RIVERDALE, N.Y. — With one game left before divisional play resumes and a 4-8 record, this is not where John Gallagher imagined the Manhattan Jaspers entering the season. He said Thursday he hopes the team can win two more games than it has now. But the always-optimistic third-year head coach has had enough of a college basketball season to continue focusing on how his team can improve.
Manhattan lost 75-68 at Draddy Gymnasium to a Furman team that Gallagher believes will be “one or two” in the MAAC and has now lost three straight games and six of its last seven. Both teams led for most of the first 30 minutes, but the Paladins made necessary plays late in the game.
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On paper, Furman is a tough matchup for Manhattan, as the Paladins won’t start anyone shorter than 6-foot-5 and have two big men who are 6-foot-11. The Jaspers are the third-shortest team in the country, while the Paladins are the third-tallest team in the country, according to KenPom.
Neither team’s personnel were a good fit for the other, and both teams were locked in zone games. I don’t know if I’ve seen a game in the last five years of college basketball where the 1-3-1 combo was used more often.
But in the final five minutes, Furman created enough creases.
“We had a couple slides that missed,” Gallagher said. “If you look closely, we had a rotation breakdown and it happened in a 40-minute game; it just happened at an inopportune time.”
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Gallagher added that the Jaspers’ zone numbers are “very good” and that the team plays four different zones. Most notably, the 1-3-1 formation we saw on Thursday, and the 2-3 formation with a degree of 2-2-1 full-court pressure that featured prominently in both conference games.
Manhattan’s size disadvantage relative to Furman forced the Jaspers to make a strategic decision. Gallagher can cede alley-oops and inside dunks to national dunk leader Cooper Bowser if it means his defense can better suppress the rest of the team.
Bowser finished with seven dunks, a season-high against Division I opponents, but Furman scored just 1.08 points per possession, his second-lowest mark in eight wins. It boils down to a few plays.
“What beat us was the practice of the trio,” Gallagher said. “In my opinion, those missed three-pointers in the second half were the reason we lost the game, not the dunks.”
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Trailing by five with five minutes remaining, the Jaspers’ defense ran a double screen, leaving Charles Johnston open on the wing for a three-point play. Alex Wilkins found Asa Thomas on the right side of the court, and Thomas immediately passed the ball back to Johnston, who extended the lead to eight points.
The Jaspers pulled the score back to four points but lost Johnston again with two minutes left in the 1-3-1 zone. When the ball was passed to Ben Vanderwall, Devin Dinkins moved into the middle and Anthony Isaac was at the top of the key, leaving room for a three-pointer between the right wing and the corner.
The Jaspers are still playing without star forward Will Sydnor, who is “dealing with NCAA eligibility issues unrelated to any misconduct on his part,” according to an Oct. 31 release from the university.
At this time, we don’t know if or when they will get Sydnor back. He’s a dynamic creator up front, and as good as Manhattan’s guards are, the offense still has holes when he’s not on the floor. Maybe in a game like this he scored the few extra goals Jaspers needed to win the game.
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Putting Furman against Druddy is the type of matchup that few MAAC teams have at home in a non-conference game. This is a championship caliber program that has been at or near the top of the mid-major leagues outside the region for some time. While it’s disappointing not to be able to protect the home court, Gallagher thinks Manhattan is basically good enough to win.
“Tonight’s game is a 50-50 coin toss to see who’s more physical,” Gallagher said. “That’s a good sign for us. I feel a lot better than I did five days ago. I like our competitive nature. I like our depth. We’re deeper than we were last year and we’re going to start shooting the ball better.”
Manhattan will play its final non-conference game on Sunday against Presbyterian before returning to the MAAC slate with Rider and Quinnipiac.
“We’re ready now,” Gallagher said. “We’re ready for MAAC play.”