Reynolds wraps up Battle of the Bronx for Manhattan with last-second three

Tyler Reynolds’ three in final seconds lifted Manhattan past Fordham in Battle of the Bronx. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — Just over one year ago, Manhattan had a rivalry game win snatched from under its collective feet when Nick Honor’s jumper with four seconds remaining lifted Fordham to victory in the Battle of the Bronx.

It took 371 days, but revenge — and resilience — was exacted Saturday afternoon.

Unable to score consistently through the first half and majority of the second stanza, Manhattan trailed Fordham by as many as 11 points with less than seven minutes to play in regulation, but ultimately used a corner three-pointer from Tyler Reynolds with the same amount of time remaining in the contest as there was when Honor sunk the Jaspers last December to forge past the Rams in the 112th meeting between the crosstown rivals, earning a scrappy 54-53 overtime triumph at Rose Hill Gymnasium.

“I thought they were very resilient,” head coach Steve Masiello said of his Jaspers (4-3), who rebounded from an 18-point loss at Stony Brook this past Monday with their third double-digit comeback of the season, adding Fordham to a list already including Albany and Elon. “We battled, couldn’t score early, made some shots, got some confidence, saw the ball go in a little bit, and I thought that was the difference in the game.”

Manhattan made only five of its 25 field goals in the first 20 minutes, as Fordham (5-3) forced twelve Jasper turnovers and took momentum from an Antwon Portley jumper at the buzzer into the locker room with a 22-14 halftime lead. The shooting woes that plagued the Jaspers Monday night were still prevalent with 6:59 to play, as Erten Gazi connected on a three-pointer that put the host Rams ahead by a 39-28 count, perhaps a dagger of sorts against an offensively challenged Manhattan outfit.

But as the Jaspers have done time and again in Masiello’s eight-plus-year tenure, they created offense through defense. Eight straight points out of a timeout — on a pair of threes by Reynolds and a layup from Elijah Buchanan — whose personal-best 15 points nabbed the Bronx native Mike Cohen Most Valuable Player honors — brought Manhattan within three, and following four Fordham points, a Buchanan free throw and back-to-back Samir Stewart triples brought the visitors all the way back, tying the score at 43 apiece and sending the annual showdown between the longtime foes to overtime for the first time since February 25, 1950.

“Before the game, Coach texted me and told me to just be myself, go back to the Mount St. Michael’s Eli,” said Buchanan after his career day. “I just kept that in the back of my head the whole game.”

In the overtime period, Fordham led for nearly its duration, but after Portley fouled Stewart out with 15 seconds remaining, the senior surprisingly missed both ensuing free throws, giving Manhattan the opportunity to win. After Buchanan rebounded Portley’s second miss, Pauly Paulicap drove and then found Reynolds in the left corner for the coup de grace that earned the Jaspers their first win at Fordham since November 29, 2012, when Michael Alvarado took matters into his own hands down the stretch.

“We tried to get into a high pick-and-roll with Pauly and Chris (Hinckson),” Masiello said of the game-winning possession. “Chris came off, he threw slot, we threw slot and reversed it, tried to get one more. We got the one more, and Tyler paused for a second, he hesitated, he sized up, he made a tough shot.”

Fordham still had 3.2 ticks on the clock to regain the lead after a Jeff Neubauer timeout, but a Jalen Cobb three was broken up by Bud Mack, leaving the Rams to ponder what could have been.

“I certainly did not put our guys in a good position offensively,” Neubauer recollected. “Manhattan’s defense has been consistent — not just this year, but as long as Steve has been there — and it was tough to attack today. We did have three options on that last play, and 3.2 is plenty of time. I don’t know that we got a good shot. That’s not the shot we were trying to get, but we can do better.”

After wrapping up its five-game road trip, Manhattan now has two more games remaining before Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play begins, and appears to have had a revelatory moment of sorts even though both coach and players admit the collective on-court product still needs improvement.

“After watching film, we noticed that we weren’t ourselves at Stony Brook,” said Paulicap, who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. “We didn’t do the little things that help us win. Today, we definitely did, and that’s what helped us win the game.”

“We’re just very sluggish to start games,” Masiello added. “We’re lethargic, so we’ve got to address that, fix that, and if we do, I think we’ve got a chance to be really good.”