The Manhattan Jaspers have a good reason to be thankful — George Beamon is back.
The senior swingman made his season debut in the Jaspers’ home-opener Wednesday night, scoring 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting, adding seven rebounds and two steals as Manhattan took down Hofstra, 67-56 at Draddy Gymnasium.
“We have a very good team, but when he’s in the lineup I think we’re a much different team,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello said of Beamon, who returned from a mild ankle injury that sidelined him for the season’s first two games. “It’s not just his points. Our mentality, our energy was totally different. It’s a compliment to him the impact he has on these guys. I’m really proud of him.”
It was Manhattan’s (1-2) second straight season defeating the Pride, while Hofstra (3-3) had its three-game win streak snapped and remains winless on the road.
“It was just a great night for us,” said Beamon, who was a game-time decision and hadn’t practiced in nearly two weeks. “We needed a win. It was a good way to come out at home. It was just a great feeling.”
After missing Manhattan’s first two games, decisive losses at Louisville and at Harvard, Beamon looked better than ever. The team’s leading-scorer the past two seasons, the Long Island native showed no ill-effects from the injury, converting on a back-door alley-oop, diving on the floor and crashing the boards relentlessly.
As Beamon drew defenders to the perimeter, Jaspers big man Rhamel Brown took advantage on the inside, scoring 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting, while adding eight rebounds and four blocks. Brown was aggressive in the paint and was a natural complement to Beamon, who was the team’s only double-digit scorer last season.
“George helps bring a lot of intensity for the team,” Brown said. “The first two games we struggled bringing intensity without him. He’s our natural leader. You could tell the chemistry when he’s on the court is evident.”
Hofstra came out cold and confused, trailing 15-2 in less than four minutes, while looking overwhelmed with Manhattan’s swarming full-court pressure.
With four transfers and five freshmen, the Pride looked like a team still learning to play with each other, but guard Taran Buie asserted himself and sparked an 11-0 first-half run, keeping Hofstra within a point, 29-28, at halftime. The Penn State transfer finished with 22 points.
“We were very good at home this weekend where we’re comfortable,” Hofstra coach Mo Cassara said. “When we’re not comfortable, we’re not quite tough enough mentally or physically to win on the road yet and that’s going to be a big challenge for this young group.”
Manhattan, which shot 2-of-15 on 3-pointers in the first-half, shot over 38 percent in the second-half, but no shots were bigger than the back-to-back corner daggers from Michael Alvarado, which extended the lead to 10 with less than seven minutes remaining and killed the Pride’s momentum.