Box Score RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Forwards Rodney Hawkins (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton) and Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, Pa./Math, Civics and Science Charter) combined for 33 points and 19 rebounds to propel Saint Peter's past Manhattan 61-40 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball action on Tuesday. With the win, the Peacocks (13-15, 11-8 MAAC) have clinched a Top-5 seed in the upcoming league tournament and an opening round bye.
Hawkins, who surpassed his career best of 13 points set last season at Draddy Gymnasium, finished the game 7-for-11 shooting from the floor and 1 of 2 from the free throw line to notch a career-high 15 points and narrowly missed his first collegiate double-double after ending the night with nine rebounds.
Welton registered his eighth double-double of the season and 10th of his career by tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds. The junior connected on 7 of his 15 shots from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line for his 18 points.
Chazz Patterson (Brown Mills, N.J./Trenton Catholic) added 12 points, six rebounds and five assists while Trevis Wyche (Neptune, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) chipped in 10 points and five assists in the winning effort.
CORRECTION: The Peacocks are guaranteed a first round bye, but could move into third place with a win on Saturday and a loss by Siena on Sunday.
The win entrenches Saint Peter's into the 4/5 game at the MAAC Tournament on Mar. 5 at 9:30 p.m. at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The Peacocks will play either Manhattan or Fairfield, who the Jersey City team will conclude the regular season against on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Yanitelli Center.
"I told my guys that if we were going to get this win that we were going to have to match their intensity," said head coach John Dunne in the postgame interview on ESPN3. "We have proven that we can play with the top teams in the league and hope to keep it rolling."
Zane Waterman was the only Jaspers (12-15, 9-9 MAAC) to finish in double figures with 10 points in the losing effort.
Saint Peter's used a pair of big runs in the second half to take the lead for good and pull away to sweep the regular season series with Manhattan for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
After the Jaspers erased a four-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 27, the Peacocks scored the next 16 points to grab a 53-27 lead with 11:42 remaining in the game.
Welton gave the Jersey City the lead for good on a layup with 16:34 remaining before Hawkins slammed home a four-point lead at 31-27 at 15:36. Hawkins then scored in the lane at 14:42 before Patterson drained a triple at 14:03 for a nine-point advantage and forcing a Manhattan timeout. Elias Desport (Stockholm, Sweden/Solna Gymnasium) hit a jumper at 13:19, Hawkins scored in the lane at 12:40 and Wyche drained a 3-pointer at 11:42 for a 43-27 lead.
The Jaspers used a 10-2 run over the next four minutes and 56 seconds to trim the margin to 45-37 after a Shane Richards 3-pointer.
Saint Peter's then responded with its second 16-0 run to put the game away en route to a 61-37 victory.
Patterson started the spurt with a triple with 5:57 left before Wyche converted a traditional 3-point play at 4:56 and Welton made two charity tosses at 4:14 to reclaim the 16-point lead in a span of one minute and 43 seconds.
Welton and Hawkins scored in the lane at 3:12 and 2:34, respectively, and then Patterson made 1 of 2 at the line at 2:07 and then capped the big win with a trey at 1:26 before Manhattan hit a 3-pointer to set the final score.
Powered by five points from Waterman, Manhattan was the team to start hot and jump out to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes and three seconds of the game.
The Peacocks began to chip away at the deficit before Saint Peter's closed the first half on a 12-4 run to take a 25-21 lead going into the locker room.
Trailing 17-13 with 5:17 left after a Thomas Capuano jumper, Welton started the rally with a traditional 3-point play at 3:38. After Calvin Crawford hit a jumper from the corner at 2:47, Hawkins scored the next seven points to give the Peacocks the advantage at 23-19 with 1:09 left. The sophomore scored in the lane at 2:34, converted the traditional 3-point play at 1:42 and then drained a jumper with 69 seconds left for a four-point lead. Crawford and Cameron Jones (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) traded baskets to send the teams into intermission with the Jersey City team leading, 25-21. Saint Peter's then used a strong second half to complete the season sweep against the Riverdale program, end a two-game losing streak, a four-game skid on the road and clinch a Top-5 seed in the tournament.
Fairfield hosts Siena on Wednesday before heading to Jersey City on Saturday while Manhattan will host Iona on Friday and travel to Rider on Sunday. The tilt between the Peacocks and the Stags will decide the No. 4 seed in the tournament and could be a preview of the meeting in the tournament on Mar. 6 unless Fairfield falls in its final two games and Manhattan wins its final two games to move the Jaspers ahead the Stags for the fifth spot. Saint Peter's has played Fairfield in each of the last three postseasons while the Peacocks have faced the Manhattan in the last two MAAC Tournaments.
The last time the Jersey City team was a Top-5 seed was 2010-11 when they won the MAAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The 2010-11 season was also the last time the squad finished with a winning record in league play.
Saint Peter's closes the regular season out with a chance to the No. 4 seed on Saturday against Fairfield. Game time is 2 p.m. Prior to the game, the Peacocks will honor Desport, the lone senior on the team.
