Sports

Manhattan falls to Niagara in letdown loss

Juan’ya Green has earned himself a new nickname.

The sophomore guard decided enough was enough and flipped a switch in the closing minutes for Niagara as the Purple Eagles (16-11, 12-4 MAAC) ended the Jaspers’ four-game winning streak with a 60-56 win at Draddy Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.

“Our radio guy said we should change his name from Juan’ya to Win’ya,” Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said. “All this guy does is make us win. Whether it’s a big play, big shot, he makes us win.”

Manhattan (10-16, 8-8 MAAC) contained Green for the majority of the game, but it was in the most crucial moments where he eventually erupted. Green scored Niagara’s final seven points and 11 of its final 15 to seal the win for the Purple Eagles.

“I just took charge,” Green said. “I put the team on my back. I just wanted to make plays for everybody else.”

The Jaspers, who were coming off of an impressive double-overtime win against Iona on Friday night, simply did not have it Sunday afternoon.

“I warned our guys about a letdown coming off an Iona win,” Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello said. “I don’t think we came out ready to play and that’s my fault, I’ll take that, I didn’t have them ready to play from an emotional standpoint like they were for some other games.”

Manhattan was able to hold the Purple Eagles to just under 26 percent shooting in the first half and only trailed by one point, 22-21 heading into the locker room.

“The frustrating thing is in that locker room at halftime, we’re holding them to 25 percent, we’re down one and we were deflated,” Masiello said. “I didn’t like our body language at all.”

If Manhattan let a slow first half get it down, Niagara and Green did the exact opposite. After scoring just five of Niagara’s 22 points in the game’s first 20 minutes, Green came out a different player for a team that averages over 74 points per game this season.

“[Green] didn’t have a great first half,” Mihalich said. “But he didn’t let that get to him. He knew not to panic, maybe a year ago he does that, but he didn’t do that [today].”

With leading scorer Antoine Mason sidelined with an ankle injury for the fourth straight game, the Purple Eagles received a scoring boost from Marvin Jordan, who finished with four 3-pointers and 16 points.

Niagara also played fierce defense against the Jaspers and forced Manhattan into committing 22 miscues. The Purple Eagles outscored the Jaspers 16-3 off of turnovers.

“They were playing good defense but we were sloppy with the ball, not strong with the ball,” Jaspers guard Donovan Kates said. “They ripped the ball out of our hands a couple of times. It’s just not acceptable.”

In addition to forcing nearly two dozen turnovers, Niagara did a good job of containing Manhattan junior forward Rhamel Brown, who just two days after finishing with 21 points and 17 rebounds against Iona, was limited to 12 points and eight boards.

“One of the keys is to try and get [Brown] under control,” Mihalich said. “He was a giant, pun intended, against Iona. I think we might have just gotten lucky a little bit.”

For Manhattan, the loss ends a four-game conference winning streak and with two of their next three on the road, it will need to rebound quickly to keep up momentum heading into the MAAC tournament next month.

“This is really the first time this year we have had success consistently,” Masiello said. “I’m happy we learned this lesson now because come MAAC tournament, we won’t forget it.”

asulla-heffinger@nypost.com