Very early in Manhattan and Fairfield’s MAAC matchup last night in Riverdale, it became quite apparent which team was hanging near the top of the league standings and which team was stuck near the bottom.
The Jaspers enjoyed their only lead at 6-4, and they went on to fall to Fairfield, 74-56.
Fairfield (18-8, 11-5 MAAC) used a 16-0 run midway through the first half to take a 27-8 lead. Manhattan never came closer than 13 points the rest of the game.
“I thought our defense and transition set the tone for the game,” Fairfield head coach Ed Cooley said. “We made some timely shots, and I thought it was overall one of our better performances of the season.”
Freshman Rico Pickett did all he could to keep the Jaspers (9-17, 4-12) within striking distance, scoring a game-high 18 points, including eight in the second half, but it was not enough.
“It was a three-point game and they went on a 16-0 run, which seemed to be the difference,” Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen said. “We were huffing and puffing and couldn’t make up that difference. They also got very good contributions from their bench, which was a big lift for them.”
Fairfield scored 39 bench points compared with Manhattan’s 19. The Stags shot 51percent from the field, including eight of 18 3-point attempts. They had an answer for every Manhattan run in the second half, thanks in part to senior Mike Evanovich’s four 3-pointers. He had a team-high 15 points.
“It’s no secret Evanovich can shoot,” Cooley said. “You gotta pay attention to [leading scorer Derek] Needham, so it’s natural that they can get sucked into the ball, so we were able to kick it out.”
Anthony Johnson chipped in with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Fairfield, which had four players in double figures. Colin Nickerson was one of the key contributors off the bench with 13 points.
For the Jaspers, it was their fifth loss in their past six at home in what has been a very disappointing season.
