Manhattan University Athletics

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Second-place Manhattan got to within nine of first-place Fairfield in the fourth but couldn't get any closer and fell 70-55 on Thursday evening.

Manhattan (9-7, 4-3 MAAC) used an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to trim a 14-point Fairfield (10-5, 7-0) lead to nine, 59-50. Dee Dee Davis had a pair of 3-pointers, and Bella Nascimento added a jumper.

The Stags then responded with an 11-3 stretch over four minutes to extend the lead back to 17, 70-53, with 2:20 left in the game.

After both teams did not score over the first 3:26 of the game, the Stags led 17-13 after one quarter, then used 20-2 stretch over six-plus minutes in the second to create an 18-point advantage. Fairfield extended the lead to 20 before the Jaspers started making a comeback with the final five points of the third to bring the deficit to 15, 57-42.

Davis finished with a team-high 17 points. Courtney Warley recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jade Blagrove and Nascimento added 10 points. It was Blagrove's second-straight game in double figures. Warley's double-double gives her 27 for her career and five this season. Davis extends her streak of 10-plus to 12 games. 

The Jaspers will return to Connecticut on Saturday to face Quinnipiac at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.