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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 />
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