Richards Sets Record As Manhattan Survives Bear Scare

Manhattan junior Shane Richards set a new school record of 166 career 3-pointers with a straightaway jumper a minute into the second half.

Richards finished 4-6 from beyond the arc and scored 20 points for the second time in his career, leading the Jaspers to a 73-69 victory over Morgan State Saturday evening. As a team, the Jaspers made nine of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. The nine conversions tied a season high they achieved against Florida State in their season opener.

“Honestly I forgot about the record,” Richards said. “I just wanted to come out aggressive and get our team out to a fast start. I’m happy, I’m ecstatic that I’ve done it. It’s a great accomplishment for the school and for myself and I hope we’ll just build on it.”

A back-and-forth first half found Morgan State with a slim 33-31 lead thanks in part to a three minute stretch near the end of the half in which the Jaspers were held scoreless. The second half continued the trend of the first, as both teams traded the lead 18 times over the course of the contest. Once again, a Jasper scoring drought afforded Morgan State the opportunity to seize a small lead.

This time the drought lasted six minutes. After a Rich Williams 3-pointer put the Jaspers up 59-53 with 10:32 to play, Manhattan didn’t score again until an Emmy Andujar layup with just 4:25 to play. After Morgan State took a 65-61 lead a minute later, the Jaspers finished the game on a 12-4 run to secure the victory.

After Manhattan’s MAAC rival Rider easily handled Morgan State 62-48 on Thursday, most would think the Jaspers would have an easy time with the Bears. Count me amongst the guilty in that regard. However, you would have a hard time convincing Steve Masiello that game meant anything to his team.

“Every game has its own identity,” the Manhattan head coach said. “I don’t care what anyone does against our opponents. I take Morgan State the same way I take Louisville. I think that’s actually one of the reasons we’ve done a good job of beating teams we’re supposed to beat for the most part, because we respect every opponent the exact same way. Our preparation doesn’t vary one bit. When you’re playing a team, records don’t matter. Nothing matters but what happens during those 40 minutes.”

Manhattan’s press rattled the Bears, forcing 19 Morgan State turnovers. The Jaspers converted 25 of their points off turnovers. It was the third time in their last four games the Jaspers have pressured their opponents into at least 19 turnovers.

Morgan State center Zech Smith had the game of his life. The seven-footer dominated the paint all evening, posting 19 points and 15 rebounds. His seven offensive rebounds helped the Bears hold a 20-12 advantage on second-chance opportunities. Cedric Blossom followed just behind with 18 points and seven rebounds while Blake Boseman rounded out the scoring with 12 points.

Andujar was the lone Jasper to join Richards in double figures. The senior forward scored 16 points while adding six assists and five rebounds in a strong all-around effort. Cincinnati transfer Jermaine Lawrence added a season high nine points as he continued to get back on track after missing four games earlier in the year.

Saturday’s victory was just the second home game of Manhattan’s season after a daunting non-conference schedule. Masiello is excited to play more games at Draddy Gym with the resumption of MAAC play right around the corner.

“On game days I actually forget what we do here because we just don’t have them,” Masiello joked. “I love playing at home.”

Vincent Simone covers Quinnipiac, the MAAC, and Hofstra for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow him on Twitter @VTSimone.