Turnovers cost Jaspers again in latest setback to Fairfield

Manhattan head coach John Gallagher high-fives Daniel Rouzan (23) during Jaspers’ win over Niagara. Sunday’s loss at Fairfield was Manhattan’s 12th in last 13 games. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/Manhattan College Athletics)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — It’s hard to find positives when you lose 12 of 13 games.

It’s even tougher when the driving force behind the struggles is live ball turnovers, which for John Gallagher’s Manhattan Jaspers, has inflated to 95 total turnovers in a six-game stretch.

In Sunday’s 77-68 loss to Fairfield, Manhattan coughed up 17 more.

“Our live ball turnovers are igniting other teams right now,” Gallagher said after watching his team’s four-point lead with 9:20 left slip away thanks to a 14-0 run by the Stags. “I’ve never seen some of these turnovers. We have to work on it and it starts with me.”

Manhattan’s 17 turnovers made it almost impossible for the Jaspers to get in any type of sustained rhythm. To make matters worse, Seydou Traore was off his game and held to eight points and two rebounds. Overall, Manhattan put up a fair fight in its weekend tilts with MAAC title contenders Quinnipiac and Fairfield, losing by six and points, respectively.

“It’s hard going through this,” Gallagher said, while acknowledging there are no moral victories. “But you don’t go through this for it to not go your way.”

There is talent assembled with this Manhattan team, but the bigger questions are the personnel fit and lack of depth on a day where leading scorer Shaquil Bender was sidelined for the second time this season due to a discipline issue. The lack of definitive leadership outside of Jaden Winston’s lead-by-example approach has also been glaring with this Jasper team since Brett Rumpel was lost five games into the season with a torn ACL. Still, Manhattan does not have quit in its blood, as evidenced by cutting Fairfield’s 10-point lead down to four in the closing minutes when Winston set up Traore for an alley-oop jam on a fast break.

 

“We’re dealing with freshmen in college basketball,” Gallagher said as a blanket statement suggesting the youthfulness his roster skews toward. “Everyone else has fifth-year guys. It’s a sign of the future for how good we can be.”

There is no denying that the freshmen, Winston and Traore, are special talents. Winston especially has come on late with 12.8 points, 4.8 assists and six rebounds per game over his last five games. Additionally, Winston’s movement off the ball and ability to finish in the lane have improved drastically, too.

“We are going to win big games with Jaden,” Gallagher said of the DeMatha Catholic product. “He’s as good as any point guard that I’ve ever coached.”

Manhattan is going to need more contributions elsewhere outside of Winston, Traore, and Daniel Rouzan, who was doubled team late on Sunday after hurting the Stags early on inside.

“We have to get some production out of our bench right now,” said Gallagher, posing a challenge to his bench for more production than the 24 points chipped in on Sunday. “If you look at our numbers, that's the game.”

Manhattan may get its best scoring weapon yet if former Cal point guard DeJuan Clayton receives a temporary restraining order after having sued the NCAA for denying him eligibility. Clayton, 26, is seeking an eighth year of eligibility after having already received two medical redshirts and the extra year granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. The next court date for the case is scheduled for February 20, which means Clayton’s debut will have to wait until the Marist game on February 23 if the court rules him eligible.