BUFFALO, N.Y. - Facing a hostile sellout crowd, Manhattna led from start to finish for the second straight game, defeating Canisius 84-73 at the Koessler Athletic Center on Friday night in a game televised live on ESPNU.
Now 16-6 and 9-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Manhattan stormed out to a 15-1 advantage after the first five and a half minutes. The Griffs converted their first field goal of the game at the 14:16 mark of the first half when Josiah Heath made a baseline jumper.
The Jaspers held a 30-14 advantage at the 8:55 mark of the first half on consecutive three-pointers by George Beamon and Shane Richards before Canisius came back. The Griffs put together a 16-2 run, sparked by 13 points by Billy Baron during the stretch, to cut the Japers' lead to 32-30 with 5:16 left in the half.
After a Manhattan timeout, Richards canned another three-pointer to quell the Canisius rally. Manhattan closed out the half on an 11-2 run, capped when Emmy Andujar found Ashton Pankey underneath for a layup with time expiring in the first half. The Jaspers took a 47-35 lead into halftime.
Michael Alvarado's fastbreak layup gave Manhattan a 55-40 lead three minutes into the second half. Canisius mounted another rally, cutting the Jaspers' lead to 57-50 with 14:46 to go. Alvarado nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key, pushing Manhattan's lead back to 10 points.
The Griffs got as close as five points, 67-62, when Zach Lewis buried his third three-pointer of the half with seven minutes to play. Alvarado countered by finding Pankey on the interior for two, then on Manhattan's next possession, Andujar fed Pankey for an emphatic dunk to give the Jaspers a nine-point advantage.
The Jaspers held the Griffs to two field goals in the final four minutes to wrap up the 84-73 victory, its ninth of the season on the road.
"I thought it was two very good basketball teams who came out and played tonight at a very high level," head coach Steve Masiello said after the game. "Just a total team effort from Manhattan to come in here and get a road win on a very tough Buffalo trip."
George Beamon exploded for 27 points while Ashton Pankey posted a season-high 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Jaspers. Shane Richards added 14 and Michael Alvarado chipped in with 11 points and five assists.
Manhattan limited Baron to 6-of-15 shooting as he scored 22 points to lead Canisius.
The Jaspers return to action on Sunday, February 9 at Niagara for a 2 p.m. contest.
NOTES:
George Beamon now ranks fourth all-time on Manhattan College's career scoring list with 1,638 points ... he passed Durelle Brown '01 (1,634) and Peter Runge '90 (1,622) during the game ... Beamon scored 20 or more points for the 11th time in 19 games ... Beamon averaged 27.3 points in his last three games at the Koessler Athletic Center ... RaShawn Stores played terrific defense against Billy Baron, holding him to eight points while Stores was on the court, and just two field goals ... Manhattan has nine road victories, the second highest total in the country ... the Jaspers totaled 22 assists on 30 field goals ... Manhattan shot 51.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range ... the Jaspers outrebounded Canisius 46-32 and 15-12 on the offensive glass ... Manhattan had 12 blocked shots, including four by Rhamel Brown, who entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in blocked shots ... Brown pulled down seven rebounds and moved into eighth place on Manhattan's all-time rebounds list with 743 ...Ashton Pankey made eight of ten field goals ... Manhattan has won four of the last five games with Canisius ... the loss was the Griffs' first home loss this season.