Jaspers fall victim to cold shooting, strong defense in loss to Stony Brook

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Returning to New York for the first time in over two weeks for the final two legs of its five-game road trip, Manhattan sought refuge from the first snowfall of the season against a Stony Brook team looking to get back to its winning ways after a road loss to undefeated Delaware.

Unfortunately for the Jaspers, their shooting mirrored the frigid December night, managing only a 28 percent clip from the floor, rendering them unable to avenge last season's loss to Stony Brook at Draddy Gymnasium, instead falling to the Seawolves in a 65-47 decision whose final score was made more manageable by Manhattan ending the game on a 12-0 run after trailing by as many as 30 points earlier in the second half.

“We weren’t ready to play,” Steve Masiello forwardly assessed after Manhattan (3-3) was unable to convert field goals in the paint for prolonged stretches of the night, compounding an effort in which the Jaspers were also outrebounded by Stony Brook to the tune of a 44-34 margin. “I thought we got out-toughed. I just didn’t think we played very well.”

Manhattan competed with the Seawolves (6-3) through the first several minutes of the first half, but after a Tykei Greene three-pointer that squared the score at 11-all with just over five minutes gone by, the Jaspers could only muster four field goals for the duration of the opening stanza, allowing Stony Brook to string together a 12-1 run that proved to be all the cushion the hosts would need. The Seawolves would later add stretches of ten and eleven unanswered points, respectively, at separate stages of the second half, but by that point, the end result was one head coach Geno Ford was satisfied with, considering his team had only seen three possessions worth of the zone defense employed by Manhattan prior to Monday night’s action.

“I thought the game was going to be physical and tough, and it was,” Ford said of the challenge presented by Manhattan, one that was mitigated by reigning America East Defensive Player of the Year Jeff Otchere forcing Pauly Paulicap into a 3-of-10 shooting effort. “That’s a pretty good basketball team that plays physical and plays hard, and they make you play their style. It’s a team that, tonight, couldn’t quite buy a basket, and I thought Jeff’s interior defense was a huge factor.”

Elijah Olaniyi and Andrew Garcia, the latter of whom came within a rebound of recording a double-double, scored 16 points apiece to lead the way for Stony Brook as Manhattan now sets its sights on the 112th Battle of the Bronx this Saturday against crosstown rival Fordham, but not without experiencing teaching moments that will undoubtedly serve to reinforce the potential of a team projected to be a top-half program in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season.

“You always find lessons and things you can correct and change as you go through the journey,” Masiello optimistically opined. “I think we’ve made a lot of progress over the last seven, eight months. Tonight, obviously, we didn’t show it, but give them credit for not letting us get in rhythm and feel good about ourselves. I think this team has a lot of potential and I think they’re going to be very good when it’s all said and done. Tonight was not indicative of that.”