Box Score
Box Score
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Manhattan won its fifth straight game and its nation-best seventh straight on the road, an 86-68 victory over South Carolina at the Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday night.
With the victory, Manhattan's first over an SEC team since its 2004 NCAA Tournament win over Florida, the Jaspers are now 8-2 on the season.
The game began at breakneck speed, with each team pushing the ball up the court and scoring. After the first two and a half minutes, the score was tied at 10. At the nine-minute mark of the first half, Michael Alvarado buried a three-pointer after terrific ball movement around the perimeter to give the Jaspers a 26-23 advantage.
After South Carolina came back to tie the game at 28, Alvarado and Donovan Kates combined to sink eight consecutive free throws to give Manhattan a 36-28 lead. Free throw shooting was a key for the Jaspers in the win - Manhattan made 34 of 39 (87.2 percent) from the charity stripe and the Gamecocks hit on 22 of 38.
Although Manhattan extended its lead to 45-34 at halftime, the Jaspers had to hold off a South Carolina rally to start the second half. The Gamecocks cut their deficit to five points twice in the first 10 minutes of the half, only to see Manhattan maintain its composure and extend its advantage.
A key moment came at the 9:24 mark as the crowd was getting behind South Carolina. Manhattan led by eight, 65-57, and George Beamon drew a foul while attempting a three-pointer. He sank all three of his accompanying free throws, pushing Manhattan's lead to 11 points. The Jaspers maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way, posting its largest margin of victory so far this season.
Beamon scored 19 of his game-high 26 points in a tremendous second half. He added five rebounds and four steals and was 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Alvarado finished with 20 points, six assists and made 10 of 11 from the foul line.
"We come together more when we play away," Beamon said about the team's road success after the game. "It's us against the world and when our backs are against the wall we usually are up for the challenge."
Sindarius Thornwell's 17 points led South Carolina.
"They have a bunch of upperclassmen and are a real good basketball team. I knew that going in," South Carolina coach Frank Martin said. "They beat us to loose balls, they beat us on the glass, they beat us on blocked shots, they beat us on steals. I wish I could tell you I'm surprised with what happened but I'm not."
Manhattan is back in action on Saturday, December 21 against Buffalo in the opening game of the Brooklyn Holiday Hoops Invitational at Barclays Center. Game time is 3 p.m.
NOTES:
Manhattan is 7-0 away from Draddy Gymnasium this season ... the seven road wins are the most of any Division I team ... the victory was Manhattan's third over South Carolina in program history ... it was the first win in the series since the 1976-77 season ... 10 different players scored for Manhattan ... Manhattan's 11 steals were a season high ... the Jaspers are averaging 10 steals per game in the last four games ... George Beamon has scored at least 20 points in seven of Manhattan's ten games ... Rhamel Brown entered the contest ranked fifth in the nation in blocked shots at 4.22 per game ... he blocked four shots in the game ... Ashton Pankey also had a career-high four blocked shots ... Rich Williams made all four of his shots from the field to score nine points in seven minutes despite foul trouble ... the Jaspers made six of 13 three-pointers.
