Manhattan College shot 50.8 percent from the field and junior Rico Pickett scored a career-high 21 points as the visiting Jaspers defeated Canisius College 71-57 Sunday afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center. Manhattan moves to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in MAAC action, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Pickett was one of three Manhattan players to post double figures on the final stat sheet after he went 9-for-16 from the field, 2-for-5 from 3-point range and 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. Darryl Crawford came off the bench to add 19 points and six rebounds for Manhattan, while Andrew Gabriel posted 13 points and five boards in the winning effort.

For Canisius, junior Julius Coles led the Blue and Gold with 15 points to go with seven rebounds. Senior Frank Turner chipped in 13 points and six assists and junior Tomas Vazquez-Simmons added 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Manhattan used a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take a 20-10 lead with 10:06 left before halftime. Canisius scored five-straight points to cut into the Jaspers' cushion, but a 9-1 run over a span of 2:30 pushed the Jaspers' hold to 29-16 with 4:35 left before the break. Manhattan took a 32-23 lead into the locker room at intermission after the team shot 46.4 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes, while the Griffs shot just 28.6 percent and turned the ball over 12 times.

In the opening moments of the second half, Canisius got within eight at 35-27 on two made free-throws by Coles, but that was as close the Griffs would get on the day as Manhattan answered with the game's next six points, highlighted by two tip-in buckets by Gabriel and Crawford.  Manhattan, which entered the day as the league's top field goal percentage defense, held Canisius to 33.3 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from 3-point range, while also holding a 42-26 advantage on points in the paint and a 19-12 margin on second chance points.

"It was a long, frustrating day, not just at the offensive end, but on the defensive end as well," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "We need to do a better job defending teams when we're not making shots on the offensive end and we have to do a better job of handling the carryover after a good win [Friday night]."

The Griffs will return to action Saturday, Dec. 12, when the team plays host to Bowling Green in non-conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Manhattan has now won five-straight over Canisius and leads the all-time series 46-29... Canisius' 33.3 percent effort from the field on Sunday is the team's lowest this season... Canisius out rebounded Manhattan by a 38-32 count, the fourth time this year the Griffs have finished the game with more rebounds than their opponents... Turner's 13 points marks the 26th-straight game where he's scored in double figures, which is every game during the 2009 calendar year... Tomas Vazquez-Simmons had seven offensive rebounds against Manhattan and is now averaging 3.9 offensive boards per game this year... At halftime of the game, the Canisius College softball team was presented with their 2009 MAAC Championship rings.