JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Jan. 28, 2021) - Fueled by 52 points off the bench and a 53.6 team shooting percentage, the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team earned a dominant 77-51 win over Manhattan College Friday night inside Run Baby Run Arena.
Freshmen Jaylen Murray and Clarence Rupert both set new career-highs with 14 and 13 points, respectively, as the Peacocks won for the sixth time in their last seven games to improve to 9-7 overall and 7-2 in MAAC play. The Jaspers, meanwhile, dropped to 10-7 and 3-5 in the MAAC.
Junior Doug Edert also finished in double figures with 10 points off the bench as the Peacocks scored the most bench points in a single game since scoring 54 in a win over Rider on Feb. 23, 2020. In that game, Edert also came off the bench and finished with a career-high 28 points.
SPU led wire-to-wire in the game, scoring the first three points of the game on a 3-pointer by Matthew Lee.
The score was tied just once at 6-6 and the Peacocks led by as many as 30 points before ultimately winning by the 26-point margin. It is the largest margin of victory for the Peacocks in a MAAC game since a 26-point victory over Marist on Jan. 5, 2020.
Defensively, SPU held the Jaspers to their lowest point total of the year and held Jose Perez, the MAAC's leading scorer coming into the game, to just six points before he was ejected just under 12 minutes into the game.
The Peacocks also got nine points apiece from KC Ndefo, Daryl Banks III and Isiah Dasher in a total team win where nine different players scored at least two points.
How it Happened
- With the score tied 6-6 at the under-16 media timeout, SPU made sure to put the pressure on early as they went on a 14-4 run that saw four different players score to take a 20-10 lead.
- Leading 24-14, the Peacocks looked to put the game away before the halftime buzzer as Edert drilled a 3-pointer and Murray hit a layup to push the lead to 15.
- During a timeout with 8:10 to play, Perez was visibly frustrated and earned back-to-back technical fouls during the timeout and was ejected from the game.
- Edert would be the one to reap the benefits, stepping up and sinking four straight shots from the free throw line to make the score 33-14.
- After a defensive stop, Murray again found himself creating room in the paint for another layup to push the lead over 20. In total, the Peacocks scored 11 straight points in less than two minutes of game action to stretch the advantage from 10 to 21.
- SPU would head into the locker room with a 45-26 lead, scoring the most points in a half against a Division I team this season.
- Manhattan looked to mount a comeback as they rattled off four straight points to start the second half to cut the deficit down to 15, but would never get any closer the rest of the night.
- With just over 10 minutes left to play, the Peacocks began to pour it on, going on a 14-3 run to make the score 72-42.
- SPU cruised from there, winning by 26 and improving to 7-2 in MAAC play to remain alone in second place in the league standings.
Inside the Numbers
- The 53.6 team shooting percentage is the highest for the Peacocks against a DI opponent this season.
- The Peacocks are now allowing just 63.1 points per game this season which leads the MAAC and ranks 40th in the country.
- SPU was able to get out in transition with 11 fastbreak points compared to just three for the Jaspers.
- On the glass, the Peacocks outrebounded Manhattan 35-21. SPU had as many offensive rebounds (13) as the Jaspers had defensive rebounds which led to a 16-6 edge in second chance points.
- Junior Fousseyni Drame was the team's leading rebounder with seven while also chipping in six points in the win.
- SPU assisted on 17 of their 30 made field goals in the game and had a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio as a team.
- It is the seventh straight game the Peacocks have held their opponents under 70 points. SPU is 6-1 in that stretch and 9-4 overall in those games.
- Seven different players hit a 3-pointer in the win, led by a pair of makes from downtown by Edert who finished 2 for 3.
- Of the 11 players who appeared in the game for SPU, 10 of them grabbed at least one rebound and dished out at least one assist.
- With nine more points tonight, Ndefo now sits at 973 for his career, just 27 points away from joining the historic 1,000-point club with the Peacocks.
- SPU has now beaten Manhattan five consecutive times dating back to the 2019-20 season.
From the Sidelines (Head Coach Shaheen Holloway, Jaylen Murray, Clarence Rupert)
Next Up
- The top two teams in the MAAC standings face off as the Peacocks travel to New Rochelle, N.Y., to take on Iona College at 1:00 p.m.
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