Williams joins 1,000-point club as Jaspers handle Siena to win second straight

Rich Williams' 21 points led all players as fifth-year senior became Manhattan's latest 1,000-point scorer in Jaspers' win over Siena. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

RIVERDALE, NY -- After letting a win get away this past Sunday, Steve Masiello stressed his team's inability to defend as the prime reason behind Rider negating a double-digit deficit to come away with a road victory.

After placing a greater emphasis on defense against Fairfield Thursday night, citing the two days leading up to the contest as "not fun," Manhattan rewarded its coach with his first-ever win in Bridgeport, and replicated a similar effort two days later.

Playing with a renewed vigor on the defensive end of the basketball and pressuring Siena's young guards into frequent miscues, the Jaspers held their visitors without a field goal for over ten minutes in the first half and forced 25 turnovers overall, ending the game on a 13-4 run to score a 72-61 decision over the Saints for their second consecutive triumph in a span of 48 hours.

"I thought we were coming out and defending with the right mindset," a vindicated Masiello assessed as Manhattan (9-9, 4-2 MAAC) got 21 points from Rich Williams to lead all scorers as the fifth-year senior led four Jaspers in double figures on the scoreboard. "We were creating pace, turning people over. Those are the things we do. We were plus-16 in field goal attempts. That's what we want. So in all those areas, it was very good."

Williams, who became the school's 39th 1,000-point scorer on a jumper less than four minutes into the second half, set the tone early and often, playing one of his better games of the season. However, the veteran deflected any individual credit, doubling down on the commitment to team defense as the deciding factor.

"After the Rider game, we had two hard days of practice and we got back to our principles of guarding," he said. "Once we did that, everything else took care of itself. In the first half, we knew we had more in the tank, so in the second half, we were all about communication to make sure we could get good stuff to happen on offense."

Manhattan's pressure, the same formula that Masiello rode to two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships, manifested itself through the majority of the opening stanza, not conceding a field goal between Jordan Horn's basket with 14:36 to play in the half and an Evan Fisher layup with 4:19 on the clock. The Saints (5-14, 1-5 MAAC) actually did not even get to attempt a shot for over five minutes in that stretch, succumbing to the Jasper defense rising to the occasion in a spirited performance.

"That's too many," head coach Jimmy Patsos said of Siena's 25 miscues. "I thought we had five in the last four minutes. We're working on it, it's a work in progress, but we came down here and we battled the top two teams in the league as hard as we could."

A 7-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half gave the Saints a 39-36 lead, and the margin stayed within one possession until the final four minutes, when the visitors' carelessness with the basketball came back to burn them again. Four giveaways in just over two minutes started a 9-2 Manhattan run that effectively iced the game, with a steal-and-layup combination by Williams serving as the exclamation point as the Jaspers finished the first third of their conference schedule with four wins in six attempts.

"When we do what we're capable of doing, I think we're a good team," said Masiello. "When we don't do those things, we can be beaten by anyone. We're not going to come in and out-offensive you, so to speak. Our game isn't 28-3, our game isn't coming down jacking. That's not who we are, that's not who this program has ever been. It's all about our identity."