The Saints will square off against Manhattan tonight at the TU Center in a game that is of critical importance to both squads as the season begins winding to its end.
The Jaspers are the surprise story of the MAAC this season. Returning a team similar in makeup to last season’s squad that finished 3-15 in conference play, new Head Coach Steve Masiello has found a winning formula and has turned the team around. Manhattan enters tonight’s matchup 11-4 in MAAC play, only one game behind leaders Iona and Loyola.
“They’re certainly, I would say, a top three team in the league all year,” said Saints head coach Mitch Buonaguro about the Jaspers. “The turn around has been remarkable. You’ve got to give Steve Masiello a lot of credit taking a team what won six games and now has 18 wins. Certainly their talent level is good, but he’s instilled a tremendous work ethic. They’re one of the better defensive teams in the league.”
The Saints enter tonight’s action with a 6-9 conference mark, tied for sixth with Niagara. By all rights the Saints should hold a one game lead in the standings over Niagara, but a gift from Niagara’s game clock operators, and a poor review process that led to the suspension of three referees, turned a dramatic 85-84 Rider victory into an 84-82 hand wrapped Niagara win. (read more about that situation here.)
The last time the Saints and Jaspers met, Manhattan made a tremendous second half push, cruising to a 72-53 win.
“The first game we actually led most of the first half,” said Buonaguro of that game. “They had two points off turnovers. The Louisville system, the system that this guys employed at Manhattan, they’ve been a second half team all year. Where they get you is with about 10 minutes to go. That’s where the turnovers occur. We were right in the game, we were down I think 38–33, and then the roof fell in. Why? Pressure, fatigue, mental fatigue. They played Hymes very physical and that’s when the game got out of hand.”
The Saints desperately need a win, not only to maintain at the least a tie with Niagara, but for tie breaker purposes if the teams do remain tied at the end of the season. Manhattan is towards the top of the league standings, and since Niagara and Siena finished the season 1-1 vs one another, the tie breaker will come down to record against the highest seeded teams, in descending order, until one team has a victory advantage over the other against those opponents. Niagara finished 0-2 vs Manhattan, Siena is presently 0-1.
“This is a difficult matchup because of the type of team they are,” said Buonaguro of tonight’s game. “They’re going to keep constant pressure on us. You can look at their minutes. They’re playing a lot of guys effectively. They’ve won all year. They’re a very confident team. Away, they’ve won 9 games. They’ve played well on the road. We have to have a really good effort to beat them. There’s no question about it. I would say we’ve got to play one of our better games to beat them.”
The Saints have played well at home with few exceptions and have a knack for stepping up in big games. This certainly fits that bill. As always, Let’s Go Saints!
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