Miracle for Manhattan: Jaspers Win On Half Court Buzzer Beater

While St. Johns was crushing Duke at Madison Square Garden, the other New York City college basketball team, Manhattan, won on an epic half court shot at the buzzer.

The game took place in Poughkeepsie, NY, home of the Marist Red Foxes. There were not nearly as many people in attendance to watch the MAAC game, but the fans who were there witnessed a much more competitive contest than the one taking place at the home of the New York Knicks.

Marist went into halftime with a one-point lead and appeared to have the game won with just a few seconds left. The Red Foxes were up by two points, and the only way for them to lose would be if one of the Jaspers' players made the most amazing shot of his life.

Manhattan forward George Beamon could not run up and down the baseline, making his job of throwing a good pass even tougher. Beamon found Michael Alvarado, a freshman guard from The Bronx, running parallel to the baseline and threw it to him.

Alvarado quickly separated from his defender and found himself with an open look at the basket—from five feet behind the half court line. 

Everything was quiet inside the McCann Field House as Alvarado released the ball. A second later, the ball hit the backboard before dropping through the net. The home fans moaned as the Jaspers celebrated a remarkable 60-59 victory.

Both teams have only four wins and close to twenty losses, so their NCAA Tournament odds are slim to none, but if either team gets hot near conference tournament time, who knows.

Fairfield currently holds the lead in the current MAAC standings followed by St. Peter's and Rider, respectively. Marist is currently in eighth place and has a half game lead over Manhattan.

Famous Alumni From Marist:

Rik Smits, 1988 NBA All Star

Jared Jordan, 47th overall pick in 2007 NBA Draft

Bill O'Reilly, host of the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News

Famous Alumni From Manhattan:

Neil Cohalan, first head coach of New York Knicks

Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City