RIVERDALE, NY – The Saint Peter's College Peacocks (2-5, 1-1 MAAC) dropped their MAAC road opener this afternoon to the Manhattan College Jaspers (5-4, 2-0 MAAC), 68-42. The Jaspers used a 12-2 run in the first half and a 19-6 run in the second half to open up a 20-point lead and never looked back. Blaise Ffrench led the Peacocks with a career-high 17 points off the bench for Saint Peter's.
The first 10 minutes of the first half was a defensive struggle with neither team building more than a two-point lead. The score was tied at 11 with 9:26 to play when Manhattan started a 12-2 run to take a 23-13 lead with 3:06 to play in the first half. Saint Peter's then scored four straight to cut the deficit to 23-17. The teams then traded baskets and Manhattan made a free throw in the final two seconds to take a 26-19 lead into the break.
Ffrench led Saint Peter's with five points off the bench for Saint Peter's. George Beamon scored nine points to lead Manhattan. Saint Peter's shot just 28% from the field and allowed Manhattan to shoot 40%. The Jaspers outrebounded the Peacocks 20-17, but committed nine turnovers to Saint Peter's eight.
Manhattan came out and started the second half on a 13-4 run over the first four minutes, giving them their largest lead at 39-23 with 15:46 to play. The Peacocks scored the next basket to get to within 14, but a 6-0 by the Jaspers extended their advantage to 20 points at 45-25 at the 12:26 mark. The Jaspers led by as many as 29 points in the second half and the Peacocks could get no closer then 16 points the rest of the way.
Ffrench was 4-7 from the field and 9-13 from the line with four rebounds and two steals. Darius Conley added seven points and five rebounds. Beamon scored a game-high 22 points for Manhattan. The Jaspers shot 49% from the field and held the Peacocks to just 33%. Manhattan outrebounded Saint Peter's 39-28 and caused 18 turnovers while committing 17.
The Peacocks will have five days off before heading for the Twin Cities to face the University of Minnesota on Saturday afternoon at 1pm EST.
