Feb. 13, 2011
Final Stats
Siena rallied from 14 points down with 2:23 to play to within a single point, and briefly had the ball with a chance to win, but Manhattan survived for an 84-81 MAAC victory Sunday in Riverdale. George Beamon scored a career-high 35 points to lead the Jaspers.
Manhattan controlled the game for the first 38 minutes, but for the second time in three days, Siena rallied late to make things very interesting.
Kyle Downey and Clarence Jackson hit consecutive threes to cap off Siena's improbable late rally, and after Demetrius Jemison missed two free throws with 22 seconds left and Manhattan leading 82-81, OD Anosike grabbed the rebound, but quickly had it stolen away by Mohamed Koita. Kidani Brutus then made two free throws to make it a three-point game.
After a timeout, Siena's Jon Breeden missed a drive off glass and it went out of bounds off Manhattan. Siena's last chance to tie was a Ryan Rossiter 3-point attempt from the right corner that bounced off the top of the backboard and grazed the front rim. Anosike got the rebound and threw up a jumper from the left baseline that was well short as time expired.
Breeden led Siena with 20 points, while Rossiter had 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Manhattan jumped out to a 14-2 lead, but Siena reeled off 10 straight points to get back in the game. The Jaspers scored eight of the final 10 points of the first half to take an 84-81 lead to the lockerroom.
Beamon scored nine straight Jasper points in the second half for a 49-34 lead with 14:16 to play, and Manhattan led by as many as 18 (66-48) with 6:35 to play, but Siena scored 33 points in the final six and a half minutes, and nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback.
Brutus added 20 points for Manhattan which scored a season-high 84 points and won for just the third time in 24 games.
Siena had four players in double figures. Anosike finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Jackson had 13 points to join Breeden and Rossiter. Breeden finished with 44 points on the Saints' New York City trip this weekend, playing in place of freshman Rakeem Brookins who missed both games with a rib injury.
The Saints remain in a sixth place tie with Canisius in the MAAC standings. The Griffs lost at Loyola Sunday. Fairfield, meanwhile, clinched at least a share of the regular-season title with its 70-69 overtime win at Saint Peter's, dropping the Peacocks into a second place tie with Rider, a 61-50 winner over Niagara today.
Siena returns home to host Saint Peter's in a critical MAAC game Wednesday at 7 p.m.
