The Manhattan Jaspers and the St. Peter’s Peacocks meet Friday in college basketball action from Yanitelli Center. Manhattan is sitting at 10-6 this year. The Jaspers lost to Monmouth in their last game. As for Saint Peter’s, they’re sitting at 8-7 and coming off a win over Marist. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Manhattan put up an 8-3 run in their first 11 games, losing to only Old Dominion, Quinnipiac and Utah. Since then it’s been a 2-3 run with wins over Canisius and Siena among losses to Iona, Niagara and Monmouth.
In the Monmouth game on Sunday, the Jaspers posted a 35-31 deficit in the first half and a 43-31 run from there in a 78-62 loss. Leading Manhattan in scoring was Jose Perez with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Over on the Saint Peter’s side, they managed a 3-6 run in their first nine with wins over LIU, Quinnipiac and Nyack. The Peacocks have gone 5-1 since then with victories versus Monmouth, Rider, Canisius, Niagara and Marist.
In the Marist matchup on Wednesday, the Peacocks trailed 34-31 at halftime. Saint Peter’s went on a 38-28 run from there for a comeback 69-62 win. Leading team scorer Hassan Drame posted 18 points with 11 rebounds during the victory.
The Peacocks are 1-4-1 ATS in their last six at home and 2-10-1 ATS in their last 13 after an ATS win. Saint Peter’s is 5-1-1 ATS in their last seven overall.
Meanwhile, the Jaspers are 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games and 4-0-1 ATS in their last five Friday games. Manhattan is 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks aren’t a big scoring team this year, but they’ve been getting solid wins with defense over their last half-dozen games. Saint Peter’s has held opponents to 63 points or fewer in five of those six outings. As for Manhattan, they’re on a spotty 2-3 run right now and have been at 63 points or fewer in two of the last three. I like the Peacocks to stay in the flow of the game and cover here. Should be a fun matchup.