RIVERDALE, N.Y. — Saint Peter’s fell out of first place in the MAAC with a loss to then-last place Rider on Sunday. The Peacocks were determined to not let it spiral out of control.
Bashir Mason’s team bounced back on Thursday night with an 80-75 win over Manhattan at Draddy Gymnasium, improving to 10-3 in conference play. It’s the first time that the program has been 10-3 in the MAAC through 13 games since 2003-04. The win was also Saint Peter’s highest scoring performance of league play, and most efficient performance of the season, with 1.28 points per possession.
It was all about flushing it out on Monday.
“There was a tough film session on Monday,” Mason said. “And from there, we just kind of moved on. We pissed away a great opportunity. The guys understood it, and we just turned our focus to tonight.”
With laser focus on preparing for the Jaspers, Saint Peter’s came out with high-energy on both ends of the floor. The Peacocks didn’t allow a point until after the first (exact) media timeout, and led by as much as 23-6 in the opening stages of the game.
Zaakir Williamson and Brent Bland keyed the strong start, while Elijah Perkins made his return from a two-game absence with a great performance.
“I thought our defense, our connection on the court, I thought it was high, high level,” Mason said of the first ten minutes of the contest. “And I thought our execution offensively, with them going zone, man, switching it up, it looked like our guys knew everything they were gonna do when we found our looks.”
On the other bench, Manhattan coach John Gallagher says it’s time to make some changes.
“We have to look at our lineup on how we start games,” Gallagher said. “We’re gonna change the starting lineup. I don’t know what it’s gonna be on Saturday but we’re gonna blow this lineup up and see if we can get some energy and some scoring to start games.”
Bryce Eaton led the Peacocks with 21 points. It was his first game back in the starting lineup after two games coming off the bench.
He responded well to his initial benching last week, playing 26 minutes and scoring 10 points with six assists against the Mount, but on Thursday, he eclipsed his MAAC-season high in scoring.
“Bryce is a preseason second-team all-conference level player,” Mason said. “He made some boneheaded mistakes in that Rider game. We didn’t harp on it too much, but I feel like today was a bounce back response game for him.”
Ahead by three with 90 seconds left, the Peacocks had the most Saint Peter’s-possible sequence to close it out.
First, it was Lucas Scroggins doing the dirty work on the offensive glass, a category where SPU leads the MAAC, to stretch the lead back out to two possessions. Then, Perkins walled off Jaden Winston in the backcourt, and eventually forced a controversial ten-second violation.
And finally, Perkins cut from the baseline to receive an alley-oop pass from Eaton to seal the win.
If there was ever a three-play run that could explain a program, it’s that one.
“You know it more than our guys (how that’s what Saint Peter’s basketball is about),” Mason said. “But you saw the excitement with those guys when they got the 10-second call. There was an energy and a spirit about us, because we want to play until there’s zeroes on the clock, and we did that.”
The Peacocks were picked to finish 11th out of 13 in the MAAC preseason poll, and were tenth in my initial preseason power rankings. If Mason is able to keep Saint Peter’s in the title race for the final stretch of the season, it’ll be hard to argue against him for MAAC Coach of the Year.
So what has impressed Gallagher the most about SPU?
“They just find ways to win,” he said. “Find ways every night, different ways to win. There’s a multitude of guys that are stepping up for them. The change from last year to this year, you could really see it. They’re just way more connected.”
Mason couldn’t help but say that his team saw the tweets.
He saw that I’d tweeted about the Peacocks’ remaining schedule and their record at home (7-0) versus on the road (then 2-3) in MAAC play following the loss to Rider.
“We saw your tweet about us having the number one (it was actually number two) toughest schedule in the conference,” Mason told me. “And with it being five games out of eight on the road, we just wanted to prove to you that we could win a road game.”
Fairfield 92, Sacred Heart 87: Fairfield flips the rivalry back in its favor after dropping all three meetings with crosstown foe Sacred Heart last season. Brandon Benjamin scored a career-high 26 points on 11-15 from the field and took home his sixth KenPom MVP of the season. This was a game where neither team could guard the other, but the Pioneers just didn’t have quite enough to finish the comeback late. The Stags are 7-3 since starting 0-4 in MAAC play, and have now won back-to-back road games against Sacred Heart and Iona. A massive home game with Marist awaits on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart drops back down to 6-8 with its second straight loss following the five game winning streak.
Siena 79, Iona 72: In front of a national television audience on ESPNU, Gerry McNamara’s Saints won their sixth consecutive game, scoring 1.2 points per possession once again. Siena continues to absolutely dominate the interior, shooting 66% inside the arc while holding the Gaels to 47%. Iona grabbed a ten-point lead before the half, but Justice Shoats hit a huge shot at the buzzer to cut it down to seven, and Siena built off of that. Gavin Doty is making a charge for MAAC Player of the Year, as he scored 25 points with 13 rebounds and four assists to lead the way, playing all 40 minutes.
Merrimack 87, Mount St. Mary’s 70: The Warriors put together another strong offensive performance, dropping 1.23 points per possession and 12 threes on Mount St. Mary’s to grab a road win and a series sweep of the team that knocked them out last year. In games where Merrimack shoots better than 31 percent from three, it is 9-0. Ernest Shelton and Kevair Kennedy combined for 52 points, and the Mount backcourt of Xavier Lipscomb and Arlandus Keyes combined for just 11. The Warriors retain sole possession of first place at 11-2.
Quinnipiac 75, Canisius 60: And it’s not really close to as close as the score makes it look. Canisius scored just 0.82 points per possession, making just nine field goals inside the arc on 36 attempts. Quinnipiac didn’t need monster performances offensively from Amarri Monroe or Asim Jones. It got 10 points off the bench from Tai Turnage. Kahlil Singleton didn’t play for Canisius due to an injury. The Griffs have now lost nine games in a row, and drop to 6-28 over the last two seasons in MAAC play.
Marist 81, Rider 52: No Jaden Daughtry? No problem for Marist against Rider. Rhyjon Blackwell nearly outscored the Broncs by himself in the first half with 21 points versus 23. This was the third most efficient offensive performance of the KenPom era for Marist, with 1.37 points per possession. The Red Foxes have now allowed just 98 points to Niagara and Rider in the last two games, and have outscored Rider 152-101 in the two meetings this season.
