Manhattan staves off Monmouth challenge

Last fall, even before the 2015-16 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) began its season, Justin Robinson, Monmouth University’s stud junior guard, did his best to stoke the flames of a budding rivalry with Manhattan College.

He was tired of hearing about the two-time defending MAAC champions, about how hard the Jaspers were to beat at home in the cozy confines of Draddy Gym and how it was time for a new “King of the MAAC.”

So when Monmouth showed up at Draddy Gym late last week for its first meeting of the season with Manhattan, the Jaspers players were more than reminded of Robinson’s preseason rants.

“We definitely spoke about it. We spoke about it a lot,” Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello said. “We hung it up everywhere. I’ll be honest about it. These guys probably didn’t want to hear another thing about Justin Robinson.”

As it turned out, Robinson may need to come up with a plan B on how to dethrone the Jaspers this season as Manhattan held Robinson to just 11 points and overcame an early deficit to post a 78-71 victory over first-place Monmouth. It was a victory that not only got the Jaspers back into the mix for a possible regular-season conference title, but may have also been their most impressive victory of the season.

“I think so with their RPI [Ratings Percentage Index]. People sometimes get so stuck on a Mid-Major label, but that’s a top 50 team there on a given night,” Masiello said. “They are the real deal. When we were watching them on film we said, ‘They don’t have a weakness.’ They’re good. They’re really, really good.”

The Ratings Percentage Index is a number used to rank a team by combining a team’s wins and losses with its strength of schedule.

But the Hawks (15-5, 7-2 MAAC) were not the better team on this night as Manhattan got a career-best 20-point performance from Calvin Crawford and solid outings from RaShawn Stores (14 points, 6 assists), Rich Williams (15 points, 7 rebounds) and freshman Thomas Capuano, who finished with 11 points and the biggest shot of the night and his career.