LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (AP)—Michael Alvarado and George Beamon scored 17 points apiece and Manhattan used a huge second-half surge to beat Rider 71-55 Friday night in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Manhattan (4-4) trailed 35-33 with 15:18 left following a 10-3 run by the Broncs. The Jaspers then reeled off a 24-9 run, including six points by Alvarado, to lead 57-44 with 2:55 left. That was the ninth and final lead change.
Rhamel Brown added nine points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for Manhattan, which outrebounded Rider 40-26.
Novar Gadson scored 16 points and Jeff Jones had 14 for Rider, which is 1-7 for the first time since the 1986-87 season.
Rider, which had won eight of the last nine meetings with Manhattan— including the last four—shot just 32.7 percent from the field (17 of 52) compared to 43.4 percent (23 of 53) for the Jaspers.
