Bronx Insider: Sports Desk: Manhattan Edges Marist Sunday.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Manhattan Edges Marist Sunday.

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Three players scored in double figures to lift Manhattan past Marist, 72-66, Sunday inside Draddy Gymnasium.

 
Jose Perez scored 29 points, Ant Nelson tallied 16, and Elijah Buchanan supplied 11 for Manhattan (11-7, 4-5 MAAC).

In a game where neither team led by double figures, Manhattan held Marist (8-12, 3-8) scoreless over the final 99 seconds to preserve the four-point win.

The Jaspers, who led by two at the half, extended the lead seven inside the first three minutes of the second half after a 9-4 stretch and forced Marist to call a timeout. Perez had five of the nine while the Jaspers defense forced a pair of turnovers.

Marist would cut the lead to three, 46-43, less than two minutes later before Manhattan extended the lead to eight, 51-43, with over 15 minutes to play.

The Red Foxes had one more run in them. Over a three-minute span, the Red Foxes turned a nine-point deficit into a one-point game, 60-59, with 6:49 to play. The following eight points all went to Manhattan. Nelson and Samba Diallo connected four times from the free-throw line as the run proved the difference.

After a Marist bucket, Nelson drove down the left side of the lane and spun in a layup to put the Jaspers back up by nine with 3:11 to play.

Both teams shot the ball well from the floor, with both over 50-percent for the game.

Jao Ituka paced the Red Foxes with 21 points on 9-11 shooting.

Perez, who scored 15 in the first half, added seven assists, four rebounds, and two blocks to his 29 points. Nelson added a season-high five assists, and Buchanan made it six games in double figures for the Bronx native. Manhattan heads to Western New York next week. First up is Niagara on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.