RIVERDALE, NY – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team continued its winning ways on Friday night, knocking off Manhattan College, 67-64 on the road. The win propels the Peacocks back into sole possession of first-place on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) standings, holding a league-best 11-5 record. Overall on the season, Saint Peter's improves to 14-11.
How it Happened
- Peacocks fell behind 8-2 early.
- Trailing 11-4, Saint Peter's scored seven straight to tie the game at 11-11, when KC Ndefo converted on a layup and free throw, followed by a triple from Doug Edert.
- The run would continue with four straight points by Aaron Estrada, hitting consecutive jumpers to give Saint Peter's the 15-11 lead, by way of an 11-0 rally --- Peacocks largest run of the night. At the conclusion of the run, Saint Peter's forced 11 turnovers, converting them into 12 points.
- For the remaining eight minutes of the first half, the team's battled back and forth, exchanging five lead changes and two ties, bringing the halftime score to an even 26-26.
- By intermission, the Peacocks had more than half of its points coming from turnovers (16).
- Saint Peter's jumped all over Manhattan through the first five plus minutes of the second half, pushing its advantage to double-digits with a 14-4 run.
- Five different Peacocks combined to score the 14 points during the rally, led by two baskets from Estrada and back-to-back two-handed dunks by Majur Majak.
- The visitors would lead by eight (13:09) and string together eight straight points, all coming from layups and a pair of freebies to take the largest lead of the night at 16 points (50-34).
- Those layups would come from Dallas Watson, Hassan Drame, and Ndefo, while Ndefo added the two free throws.
- Saint Peter's kept the margin large enough the rest of the way, holding a comfortable 12-point lead with 1:02 reading on the clock.
- Despite the double-digit lead, Manhattan managed to hit some late baskets to make the final score just a three-point win for the Peacocks.
Inside the Numbers
- Saint Peter's had at least 10 different players score for the 14th time this season, with all 12 guys to see action tonight scoring at least one point. This was the first time on the year that every player to check into the game scored and just the second time all season that 12 men scored.
- Estrada led the way for the second straight game with 18 points, scoring in double-digits his 10th time this season. Ndefo also surpassed double-figures, scoring 11 points with eight rebounds and four blocks. Quinn Taylor chipped in with seven points and three other Peacocks scored five points each (H. Drame, Matthew Lee, and Cameron Jones).
- Saint Peter's won all of the in-game superlatives: rebounds (34-26), points of off turnovers (21-19), points in the paint (32-28), second chance points (17-8), fast break points (12-3), and bench points (32-15).
- The victory gave the Peacocks their first season sweep over Manhattan since 2016-17.
- Saint Peter's continues to be the hottest team in the league, now winning four straight and eight in the last nine.
- Dating back to Jan. 18, the Peacocks have posted a 9-2 overall record.
- The 11 MAAC wins are the most for the program since the 2016-17 season which produced 14 total conference wins.
Up Next
- Saint Peter's will return home on Sunday, Feb. 23 for a pivotal meeting with hOURglass Rival Rider.
- The game will tip at 2 p.m. on ESPN3.
