RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College Men's Basketball will travel to Fort Collins, Colo. for the consolation rounds of the 2011 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off it was announced Thursday morning. The Jaspers (2-1) split their two games in the opening rounds, falling to #5 Syracuse 92-56 and defeating Brown 54-52 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY.
Manhattan is part of a pod that includes Fresno State, the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and the host school Colorado State. The Jaspers will take on Fresno State at 7 p.m. on Mon., Nov. 21 at the Moby Arena before taking on host Colorado State at 9:30 p.m. on Tue., Nov. 22. All times are Eastern.
Fresno State (2-1) also split their opening round matchups in the West division, dropping a 75-59 decision to eventual region champion Stanford before defeating SMU 54-52 in the consolation game. The Bulldogs are led by sophomore guard Kevin Olekaibe who leads the team in scoring averaging 20.3 points per game through the first three contests. He is only player averaging double digit points.
UTSA (2-1) also split both their opening round matchups by defeating sixth-seeded Oral Roberts 78-77 in the first round and dropping a heartbreaker to second-seed Oklahoma State 90-85 in overtime in the regional championship game. The Roadrunners are the eighth seed in the tournament and rely on a balanced scoring attack of Jeromie Hill (12.3 PPG) Michael Hale, III (16.3 PPG), and Kannon Burrage (16.3 PPG). They will face host Colorado State and Fresno State.
Colorado State (2-1) went 1-1 in the opening rounds of the NIT, in the West division defeating SMU 75-56 in the first game and falling to Stanford 64-52 in the regional championship game. Junior guard Wes Eikmeier paces the Rams with 17.3 PPG while junior forward Greg Smith averages just over 11 points and six boards per contest.
All Manhattan Jaspers games will be broadcast live on www.GoJaspers.com beginning fifteen minutes before tip-off with the "Steve Masiello Pre-Game Report". Christian Heimall and former Manhattan Coach Brian Mahoney will have live audio commentary of each contest.
To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.
