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Baltimore, MD - Manhattan (2-7) returns to action at Morgan State (2-6) in search of its second-straight victory on Sunday, December 20 at 1:00 pm.
TOP STORYLINES
#1 - The Jaspers defeated the Bears by a 73-69 count exactly one year to the date of this season's match-up behind senior Shane Richards' game-high 20 points.
#2 - DYK? Manhattan started last season 2-7 before finishing up 17-7 en route to claiming the program's fifth MAAC Championship.
#3 - The Jaspers picked up their second win of the year on Monday by a 71-60 count vs. St. Francis Brooklyn thanks to notching season-highs in field goal percentage (.556), three-point field goal percentage (.615) and steals (11).
QUICK HITS
* Manhattan outshot the opposition for the first time this season while allowing a season-low 60 points in improving to 52-19, all-time, against the Terriers.
* The Jaspers also had first-half season-highs in points (41), field goals (16) and rebounds (18) vs. St. Francis BK.
* Manhattan registered a season-high matching 11 steals against the Terriers while improving to 2-0 this year when notching double-figures in thefts.
* Since Steve Masiello took over five years ago, the Jaspers are 31-5 when hitting the 10-steal standard, including 20-2 over the last three years, and rank 46th nationally this year with 8.1 per game.
* Manhattan also forced at least 19 turnovers for the fourth time this season against St. Francis BK and rank 23rd nationally with a MAAC-best 16.7 forced turnovers.
* During Masiello's tenure, the Jaspers are 19-9 when forcing the opposition into at least 20 turnovers.
* Manhattan has limited the opposition into 23.3 percent (10-of-43) shooting from long range over the last three games.
* With the most recent victory, Masiello is 24-28, all-time, against non-MAAC opposition, including going 8-6 at Draddy.
* The Jaspers are 2-1, all-time, against Morgan State but dropped their lone match-up in Baltimore by an 83-74 count on December 12, 2009.
* Manhattan is 5-3, all-time, against the MEAC, last playing and losing to Hampton in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
* The Jaspers have scored at least 70 points in three of their last four games while winning the rebounding battle for the first three times this year (Marist, Columbia, St. Francis Brooklyn).
* Manhattan's non-conference slate features four games against teams that qualified for the postseason a year ago, including three that participated in the NIT (Saint Mary's, Bucknell, St. Francis Brooklyn). Additionally, six of the non-conference opponents have qualified for the NCAA Tourney this decade.
* Richards has paced the squad in scoring and rebounding over the last two games, averaging 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game during that stretch. He had 19 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Terriers after notching 17 points, fueled by a season-high matching four three pointers, with eight rebounds at Memphis.
* A 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Second Team selection, Richards was the hero in the first Jasper victory of the year, a 69-67 come-from-behind triumph over George Mason, thanks to banking in a jumper with 1.2 seconds to play. He also became the 37th member of the school's 1,000-point club earlier in the night.
* At Siena, Richards scored 22 of his game-high 26 points after halftime in notching his third 20-point performance of the year and the 10th of his career.
* The New York native ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (17.7 ppg-6th), free throw percentage (.800-10th), threes (2.1/game-11th) and steals (1.1 spg-14th) while pacing the squad in scoring five times and on the glass twice.
* From long range, Richards has converted at least three triples in 52 of his 107 games, including at least four 28 times, and is the school's single-season (92-2015) and career (253) leader in threes. When the New York City native connects on four in a game, the Manhattan is 18-10, including 14-7 over the last three seasons.
* Junior Rich Williams is averaging 17.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game over his last four games while shooting 49.0 percent (25-for-51) from the field, highlighted by his first career double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) against Columbia.
* On the year, Williams, who has paced the squad in scoring three times and in rebounding on five occasions, is among the MAAC leaders in scoring (16.8 ppg-9th), rebounding (6.1 rpg-9th), defensive rebounds (4.4 drpg-7th) and blocks (0.8 bpg-15th).
* Williams has improved both his scoring (+11.3 ppg) and rebounding (+4.6) numbers from a year ago.
* Williams has hit for at least 20 points on three occasions, highlighted by a career-high 26 in the win over George Mason.
* The duo of Richards and Williams rank fifth in the league with a combined 34.5 points per game.
* Since returning to the starting line-up four games ago, senior RaShawn Stores is averaging 10.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from deep.
* Against Marist, Stores scored a career-high 18 points, fueled by a career-high matching five three pointers, and is averaging 7.2 points and 2.8 assists per game on the year while making good on 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from long range.
* For his career, Stores, a 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Third Team selection, is shooting 42.5 percent (57-for-134) on threes after halftime, including making good on 47.9 percent (32-of-67) since the start of last year. Stores also has a 3.7 assist/turnover ratio (44 assists/12 TO) over the last two years in the second half.
* The Jaspers are 37-19 over the last three years when Stores, who was granted an extra year of eligibility on July 22, 2015 by the NCAA, starts including going 17-8 last year.
* Both Richards & Stores are the only MAAC student-athletes to have played in each of the last three conference title games and have been a part of 60 total wins, including going 8-1 during MAAC Tournament play.
* Against Columbia, sophomore Zane Waterman notched the seventh-straight Manhattan 20-point performance to start the season, finishing with a career-high 22 points before registering 13 markers, on just 5-of-6 shooting, in the victory over St. Francis Brooklyn.
* Waterman narrowly missed his first career double-double against Marist with nine points and a career-high 10 rebounds and ranks among the league leaders in scoring (10.2 ppg-29th), rebounding (5.4 rpg-12th) and offensive rebounding (2.4-5th).
* Junior Tyler Wilson has paced the team in assists in all nine games while handing out at least six on six occasions en route to ranking second in the MAAC and 26th nationally with 6.0 per game.
* Wilson dished out a career-high 10 assists against Marist, against just one turnover, while becoming the first Manhattan student-athlete to record double-figures since Von Damien Green notched 10 against Saint Peter's on January 30, 2002.
* Wilson, who scored a season-high 13 points at Fordham, also ranks sixth in the MAAC with a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio and 1.7 steals per game.
* Sophomore Samson Akilo matched his career-highs with four points and two rebounds over a personal-best 17 minutes in the win over St. Francis Brooklyn. In his last three games, Akilo has 11 points and four rebounds over 40 minutes after notching just two points and one rebound in 11 minutes of action in his first three games.
* Akilo also earned his first career start with Manhattan registering its seventh different starting line-up this season in the victory over St. Francis Brooklyn.
* Freshman Thomas Capuano has had a solid start to his career, averaging 5.8 points, 2.0 steals (3rd MAAC) and 2.2 assists each time out. He is also shooting 40.4 percent from the field and deposited a career-high 14 points in the win over George Mason.
* Manhattan is 37-4 when leading at the half over the last three seasons, including going a perfect 15-0 a year ago. Additionally, since the start of last season the Jaspers are 17-2 when leading with five minutes to play and 13-11 in games decided by 10 points or less.
* Also, over the last three years, Manhattan is 31-6 when holding teams to less than 70 points, 20-6 when limiting teams to less than 40 percent shooting, 23-8 when winning the battle of the boards and 30-13 when forcing more turnovers than the opposition.
* Masiello, who holds a career record of 81-60 (49-29 MAAC), set the school-record for MAAC Tournament wins a year ago with his eighth against Iona while breaking current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla's previous mark.
* Since returning to Riverdale, Masiello has led the Jaspers to a pair of MAAC Championships as well as a pair of 20-plus win campaigns. In his first tenure, he was a part of two MAAC Championships and three 20-plus win seasons. All told, Masiello has been a member of four of the five Manhattan's MAAC Championship teams and five of the Jaspers' 12 20-win seasons in accruing a 164-96 record.
* In his 20th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 442-206, including 321-178 on the sidelines, with one National Title, two National Championship appearances, two Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight berths, eight conference championships, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 20-win seasons.
SCOUTING MORGAN STATE
Morgan State enters Sunday's game in desperate need of a victory as the Bears have lost three-straight games, including a one-point heartbreaker at Wagner. Juniors Kyle Thomas (13.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Andre Horne (11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) lead the attack, which has been bolstered of late by the return of senior Cedric Blossom (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Rasean Simpson (9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
KEY MANHATTAN MATCH-UPS
Three-Point Line - The Jaspers have limited the opposition to just 23.3 percent (10-for-43) shooting over the last three games, but will be facing a Morgan State squad that is converting at a 36.9 percent clip.
Turnovers - Manhattan's trademark pressure will face a solid test against a Bear team that is turning it over just 14.0 times per game, despite having played high-major powers Cincinnati and Virginia.
Start Strong - The Jaspers have led at halftime in each of the last four games and posted a wire-to-wire 71-60 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn earlier this week. The same type of early success is paramount against a rested Morgan State squad that has been idle for two weeks.
FOR STARTERS
Manhattan has used seven different starting line-ups through their first nine games. In Monday's win over St. Francis Brooklyn, Akilo garnered his first career start and was joined in the line-up by Stores, Capuano, Richards and Waterman.
INJURIES APLENTY
The Jaspers have had seven players (six scholarship) miss a total of 32 games due to injury this year.
HIGH FIVE
Manhattan played with just five scholarship players (six total) against George Mason while rallying from a 16-point deficit, which was the largest overcome since battling back from an 18-point margin at Iona on January 12, 2012. The Jaspers also made just eight substitutions in the aforementioned victory against the Patriots and played the final 10:48 with the same line-up.
THIEVERY
Manhattan forced a season-high 25 turnovers in the win over George Mason - fueled by six drawn charges - leading to a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The 25 were the most forced since the Jaspers turned Niagara over 25 times in a 78-77 victory on February 9, 2014.
SUPER SEVEN
Manhattan was able to defeat St. Francis Brooklyn despite having just seven student-athletes available.
IRON MEN
Five times this season a Jasper student-athlete has played 40 minutes in a game (Williams 2x, Capuano, Richards, Wilson).
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Richards, who became the 37th member of the school's 1,000-point club in the win over George Mason, is currently 31st with 1,099 points.
OPENING HALF BLISS
The Jaspers are shooting a blistering 53.5 percent (53-of-99) in the first half over the last four games, including 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from deep, highlighted by making good on a blistering 70.0 percent (14-for-20) in the opening stanza against Marist
THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Manhattan is slated to appear on the ESPN family of networks 11 times during the 2015-2016 season, including 10 during MAAC play. The Jaspers will next play on ESPN3 against Siena on Monday, January 4.
POWERS TO HAVE NUMBER RETIRED
Former Manhattan College student-athlete, Head Men's Basketball Coach and AD Jack Powers will become the first Jasper to have his basketball uniform number 34 retired. It will be raised to the rafters on 'Jack Powers Night,' at halftime of the Iona game at Draddy Gym on February 26, 2016.
FOLLOW ON THE JSN
Fans that are unable to attend the 15 Manhattan road games can follow along via a free live audio stream through the Jaspers' official athletics website. Christian Heimall will again provide the play-by-play with former standouts Brian Mahoney and Chris Williams providing the color. Additionally, 10 home games will streamed via the JSN for a nominal fee.
UP NEXT
Manhattan is at Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, December 29 at 2:00 pm.
