As was the trend for most of the season it was all about the defense for the Manhattan College Men’s Basketball team (23-7) who was able to defeat St. Peter’s (14-17) to advance to the Semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, to be played on Sunday, March 9.

Rhamel Brown. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/ 1495 Sports

In what was a very intense game, featuring eight lead changes and nine ties the defense and experience of the team shined through in the night.

Leading the way for Manhattan was Senior Forward/Center Rhamel Brown (Brooklyn, NY) who had a double-double performance featuring 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with two blocked shots. Also having a stellar night in his return to the floor was Senior Guard Michael Alvarado (Bronx, NY) who sliced and diced his way to 17 points.

The Jaspers also had valuable minutes from Ashton Pankey (eight points), George Beamon (six points) and RaShawn Stores (six points). Though it felt like the whole team stepped up at certain points to hit a vital bucket, make a huge defensive play or grab a rebound that was needed to shift the momentum in their favor.

For St. Peter’s the feisty team out of NJ had three players in double-digit scoring as Marvin Dominique (14 points), Chris Burke (12 points) and Desi Washington (10 points) all had great nights on the floor.

Manhattan is awaiting the winner of the  #3 Quinnipiac v #11 Niagara game, and will next play on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN 3.

Fans are encouraged to check out our photo gallery by clicking here:

http://1495sports.com/2014/03/09/photo-gallery-manhattan-mbb-v-st-peters-maac-quarterfinals-38/

The Postgame Press Conference video for our Manhattan fans can be seen here:

http://1495sports.com/2014/03/09/video-manhattan-mbb-v-st-peters-maac-quarterfinals-38/