Manhattan Pushes Above .500, American Remains Winless In Jasper Victory

After running out of the gates with a 14-1 lead, things slowly unraveled for the Manhattan Jaspers. Their shooting started to cool off, while American started controlling the ball and hitting their shots.

Manhattan (3-2) eventually lost the lead and trailed 29-27 at the half.

The Jaspers broke a tie game and took a 44-34 on a 12-2 run in the second half—but American (0-6) was not done fighting.

With 4:12 remaining in the second half, Riley Grafft hit two free throws cut the Jasper lead to four points. Manhattan's Brandon Adams responded with a two point jump shot on the other end, and the Jaspers never looked back and went on to win 69-62.

Jasper fans should be happy that their team won, but American has struggled to against many teams. This is a game that Manhattan should have won by double digits. 

Keys To The Manhattan Victory

1) Brandon Adams is back! The Jasper forward made his season debut on Monday against Florida Atlantic where he scored 10 points. In that game, Adams hit all six of his free throws. Against American, Adams scored four points and added five rebounds and three steals on the defensive end.

2) Darryl Crawford is out of his slump. In the previous two games, Crawford was averaging 10.5 points and shooting 23% from the field. In addition, he had picked up eight turnovers over the course of those two games—six against Florida Atlantic. Against American, Crawford scored 26 points with six. rebounds and three steals. Crawford shot 9 of 17 from the field.

3) When needed, Rohrssen let Pearson take control of the game. Pearson had 12 points plus six rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. Six of Pearson's points came during the 12-2 second half run.

4) Rico Pickett is back from his suspension. Pickett added 13 points on Wednesday and filled a hole in the Jaspers starting lineup.

5) The Jaspers defense forced turnovers. American turned the ball over 23 times last night. The 23 turnovers led to 29 Jasper points. 

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