Category: Manhattan

Thursday Round Up / Friday Previews

Fordham and Hofstra both got wins on Thursday and NJIT even threw a pre-Christmas scare into a young Rutgers team. For the Rams and Pride the wins were solid bounce backs from losses and provide jumping off points for some more challenging games on the horizon. Also, there’s three teams in action tonight as Manhattan takes on George Mason, Wagner is at #13 Pittsburgh and St. Francis (NY) hosts Norfolk State.

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Tuesday Wrap Up

I wanted to post a quick look at some of the action from Tuesday night as Manhattan and Long Island both secured wins. (Note: You can read about Jason Brickman and Michael Alvarado’s individual performances in terms of assists on the nightly Assist Tracker for Dec. 20.)

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Assist Tracker: Dec. 20

Jesse Sanders (G, Liberty) — I’m not really sure playing a game against Montreat College should even count in the assist tracker, but Sanders had 16 assists in the 91-73 win. Three of those assists went to his younger brother John Caleb Sanders. He scored 20 points. The assists were very evenly split amongst layups, dunks, jumpers and threes. The 16 assists were an arena record at the Vines Center.

Vincent Council (G, Providence) — Council had one nice double-double with 17 points and 12 assists for the Friars in his first game after being inexplicably left off the Bob Cousy Award watch list. He helped Providence to a 67-52 over New Hampshire. Half of his assist went to Gerard Coleman, who led Providence with 20 points. Seven of Council’s 12 assists went for layups and just two were for threes.

Matt Carlino (G, BYU) — Carlino also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 assist. He wasn’t done yet though, also recording seven rebounds in BYU’s 93-78 win over Buffalo. Carlino did a nice job of distributing his assists to a bunch of players. Anson Winder and Noah Hartsock each got three, Brock Zylstra two, and Nate Austin, Josh Sharp and Charles Abouo one. Winder had 20 points in 19 minutes off the bench, including 6-7 of three-point shooting, and Carlino certainly helped sparked him.

Jason Brickman (G, Long Island) — Another guy with a bunch of assists, another double-double. Brickman played what might’ve been his best game of the season against Texas State with 12 points, 11 assists and just three turnovers. Four of Brickman’s assists went to Julian Boyd, who scored 22 points. Two of Michael Culpo’s five threes came off assists from Brickman as he got back on track as well. All of that helped LIU put up 100 on the Bobcats.

Will Weathers (G, Troy) — He played 36 minutes and shot 1-7 from the field, but Weathers helped the Trojans to an 80-72 win over Southern Utah thanks to 10 assists. Every assist by Weathers was either a three (3) or a layup (7). He really spread the love around too as no player converted more than three of his passes into buckets. Troy had a super balanced scoring offensive effort as seven players scored between eight and 13 points.

Michael Alvarado (G, Manhattan) — The Jaspers moved to 8-4 overall with an 81-62 victory over Towson and part of it was thanks to Alvarado’s eight assists. The sophomore guard also had six steals in the game. Because Manhattan plays exactly like Louisville it’s no surprise that all of Alvarado’s assists were for either threes, layups or dunks. The one dunk went to George Beamon, who led the team with 21 points. Also, two of Liam McCabe-Moran’s four threes (on 4-4 shooting) were from Alvarado as well.

Scott Wood (F, N.C. State) — Wood is our token big man of the night as the Wolfpack survived at St. Bonaventure 67-65 on Tuesday night. Wood led the team with 20 points and he also had six assists in 36 minutes. Three of his six assist came on jump shots though, so I don’t expect to see him on this list often.

Peyton Siva (G, Louisville) — The Cardinals had to work pretty hard to take down College of Charleston 69-62. The Cougars dropped to 9-2 with the loss. Siva had six assists in the win, including assists on all three of Chris Smith’s threes. Siva had one assist that wasn’t a dunk or a three; it was a jumper by Kyle Kuric.

Early season grades for area teams

Since its exam break it seems like a good time to hand out some grades for each of the area teams. These grades are based on preseason expectations and there is absolutely no grade inflation here. Most teams are going to be in the C range and you’ll notice that I’ve liberally handed out a bunch of D’s as well. If you think your school deserved a better one feel free to argue in the comments. They’re listed from best to worst and I’ve also included a special one grade at the end.

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Moving in Different Directions

Game #8-220: Fordham Rams at Manhattan Jaspers

December 7, 2011 7:00 pm
Draddy Gymnasium
BBState Stats/Recap

Just walking into Draddy Gymnasium, you knew that this game was different. For one, there were students in the stands. A lot of students. And they were all wearing white. Usually the Jasper Jungle has a few hardy souls that have come to root on Manhattan, but tonight it was full. (We’ll ignore the fact that Jaspers, named after Brother Jasper from the late 19th century, probably shouldn’t be in a jungle in the first place.)

Why was this game different Why were CBS’ Jon Rothstein and other members of the New York media here Why had a couple St. John’s students made the trip up to the Bronx just to watch the game It wasn’t because Manhattan had won its last two games in convincing fashion to start off 2-0 in MAAC play; it was because this was the Battle of the Bronx. Fordham had come across the borough to Riverdale, and this game was for all the marbles.

This was the 104th edition of this game that the two teams have been playing almost continuously for 100 years now. This season, it featured a hot young Manhattan team led by Steve Masiello and Rick Pitino’s Louisville wizardry that he’d brought back to Riverdale. (In fact, Rothstein would tweet during the game that Manhattan looked like a “AAA version” of the current No. 4 team in the nation.) At 5-4 and 2-0 in league play, there was some buzz that maybe this team really was back. A new era of Manhattan basketball was starting.

There was some of that same buzz at Fordham just last season. Tom Pecora took over the Rams after coaching at Hofstra, and it was supposed to be the start of something new. But no one realized just how much work he was going to have to do.

For unlike Masiello, who seems to have inherited the pieces that nicely fit into his pressing, aggressive offensive scheme, Pecora started to build from the ground up. He had a few nice pieces like Chris Gaston, but he needed more.

And then Manhattan zoomed past. Junior George Beamon, Manhattan’s star player, scored eight points before the Rams even knew what hit them. The early hole was too much. The Jaspers kept the Rams at bay for the rest of the first half and then put the pedal to the metal in the second half, roaring away for a convincing 81-47 victory.

The students were delighted. As sophomore Rhamel Brown sent back two Fordham shots in the same possession the crowd yelled with excitement. Both teams have a lot of new faces this season, but it was obvious that these two teams are moving in different directions.

Fordham is struggling. Pecora has recruited talented young players, but they’re still learning to play together. The pieces haven’t gelled quite yet. The wins have been hard to come by. Everything needs to go right.

Manhattan is rising up. A sleeping giant at the end of the 1 train, the Jaspers won 20-plus games in five of the six seasons between 2001-02 and 2005-06. They were once a MAAC titan. Now that energy is back.

When Masiello came to Manhattan he brought with him a fascination for players around 6-foot-6 that can do everything on the court. Classifying Emmy Andujar and Donovan Kates as guards or forwards is a matter of semantics. Andujar, a freshman from the Bronx, is listed as a forward, but he’s got a great basketball IQ and the ability to push the ball by himself in transition.

It was fitting, then, that after the game Andujar was named the MVP of the Battle of the Bronx. He scored 14 points, grabbed seven boards and dished out seven assists, but his contribution was much more than that what was in the box score. He is part of a new group of players at Manhattan.

After the game, Masiello said that even though the Jaspers were 6-4, he wasn’t happy. He expected to be 9-1 after its first 10 games. (I guess he understood that beating Syracuse at the Carrier Dome would’ve been the tallest of orders.) You can live with being unsatisfied if the end result is still this good. For two teams met in an arena on Wednesday night, and left heading in two very different directions.

at MANHATTAN 81, FORDHAM 47
12/07/2011

FORDHAM 3-4 (0-0)– D. McMillan 4-11 4-8 12; B. Smith 1-3 0-0 3; A. Estwick 2-7 0-0 5; B. Frazier 3-8 2-2 9; C. Gaston 4-7 0-0 8; K. Bristol 0-0 0-0 0; R. Canty 2-2 1-3 5; L. Samuell 0-3 1-4 1; M. Dominique 1-2 0-0 2; J. Short 0-4 2-2 2; L. Zivkovic 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 10-19 47.

MANHATTAN 6-4 (2-0)– E. Andujar 5-7 3-5 14; G. Beamon 5-9 2-4 15; R. Colonette 3-8 1-2 7; M. Alvarado 3-4 5-5 12; K. Brutus 1-4 0-0 2; D. Kates 2-5 4-6 10; L. McCabe-Moran 3-7 2-2 10; R. Brown 3-6 3-4 9; M. Koita 0-1 0-0 0; R. McCoy 0-0 0-0 0; D. Anderson 0-3 0-0 0; K. Laue 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-55 20-28 81.

Three-point goals: FORD 3-17 (A. Estwick 1-4; B. Frazier 1-3; D. McMillan 0-2; J. Short 0-4; B. Smith 1-2; L. Zivkovic 0-2), MAN 9-19 (L. McCabe-Moran 2-6; G. Beamon 3-3; M. Alvarado 1-1; K. Brutus 0-2; D. Anderson 0-1; E. Andujar 1-1; D. Kates 2-5); Rebounds: FORD 28 (K. Bristol 6), MAN 39 (R. Colonette 9); Assists: FORD 5 (B. Frazier 3), MAN 16 (E. Andujar 7); Total Fouls — FORD 23, MAN 20; Fouled Out: FORD-None; MAN-None.

Saturday Round Up: Manhattan streaking

You can see my recap of Columbia’s win over Long Island below, but there were six other games of note played last night as well. Some of them came right down to the wire and a few continued some interesting trends that we’ve witnessed during non-conference play.

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Jaspers thump Rams in 104th Battle of the Bronx

Manhattan showed just how far its come with another convincing win in the 104th edition of the Battle of the Bronx against Fordham on Wednesday at Draddy Gymnasium. The Jaspers jumped out to an early 8-0 lead with all the points by junior George Beamon and never trailed on the way to a dominating 81-47 victory.

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