andrews three-pointer brought the Saints within 14-7, Manhattan countered with a 7-2 run to pad its advantage to 20-9. The Jaspers would lead by no fewer than eight points the remainder of the way and were paced by Luis Flores who scored 17 of his 29 points in the first half. With the Saints trailing 33-23, Manhattan's Kenny Minor drilled a three-pointer to end the first half to push it to 36-23.

Siena returns to action on Tuesday night as they host MAAC foe St.Peter's. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00PM.