Jaspers clinch No. 6 seed after loss to Mount St. Mary’s

RaShawn Stores imparts instructions to his Manhattan team during regular season finale against Mount St. Mary’s. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

NEW YORK — Anyone who has watched the Manhattan Jaspers play this season knows they have a flair for the dramatic.

The Jaspers aren’t a stout defensive unit, and can go missing offensively for stretches, but you can never put a limit on their will to compete. Saturday afternoon at Draddy Gymnasium, Manhattan had another lackluster first half in letting Mount St. Mary’s build a 19-point lead. It was almost predictable they would come back, though, ultimately regaining the lead twice, including by as much as six points. However, late-game execution woes plagued Manhattan in the end with The Mount escaping with a 74-69 win. 

Manhattan has mostly been a second half team this season propelled by Anthony Nelson and Josh Roberts. Both players showed out in the season finale, combining for 31 points and giving their final pitch for why they should be on one of the All-MAAC teams. Roberts, a human pogo stick, had a couple of highlight-worthy blocks and posed huge problems around the rim for a height-challenged Mountaineer team. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds to seal his fifth double-double of the season in his last game ever at Draddy. 

“I believe he should get it,” RaShawn Stores said of Roberts’ standing in the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year sweepstakes. 

Among the reasons why Manhattan has been able to come back in games is Nelson’s ability to push the pace, score the ball and set up his teammates for open looks. He had eight first-half points before turning it up another level in the second. Nelson developed a rhythm with his baby floater in the paint all night, and made it look effortless despite having to stop on a dime most times.

Despite Nelson’s mostly successful night, which included a team-high 17 points and seven assists, he was the culprit of one play that swung the momentum back in favor of Mount St. Mary’s. With Manhattan up one with over three minutes left, an errant pass by Dakota Leffew was intercepted by Nelson, who raced down the court for an open layup only to miss it. That led to a five-point swing when Deandre Thomas nailed a three on the other end to regain the lead for the Mountaineers. 

There were other missed opportunities too, including a missed three from Samir Stewart on a good look from straight away with Manhattan trailing by two with just over two minutes left. Then, a few moments later, the Manhattan defense fell asleep on an inbounds play in which Leffew beat the Jaspers down the court with a breakaway dunk to extend the lead back to four with 38 seconds left.

The visitors didn’t react well to Manhattan’s 22-7 run out of the break. There was a stretch of seven minutes without the Mountaineers hitting a field goal, due in large part to the intensive one-on-one man pressure Manhattan subjected them to. The one area Manhattan couldn’t stop them in was getting to the free throw line, which was the difference in this one and saw The Mount take 17 more free throws and hit 13 more. 

“We have to rebound better, and 24 to seven from the free throw line, we have to do better,” Stores said.

The result was futile, but Stores was the least bit surprised that his team took the lead in the second half after trailing the entire first half. Guys have stepped up this season and done so by flying under the radar. It all starts with the trust Stores has in them. 

“They just believe in each other, it’s a brotherhood,” Stores said. “Guys are making big time plays.” 

Manhattan couldn’t complete the season series sweep against The Mount, and most importantly lost out on the fifth bye after Quinnipiac also beat Marist and Canisius downed crosstown rival Niagara. That lands the Jaspers with the No. 6 seed and sets them up for a date with 11-seed Marist at 9 pm on Tuesday. The winner plays third-seeded Quinnipiac on Thursday. 

Manhattan has also stayed calm by following the mantra of their head coach to take things one game at a time. The Jaspers are sure to have a target on their back in Atlantic City after stealing some games from teams with big second-half comebacks. 

Despite the Jaspers being the higher seed in Tuesday night’s matchup, the Red Foxes may be the hunted after Manhattan lost to Marist, 81-58, on February 24. In that game, the Jaspers let Patrick Gardner get the better of them, like he’s done to so many teams this season. Stephane Ingo finished with a career-high 17 points and pulled down 11 boards. Marist hit 12 of its final 17 attempts from three in that game, taking advantage of shoddy 3-point defense from Manhattan. Call it revenge for Manhattan’s 80-69 win in Poughkeepsie earlier in the season. 

“He’s really good and he can score on all levels,” Stores said of Gardner after the most recent contest between the two teams. “If you get into him it may be a foul, or if you don’t, there’s too much space and he will knock it down.” 

The bye was not something Stores would hang his head over anyways, insisting his Jaspers would brush off Sunday’s loss like they’ve done so many times already. The Quinnipiac and Niagara results only came in after Manhattan’s loss, so Stores had no specific comments on the next steps for the Jaspers, other than the fact his team will be ready by opening tip-off in Atlantic City:

“One day, one practice, one game at a time.”