Jaspers lose at home and road, fall to 0-2

On Friday night, Manhattan College’s Zavier Turner looked to have put his career-worst eight-turnover performance against West Virginia on Nov. 28 behind him.

On the stat sheet, Turner’s three turnovers against the Canisius Griffs in Manhattan’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener on Friday suggested an improvement. But it was his last turnover that proved costly.

With the Jaspers down one point and 8.1 seconds remaining in the game, Turner turned the ball over on Manhattan’s final possession and the Jaspers dropped a heartbreaking 77-76 decision to the Golden Griffs at Draddy Gym.

“We tried to get [Turner] and [Zane Waterman] in a ball screen with a slip,” Steve Masiello, Manhattan head coach said about the failed final possession. “They were switching everything.  Turner went out, kind of got into a path to turn the corner, tried to turn the corner, they tied him up. Bad play call by me.”

The Jaspers were in position to win the game after the Griffs’ Malik Johnson missed a pair of free throws seconds earlier. After calling a timeout, Turner received the ball at the top of the key, but was trapped as he rounded a screen from Waterman. Turner lost control of the ball and was unable to get a shot off. The play summarized a miserable second half for the Jaspers, who blew a 15-point lead.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Canisius forward Jermaine Crumpton. “We just wanted to stay the course. We knew some of their shots that fell in the first half probably were not going to fall in the second half.”

The Jaspers were rolling heading into the second half, carrying a 14-point lead behind a 53 percent shooting performance in the first half, and 12 forced turnovers on Canisius.

“Our guys were anxious,” Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon said about what led to his team’s first half 14-point deficit. “Then when we got the lead it was really like putting gasoline on a fire. But to open the game I think we got more anxious. We got in a hurry.”

But the Griffs stayed in the game thanks to Crumpton, who scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

“I’ve been playing against Manhattan for a while now,” Crumpton said. “I’ve had the opportunity to see the defense multiple times, so I was just trying to pick my spots. Pick and choose when I can go, when I can make a play for one of my teammates. Ultimately, we came out with the win.”

In the second half, Crumpton was huge for the Griffs. With the Jaspers up 60-50, Crumpton scored six consecutive points and ignited a 17-7 run for the Griffs, who came back to tie the game at 67.

The Griffs took a 69-67 lead with three minutes remaining, and held on for good, completing a 15-point comeback and handing the Jaspers a loss on their conference opener.

“Credit to our guys, they fought the fight,” Witherspoon said. “Got themselves calm a little bit and took better care of the basketball in the second half. That was, I think, the first thing. Then we got back in the game from a rebound standpoint.”

The rest of the week didn’t go any better for Manhattan. On Sunday, the Jaspers dropped their third consecutive contest in an 84-70 loss to Saint Peter’s in Jersey City. Turner led the way for the Jaspers once again, scoring 30 points, but the Jaspers shot just 37.7 percent from the field in the loss.

The loss to Saint Peter’s, which shot 54 percent in the game, dropped the Jaspers to 2-6 overall and 0-2 in MAAC play.