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2009-10 SEASON IN REVIEW<br />

In the 104th season of the historic<br />

<strong>Manhattan</strong> men’s basketball program,<br />

the Jaspers reached several milestones<br />

and recorded several keynote victories<br />

during the 2009-10 campaign. Junior<br />

Rico Pickett led the MAAC in scoring<br />

averaging 17.7 points per game and was<br />

named to the All-Conference Third Team.<br />

Seniors Darryl Crawford and Antoine<br />

Pearson each joined the program’s<br />

illustrious 1,000-Point Club becoming<br />

the first teammates to achieve this in the same<br />

season since 1991-92 when Keith Bullock ’93<br />

(1,992 points) and Russ Williams ’92<br />

(1,140 points) reached the milestone.<br />

Crawford completed his career in<br />

Riverdale ranked eighth in scoring (1,431<br />

points) and Pearson finished 24th all-time<br />

(1,123 points). Classmate Patrick Bouli<br />

also engraved his name in the <strong>Manhattan</strong><br />

record book completing his career tied for<br />

sixth all-time with 147 steals. Crawford<br />

(#8, 140) and Pearson (#10, 132) joined<br />

Bouli atop the steals list becoming the only<br />

classmates to all rank in the top-10 of this<br />

category.<br />

Crawford, one of the Jaspers most<br />

consistent players, finished ninth in the<br />

league averaging 14.8 points per game,<br />

12th with a team-high 6.3 rebounds<br />

per game and led the Jaspers with 2.2<br />

assists per game. Pickett (6th, 44.0%)<br />

and Crawford (8th, 41.3%) ranked among<br />

the best shooters in the conference<br />

completing the campaign in the top-10 in<br />

field goal percentage.<br />

<strong>Manhattan</strong> saved its best performance<br />

of the year for the 2010 MAAC<br />

Championships as the Jaspers cruised to<br />

a 94-79 victory over Loyola at the Times<br />

Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Pickett led<br />

the way with a career-high 33 points and<br />

Crawford delivered his third double-double<br />

(16 points, 10 rebounds) of the season, all<br />

of which came against the Greyhounds,<br />

ANTOINE PEARSON<br />

en route to the second MAAC Tournament<br />

win under head coach Barry Rohrssen.<br />

The Jaspers would come up short the next<br />

night in the MAAC Quarterfinals falling<br />

to three-time defending champion Siena<br />

which brought the season to a close.<br />

In his fourth year at the helm, Rohrssen<br />

became just the eighth coach in the<br />

program’s storied history to reach the<br />

50-win plateau. He completed the year<br />

just four wins behind former Jaspers’ head<br />

coach Steve Lappas (56) who enjoyed a<br />

successful four year career in Riverdale.<br />

The Jaspers got off to a strong start to<br />

the season winning five of their first eight<br />

games knocking off NJIT, Florida Atlantic,<br />

American, Canisius and cross-Bronx<br />

rival Fordham. In one of <strong>Manhattan</strong>’s<br />

top performances of the season, the<br />

Jaspers rolled to its third straight victory<br />

over the Rams in the 102nd “Battle of the<br />

Bronx” with a 68-44 triumph at Draddy<br />

Gymnasium. Pearson, a product of the<br />

Bronx, led the Jaspers with 16 points on<br />

6-for-8 shooting and earned the John<br />

“Doc” Johnson Most Valuable Player<br />

Award.<br />

In January, <strong>Manhattan</strong> played its best<br />

basketball in the Jaspers’ home victory<br />

against Saint Peter’s. <strong>Manhattan</strong> used<br />

buzzer beaters by Pearson to defeat the<br />

Peacocks in their previous two meetings<br />

in Riverdale, but this time the Jaspers did<br />

not need such heroics. Pickett scored a<br />

game-high 19 points and senior forward<br />

Brandon Adams posted 15 points and<br />

eight rebounds as the Jaspers coasted to<br />

a 76-53 win. As a team, <strong>Manhattan</strong> shot<br />

60% (30-50) from the field marking the<br />

program’s best shooting display since<br />

going 62.7% (32-51) on Nov. 27, 2004 in a<br />

76-60 rout of Fordham.<br />

<strong>Manhattan</strong> enjoyed a nationally<br />

televised win over Marist in February on<br />

ESPNU before traveling to New Rochelle,<br />

N.Y. one week later to snap Iona’s seven<br />

game win streak at the Hynes Athletic<br />

Center. The Jaspers picked up momentum<br />

down the stretch with an ESPNU<br />

BracketBuster victory over Colonial<br />

Athletic Association member Towson<br />

defeating the Tigers 78-62 behind Adams’s<br />

career-high 18 points going along with<br />

eight rebounds. The product of Yonkers,<br />

N.Y., completed his career donning the<br />

green and white on a high note averaging<br />

11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds over the final<br />

five games of the season. Adams best<br />

performance of the year came on Senior<br />

Day versus Niagara when he delivered<br />

the third double-double (15 points, 10<br />

rebounds, 75% FG) of his collegiate<br />

career. That same night, the Jaspers also<br />

honored walk-on guard Victor Jackson for<br />

his hard work and dedication lettering all<br />

four years with the program.<br />

Jaspers’ freshmen George Beamon,<br />

Mohamed Koita and Kevin Laue<br />

showed glimpses of a bright future for<br />

the <strong>Manhattan</strong> basketball program.<br />

Beamon, a 6’4” guard from Roslyn, N.Y.,<br />

appeared in 22 games and showed his<br />

uncanny scoring ability, most notably<br />

when he posted a career-high 13 points<br />

in <strong>Manhattan</strong>’s MAAC Tournament win<br />

over Loyola. Koita, a former track star<br />

from Cergy, France, joined the program<br />

mid-season, making four starts in 10<br />

appearances. In his debut, he grabbed<br />

eight rebounds against Iona and then<br />

almost three weeks later he scored<br />

a career-high 10 points in a win over<br />

the Gaels. Laue, a 6’11 center from<br />

Pleasanton, Calif., appeared in 19 games.<br />

He delivered his top performance of the<br />

season at Vanderbilt when he grabbed a<br />

career-high eight rebounds against the<br />

SEC power.<br />

DARRYL CRAWFORD<br />

58<br />

2 0 1 0 - 1 1 • M A N H A T T A N C O L L E G E M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L

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