NEW YORK — The Manhattan Jaspers made a second-half comeback after trailing by as many as 15 points, but ultimately could not overcome a slow start Tuesday night, falling 62-56 to the visiting Elon Phoenix at Draddy Gymnasium in the Bronx.
Down 41-28 with 13:35 remaining in the second half, a 14-6 Manhattan spurt that included three-pointers by Daniel Schrier, Ebube Ebube, and Nehemiah Mack made it 47-42. After a three by Elon’s Tyler Seibring momentarily stemmed the tide, Tykei Greene sunk a layup and senior point guard Thomas Capuano then drilled a three-pointer that made it a three-point game at 50-47 with 3:40 to play.
They would keep up the pressure, with a driving layup from Warren Williams again slicing the deficit to three points at 54-51 with 1:50 remaining. But that was the closest that the Jaspers would get down the stretch, as Seibring sunk a fadeaway jumper for Elon with just under a minute left, and fellow senior Sheldon Eberhardt stole an errant pass and converted on the other end on the ensuing possession to put the contest out of reach.
“I thought this team came out and really competed,” head coach Steve Masiello said. “I thought they had great energy, great chemistry, they pulled for one another. (But) I just thought we did some things that made us look a little inexperienced at times.”
The Phoenix ended up leading the entire way, grabbing a 9-0 lead to start the game thanks to seven early points from Seibring, who paced Elon with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Manhattan ended up going nearly six minutes without a field goal to begin the contest, a stretch broken by Greene’s layup at the 14:04 mark. The Jaspers then got their pressure defense going, forcing a trio of Elon turnovers to cut their deficit to 11-8 with 11:19 remaining in the first half.
But Elon followed by embarking on a 15-3 run to take a 26-11 lead with 3:09 remaining until halftime, and eventually settled for a 32-21 advantage at the break.
“I thought their experience showed a little early, and I think we had some jitters,” Masiello said. “We got some good looks around the rim but just couldn’t convert.”
The Jaspers shot 26 percent in the first half (8-for-31), and made just three of 14 shots from beyond the three-point line, digging themselves a hole they ultimately could not climb out of despite making six of 15 triples in the second half to fuel their comeback attempt. Capuano and Mack each had 10 points to lead Manhattan, with Capuano adding a team-best seven rebounds.
The Phoenix placed three players in double figures, with Dainan Swoope contributing 14 points. Steven Santa Ana added 12 points of his own as well, with Elon shooting a robust 47 percent from the field (36 percent from deep) in order to overcome 18 turnovers.
Manhattan will now play their next five games away from home, taking on 2018 NCAA Tournament Cinderella UMBC in their next contest on Monday, November 12.
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