TOWSON, Md. - On Feb. 20, 2010, the Tigers return home to face the Manhattan Jaspers for the very first time in the ESPN BracketBusters event.

Aside from the first eight minutes, these teams played a pretty close game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they started the game out flat, falling behind by 20-0 as they missed their first eight shots from the field and committed eight turnovers. The Tigers settled down after the poor start and played well, but Manhattan won the game by 78-62 in Riverdale, N.Y.

Less than two years later, these two teams match up again on Tuesday night at the Towson Center. Manhattan is on quite a nice roll, winning four straight games, including wins over Rider (71-55), St. Peter's (68-42), Fordham (81-47) and Hofstra (68-59) on the road.

At 7-4, the Jaspers, who also lost to Syracuse, Colorado State, Columbia and Penn, have four returning starters from a 6-25 team. First-year Coach Steve Masiello, a former assistant coach at Louisville, appears to have the team on the right track.

The Jaspers are winning with defense as they are holding their opponents to just 39% field goal shooting and 30% from beyond the arc. They are also outrebounding teams by a +5.5 margin. And, this is a team that does not start a player taller than 6-foot-7.

Offensively, the Jaspers are averaging 17.5 turnovers per game, but are forcing 15.1 turnovers while scoring 67.6 points per game. The Jaspers shoot 41% from the field, 34% from beyond the arc and 72% from the line.

Last year's returning scorer is back in 6-4 junior wing George Beamon, who leads the team again in scoring with a 15.8 average while adding a team-leading 14 steals and 5.3 rebounds per game. He also shoots 47% from the field, 39% (15-39) from beyond the arc and a blistering 92% (43-47) from the line.

Sophomore Michael Alvarado (6-2, 185) is a versatile guard who leads the team with 28 assists and is second in scoring with an 8.9 average while shooting 45% from the floor, 47% (8-17) from beyond the arc and 81% from the foul line.

Junior guard Mohamed Koita (6-4, 195) is listed as a starter, but he has only averaged 12.5 minutes per game; he is scoring 2.5 points per game. He battled injuries in his first season, but the France native is a former track and field star who can obviously help on the defensive end.

Up front, freshman Emmy Andjuar (6-5, 205) might be undersized, but he can take bigger opponents to the perimeter or just beat them down the floor. Andujar averages 8.3 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48% from the floor, 24% (4-17) from beyond the arc (4-17) and 68% from the line.

At center, senior Roberto Colonette (6-7, 210) leads the team by averaging 6.4 rebounds per game in just 19.2 minutes per outing. He averages 7.4 points per game while shooting 41% from the floor and also is second on the team with 15 blocks.

The most impressive part of this team is its depth. The Jaspers can bring a player like sophomore Rhamel Brown (6-6, 2150 off the bench. Against Hofstra, Brown scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked six shots in 25 minutes off the bench. He averages 6.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 55% from the floor with a team-high 32 blocks.

Senior guard Liam McCabe-Moran (6-4, 190, 7.0 ppg), freshman Donovan Kates (6-6, 200, 5.3 ppg) and senior guard Kidan Brutus (6-1, 200, 6.5 ppg, 2.6 apg) are all impact players that can start or come off the bench for the Jaspers.
 
Manhattan will make its first-ever visit to the Towson Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WNST-AM 1570 and there will be a live in-game blog at TowsonTigers.com.