曼哈顿大学体育学院

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Riverdale, NY - Manhattan (3-8; 0-2 MAAC) returns to conference play against Fairfield (6-5; 1-1 MAAC) on Saturday, January 2 at 7:00 pm.

TOP STORYLINES 
#1 - Saturday's match-up begins a stretch that will see the Jaspers play at Draddy Gymnasium five times over the next seven games.

#2 - The last time these teams played, Manhattan bested Fairfield 79-70 last February thanks to forcing the Stags into 20 turnovers while accruing 15 steals.

#3 - The Jaspers concluded non-conference play with a 3-6 record for the second-straight season.

QUICK HITS 
* Manhattan has converted 10 three pointers in each of the last two games and is making good on 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from long range over the last three games.

* The Jaspers scored a season-high 43 second-half points while establishing season-highs in field goal percentage (.577) and three-point field goal percentage (.636) after halftime.

* Leading the way at EKU was sophomore Zane Waterman, who scored 21 of his career-high 23 points after halftime while pulling down seven rebounds.

* Waterman converted on 8-of-13 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from distance, with a career-high two blocks and two assists.

* Waterman's 23-point outing is the 10th Manhattan 20-point performance of the year while marking the ninth game that a Jasper has hit the 20-point plateau.

* Seniors Shane Richards (13 points) and RaShawn Stores (11 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers at EKU.

* Manhattan is 50-45, all-time, against Fairfield with head coach Steve Masiello holding a 6-4 mark against the Stags, including a perfect 4-0 record at home.

* Masiello is 57-32 (.640) against MAAC opposition, including going 29-10 (.744) at Draddy Gymnasium.

* The Jaspers notched season-highs in points (78), threes (10) and free throw percentage (.870) in its 78-66 victory at Morgan State after establishing season-highs in field goal percentage (.556), three-point field goal percentage (.615) and steals (11) in a 71-60 win over St. Francis BK.

* Manhattan is a perfect 3-0 this season when limiting the opposition to less than 70 points, when leading or tied with five minutes to play.

* Over the last six games, opposing shooters are making good on 25.7 percent (19-of-74) from deep with the Jaspers winning the battle of the boards four times.

* In the victory over Morgan State, Richards converted a career-high seven three pointers en route to matching his career-high of 28 points with seven caroms.

* The seven triples are tied for the second-most in a single game by a Manhattan student-athlete, just two off the school record. Kidani Brutus last converted on seven in a 64-63 win over Stony Brook on February 19, 2011.

* Richards, who hit for 19 points with seven rebounds in the victory over St. Francis Brooklyn is averaging 19.3 points and 7.3 rebounds each time out over the last four games.

* He is making good 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from deep over his last three games after converting on just 21.7 percent (10-of-46) from deep in the previous six games.

* Richards notched double figures at EKU for the team-leading 10th time this season and has hit for least 20 points on four occasions this year (11 career) while pacing the squad in scoring six times.

* Last year, Richards scored 20 points in the second half of Manhattan's most recent victory over Fairfield after recording just eight points in three previous halves of action against the Stags.

* A 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Second Team selection, Richards was the hero in the first Jasper win 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.

* The New York native ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (18.2 ppg-4th), free throw percentage (.811-6th), threes (2.5/game-6th), defensive rebounds (4.0 drpg-12th) and minutes (37.2-2nd).

* From long range, Richards has converted at least three triples in 53 of his 109 games, including at least four 29 times, and is the school's single-season (92-2015) and career (262) leader in threes. When he connects on four in a game, Manhattan is 19-10, including 15-7 over the last three seasons.

* Also turning in a huge game in the win at Morgan State was junior Rich Williams, who finished with his second double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds) of the year off the bench while leading a second unit that scored a season-high 34 points. For Williams, it was his fourth 20-point performance of the season, highlighted by a career-high 26 in the victory over George Mason.

* Williams, who narrowly missed his third double-double with nine points and nine rebounds at EKU, is averaging 16.7 points and 7.0 rebounds each time out over his last six games with two double-doubles (17 points, 11 rebounds-Columbia) while shooting 49.3 percent (37-of-75) from the field and 90.7 percent (20-of-22) from the line.

* On the year, Williams, who has paced the squad in scoring three times and in rebounding on seven occasions, is among the MAAC leaders in scoring (16.6 ppg-7th), rebounding (6.7 rpg-8th), defensive rebounds (5.0 drpg-3rd), free throw percentage (.783-13th) and blocks (0.7 bpg-15th).

* Williams has improved both his scoring (+11.1 ppg) and rebounding (+5.2) numbers from a year ago.

* The duo of Richards and Williams also became the first pair of Jaspers to each notch 20 points in a game this year and are second in the league with a combined 34.8 points per game. The two also combined to go a perfect 13-for-13 at the line in the victory at Morgan State as Manhattan improved to 3-1 when converting on at least 70 percent at the line.

* Helping fuel the Jaspers' season-high 78 points in the win over Morgan State was junior Tyler Wilson, who handed out a career-high matching 10 assists with nine points. Wilson has paced the squad in assists in each of Manhattan's 11 games.

* Wilson's dished out 10 assists, against one turnover, against Marist, which was the first double-figure performance by a Jasper student-athlete since Von Damien Green notched 10 against Saint Peter's on January 30, 2002.

* Wilson, who has also handed out at least five dimes on eight occasions, leads the MAAC and is 20th nationally with 6.3 per game while also ranking among the MAAC leaders in steals (1.5 spg-7th) and assist-turnover ratio (1.6-6th).

* Manhattan notched a season-high matching 11 against St. Francis Brooklyn while improving to 2-0 this year when notching double-figures in thefts.

* Since 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, while ranking 69th nationally with a 7.7 per game. Freshman Thomas Capuano is second in the league and 34th nationally with 2.1 per game after recording his sixth multi-steal game of the year at EKU.

* Capuano, who scored a career-high 14 against George Mason, also registered double-figures in scoring for the third time this year, finishing with 10 points the last time out and is averaging 5.6 points per game.

* Manhattan forced at least 19 turnovers for the fourth time this season against St. Francis BK and ranks 47th nationally with a MAAC-best 15.6 forced turnovers each time out.

* During Masiello's tenure, the Jaspers are 19-9 when forcing the opposition into at least 20 turnovers.

* Against Marist, Stores scored a career-high 18 points, fueled by a career-high matching five three pointers, and is averaging 7.3 points and 2.6 assists per game on the year while making good on 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from long range.

* For his career, Stores, a 2015-2016 All-MAAC Preseason Third Team selection, is shooting 42.3 percent (58-of-137) on threes after halftime, including making good on 47.1 percent (33-of-70) since the start of last year. Stores also has a 3.75 assist/turnover ratio (45 assists/12 TO) over the last two years in the second half.

* Manhattan is 38-20 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 61 total wins, including going 8-1 during MAAC Tournament play.

* Waterman, who bettered his previous career-high of 22 points set against Columbia, ranks among the league leaders in scoring (10.6 ppg-27th), rebounding (5.5 rpg-13th), three point percentage (.406-9th), field goal percentage (.494-12th) and offensive rebounding (2.1 opg-8th).

* Sophomore Samson Akilo matched his career-highs with four points and two rebounds in the win over St. Francis Brooklyn and has started each of the last three games.

* The most recent line-up of Stores, Capuano, Richards, Akilo and Waterman is the seventh different set of starters employed by Masiello this season and has registered a 2-1 record.

* In the victory over Morgan State, sophomores Calvin Crawford and Chris Rivera made their season-debuts. Crawford finished with two points and a rebound while Rivera had an assist in his Jasper debut after being added to the team the day before. Crawford followed that up with eight points at EKU.

* The Jaspers are 38-4 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 Manhattan is 18-2 when leading with five minutes to play and 13-11 in games decided by 10 points or less.

* Also, over the last three years, the Jaspers are 32-6 when holding teams to less than 70 points, 20-6 when limiting teams to less than 40 percent shooting, 24-8 when winning the battle of the boards and 30-13 when forcing more turnovers than the opposition.

* Manhattan's non-conference slate featured 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.

* Masiello, who holds a career record of 82-61 (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 Manhattan to a pair of MAAC Titles 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 Jasper MAAC Championship teams and five of Manhattan's 12 20-win seasons in accruing a 165-97 record.

* In his 20th season as either a player or a coach, Masiello has a career collegiate record of 443-207, including 322-179 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.