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SDSU suffers narrow defeat
Chris Solari
Argus Leader
published: 11/22/2004
Turnovers doom Jackrabbit men
RIVERDALE, N.Y.- It could have been a Gotham-sized upset, but too many turnovers doomed South Dakota State's bid to get its first Division I men's basketball victory.
Manhattan scored 33 points off 24 Jackrabbit miscues, fending off an inspired SDSU effort for a 73-69 win Sunday afternoon at cozy Draddy Gymnasium.
Just two days removed from an 80-52 loss to Butler, the Jackrabbits (0-2) looked like an entirely different team against the Jaspers. SDSU rallied from an 18-point early hole and trailed by just three with 38.8 seconds remaining before Manhattan iced the victory from the free-throw line.
The Jacks made just 11 of 23 from the foul line, one of SDSU's few flaws in the loss. Despite shooting 50 percent and outrebounding Manhattan 35-32, Coach Scott Nagy wasn't satisfied.
"By no means are we pleased at all by playing those guys to four," Nagy said. "With free throws and turnovers alone, we should have won this game.
"You play a very good, well-respected, well-coached Manhattan team to four points, you think you'd feel good about it. But I'm not interested in coaching guys that feel good about a four-point loss. I'm interested in coaching guys who are sick to their stomachs that they lost."
The SDSU quickness and tenacity that seemed to be missing in Friday loss to Butler showed up in abundance in the Big Apple. The Jacks played physical defense and dominated the Jaspers on the boards, while capably handling Manhattan's vaunted full-court pressure. They even managed to block out the fans who were offering the official New York greetings of "You suck!" and "You stink!"
Even though Manhattan backers went home victorious - to the strains of Frank Sinatra's ode to the city - SDSU managed to leave town with the knowledge that they were a New York minute away from stunning a Division I opponent that went to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
"We were kind of disappointed. It's not too hard to come back from a 28-point loss," said Ben Beran, who led the Jackrabbits with 20 points and eight rebounds. "We figured we had something to prove."
Forward Peter Mulligan erupted off the opening tip for the Jaspers, scoring the first 11 points of the game. His three 3-pointers made it look like Manhattan would have its way all afternoon.
Steve Holdren eventually dropped a layup to get SDSU on the board, but Mulligan scored six more points to push the lead to 24-6 just seven minutes into the contest.
That would be all Mulligan scored the whole game, finishing with 20. Slowly, as Beran and the Jackrabbits took him out of the flow, SDSU clawed its way back toward the lead.
A 3-point play by Michael Loney and a deep jumper by Jared DeJong got SDSU started. By the time Beran canned back-to-back 3s, a concerned Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez signaled for a timeout with his team's lead pared to 28-19. Joe Green's putback of a Beran miss shortly after the timeout capped the 15-6 Jackrabbit burst.
The Jaspers' lead never reached double digits again.
"When they made those two 3s," Gonzalez said, "I think that gave them a little bit of fire, some spark, some crack in the door like, 'Hey, you know what, we have nothing to lose. Let's hang around a little bit.' I think their kids started teeing it up a bit after that."
The Jackrabbits, playing physical defense and controlling the glass, twice trimmed the lead to two. Beran's third 3-pointer of the half made it 38-36 with 2:42 to play in the first.
Manhattan ran off six straight points before Brady Hokenson buried a 3 from the right corner with 39 seconds left to pull his squad to within 44-39.
Manhattan pushed its lead back to nine twice in the second half, but SDSU continually chipped away behind a strong surge by senior center Jared DeJong, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second.
SDSU would hold Manhattan under 27 percent shooting in the second half.
DeJong's layup with 53 seconds left trimmed Manhattan's lead to five, and the Jaspers' C.J. Anderson missed two free throws immediately thereafter. Beran's layup with 38 ticks left followed, but Mike Konovelchick and Kenny Minor netted six straight free throws to negate baskets by Hokenson and fellow senior Luke Geiver in the final moments.
Anderson had 14 points for Manhattan, and fellow freshman reserve Arturo Dubois added 11.
Freshman Holdren scored 13 points for the Jacks.
"(Manhattan) is a great program," Holdren said. "This shows that we can compete with anybody."
The Jackrabbits fly home today and host Mayville State (N.D.) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Frost Arena.
Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.
SDSU suffers narrow defeat
Chris Solari
Argus Leader
published: 11/22/2004
Turnovers doom Jackrabbit men
RIVERDALE, N.Y.- It could have been a Gotham-sized upset, but too many turnovers doomed South Dakota State's bid to get its first Division I men's basketball victory.
Manhattan scored 33 points off 24 Jackrabbit miscues, fending off an inspired SDSU effort for a 73-69 win Sunday afternoon at cozy Draddy Gymnasium.
Just two days removed from an 80-52 loss to Butler, the Jackrabbits (0-2) looked like an entirely different team against the Jaspers. SDSU rallied from an 18-point early hole and trailed by just three with 38.8 seconds remaining before Manhattan iced the victory from the free-throw line.
The Jacks made just 11 of 23 from the foul line, one of SDSU's few flaws in the loss. Despite shooting 50 percent and outrebounding Manhattan 35-32, Coach Scott Nagy wasn't satisfied.
"By no means are we pleased at all by playing those guys to four," Nagy said. "With free throws and turnovers alone, we should have won this game.
"You play a very good, well-respected, well-coached Manhattan team to four points, you think you'd feel good about it. But I'm not interested in coaching guys that feel good about a four-point loss. I'm interested in coaching guys who are sick to their stomachs that they lost."
The SDSU quickness and tenacity that seemed to be missing in Friday loss to Butler showed up in abundance in the Big Apple. The Jacks played physical defense and dominated the Jaspers on the boards, while capably handling Manhattan's vaunted full-court pressure. They even managed to block out the fans who were offering the official New York greetings of "You suck!" and "You stink!"
Even though Manhattan backers went home victorious - to the strains of Frank Sinatra's ode to the city - SDSU managed to leave town with the knowledge that they were a New York minute away from stunning a Division I opponent that went to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
"We were kind of disappointed. It's not too hard to come back from a 28-point loss," said Ben Beran, who led the Jackrabbits with 20 points and eight rebounds. "We figured we had something to prove."
Forward Peter Mulligan erupted off the opening tip for the Jaspers, scoring the first 11 points of the game. His three 3-pointers made it look like Manhattan would have its way all afternoon.
Steve Holdren eventually dropped a layup to get SDSU on the board, but Mulligan scored six more points to push the lead to 24-6 just seven minutes into the contest.
That would be all Mulligan scored the whole game, finishing with 20. Slowly, as Beran and the Jackrabbits took him out of the flow, SDSU clawed its way back toward the lead.
A 3-point play by Michael Loney and a deep jumper by Jared DeJong got SDSU started. By the time Beran canned back-to-back 3s, a concerned Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez signaled for a timeout with his team's lead pared to 28-19. Joe Green's putback of a Beran miss shortly after the timeout capped the 15-6 Jackrabbit burst.
The Jaspers' lead never reached double digits again.
"When they made those two 3s," Gonzalez said, "I think that gave them a little bit of fire, some spark, some crack in the door like, 'Hey, you know what, we have nothing to lose. Let's hang around a little bit.' I think their kids started teeing it up a bit after that."
The Jackrabbits, playing physical defense and controlling the glass, twice trimmed the lead to two. Beran's third 3-pointer of the half made it 38-36 with 2:42 to play in the first.
Manhattan ran off six straight points before Brady Hokenson buried a 3 from the right corner with 39 seconds left to pull his squad to within 44-39.
Manhattan pushed its lead back to nine twice in the second half, but SDSU continually chipped away behind a strong surge by senior center Jared DeJong, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second.
SDSU would hold Manhattan under 27 percent shooting in the second half.
DeJong's layup with 53 seconds left trimmed Manhattan's lead to five, and the Jaspers' C.J. Anderson missed two free throws immediately thereafter. Beran's layup with 38 ticks left followed, but Mike Konovelchick and Kenny Minor netted six straight free throws to negate baskets by Hokenson and fellow senior Luke Geiver in the final moments.
Anderson had 14 points for Manhattan, and fellow freshman reserve Arturo Dubois added 11.
Freshman Holdren scored 13 points for the Jacks.
"(Manhattan) is a great program," Holdren said. "This shows that we can compete with anybody."
The Jackrabbits fly home today and host Mayville State (N.D.) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Frost Arena.
Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.
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