Manhattan suffers setback at Iona in rematch with Gaels

Despite being swept by Iona, RaShawn Stores continues to thrive with Manhattan as Jaspers contend for MAAC tournament bye in regular season stretch run. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — There was no need for the infinitesimal collection of Manhattan fans to hold their breath on Friday night at the Hynes Center.

That was because Iona jumped out to an early lead on the overachieving Jaspers and never looked back. The Manhattan result was a 71-60 setback in a game it never led, clinching a series sweep at the hands of their biggest rival for the first time since the 2017-18 season. 

Ant Nelson opened the scoring for Manhattan with a three-pointer after watching Walter Clayton, Jr. do the same for Iona. Yet Nelson proceeded to stumble out of the gate with two turnovers in the opening four minutes, allowing Iona to stake out a 16-7 lead. With the ball security not as sharp as it needed to be most of the night, coupled with the choppiness of their offensive possessions against the Iona press, the Jaspers found themselves playing catch-up all night, with no real motor on either end to make up for their early deficit. 

The Jasper shooters had decent looks, especially in the first half, but missed their fair share of them to squash even the slightest signs of momentum before it could build. Nick Brennen and Samir Stewart hit six threes between them, but none felt big enough to threaten Iona’s stability, and a few of the misses from three seemed to have a larger net negative compared to the positives of the makes. To boot, Manhattan had to get back and defend some combination of Daniss Jenkins, Berrick JeanLouis, and Clayton in transition. 

“We have to do a better job of getting back,” interim head coach RaShawn Stores said. “That’s the key thing and not losing shooters.” 

A 11-point halftime deficit for Manhattan grew as high as 20 following a three from Iona’s Anton Brookshire with 16:05 left. The Gaels’ 10-1 run out of the half sucked the life out of Manhattan. Whether the Jaspers ran any variation of their press defense or picked up man-to-man in the half-court, no defensive formation proved optimal to help pick themselves back up on the other side of the ball. 

The Jaspers had no answer for Clayton, who poured in 23 points and five 3-pointers while continuing his on-court assault of Manhattan, who gave up 21 to the MAAC Player of the Year candidate in Iona’s overtime win at Draddy Gymnasium on January 20.

While Manhattan settled too much on the perimeter, the bigs provided sparks. First, the energy came from backup center Adam Cisse, who had seven points and eight rebounds in an uber-efficient 18 minutes. Cisse ran the court on one play in the first half and was rewarded with a feed from Nelson to set up an and-one for the 6-foot-10 senior. 

After a disappointing first half, Josh Roberts was a stalwart in the second half much like he has been all year for the Jaspers. Roberts pulled down 18 of Manhattan’s 34 rebounds, but only managed seven field goal attempts, of which he made five. Roberts has made a good case for first team All-MAAC recognition, but Nelly Junior Joseph would beg to differ. The Iona big man almost equaled Roberts’ performance, registering 12 points and 17 rebounds. Joseph has 16 double-doubles to Roberts’ four, but the latter is third in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 70 percent from the floor.

Stores hasn’t used Roberts and Cisse much together due to a lack of depth at the position, but gave it a shot Friday night. It proved effective defensively at times, which is something to keep an eye on going forward.

“I try to see what’s working or not, and go with the flow,” Stores said of using the bigger lineup.

After the game, Rick Pitino heaped praise on Roberts’ performance, but doesn’t think the former St. John’s transfer will quite make the jump to the NBA, or even the G League for that matter, like he potentially sees for Clayton.

“Josh Roberts will have a great career in Europe,” Pitino said. “What he has to do is work on his 14-16 foot jump shot. They all go after those players. The G League is sometimes not the best scenario. He’s terrific.”

Pitino can’t help but think what Manhattan could be if it still had Jose Perez and Omar Silverio, the former of whom was named Preseason MAAC Player of the Year and the latter having never suited up for the Jaspers after both transferred following the surprising dismissal of former head coach Steve Masiello on October 25, just 13 days before Manhattan’s season started at VCU.

“Without question, if we were at full strength, we’d be a better basketball team,” Pitino said. “But if Manhattan was at full strength, by far, they’re the best team in the conference.”

Stores doesn’t want to dwell on the Iona loss too much, given the magnitude of Sunday’s game at Fairfield. Both the Jaspers and Stags are still in the hunt for a first-round bye in Atlantic City, with Fairfield currently owning a half-game lead on Manhattan. Stores’ undying belief stems from how far the resilient Jaspers have come already. 

“One game at a time, we don’t look ahead,” Stores said. “No one believed we would be in this spot right now.”