By Paul Gotham
Emmy Andujar nearly made history on Sunday afternoon.
His coach sees the performance as nothing out of the ordinary.
Andujar finished two assists short of the first triple-double in Manhattan’s program history as the Jaspers defeated the Marist Red Foxes, 60-38. Manhattan’s head coach Steve Masiello was not surprised by the senior guard’s effort. In fact, the fourth-year coach might even expect it.
“He’s triple-double threat every night he’s on the court,” Masiello said during this week’s MAAC conference call. “I don’t know how many players you can say that about.”
The 6-6 Andujar scored 15 points Sunday on 7-of-8 shooting. The Bronx native hit his only three-point attempt of the day. He pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds and grabbed two steals.
“I want Emmy to be more aggressive, but I want him to be more aggressive like he was on the backboard,” Masiello added. “That’s what I’m talking about. Go get 15,18, 20 rebounds. Go get your nine, ten assists. Dominate the game statistically. You can always score if you’re talented. It’s based on what the defense gives you.”
The game was Andujar’s third double-digit scoring performance of the season and his second double-double.
“He’s kind of a unique player,” Masiello continued. “I know people don’t think he’s that good. I’ve seen publications where he’s fourth team or third team or second team. To me he’s the most versatile player in this conference. He’s a guy who can legitimately play four positions. He can dominate a game without the basketball.”
After averaging eight-plus points and more than five rebounds a game for his first three seasons, Andujar is scoring 11.3 and grabbing 8.1 boards in the first seven games of this season. He scored in double figures on 11 occasions for last year’s MAAC champion lineup which included George Beamon (18.8 ppg/ 6.5 rpg), Michael Alvarado (11.9 ppg/ 4.0 apg) and Rhamel Brown (10.1 ppg/ 5.9 rpg/ 3.6 bpg).
Masiello points out that Andujar has stepped into a larger part with the current team.
“His role has changed in a sense of where he’s become more of an alpha for us maybe where George and Mike were more in that role last year.”
Andujar’s eight helpers, which matched his career high set during his freshman season, were part of an overall Manhattan performance that saw the Jaspers hand out 19 assists on 26 field goals.
“We’re a different system,” Masiello explained. “If we have a leading scorer every night who is the same guy, I’ll be surprised. I say that because it’s all predicated on what the defense gives us.”
Andujar’s 15 rebounds against the Red Foxes was his ninth career double-digit performance on the boards. He nearly matched his mark of 16 set during his sophomore campaign against Loyola (MD).
He tallied a career high 28 points versus Iona last February.
“He’s terrific,” said Marist Red Foxes coach Mike Maker. “He’s a point forward if you will. He can play on the ball, off the ball. He’s a handful for anybody. He’s a tremendous basketball player, really intelligent, good athlete, tough and a good leader.”
Andujar’s double-double on Sunday was the sixth of his career.
One year after earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid in a decade, the Jaspers are off to a deceiving 2-5 start which includes an overtime setback at UMass and a loss to George Mason at the buzzer. Injuries have slowed the Jaspers.
To earn a spot in this season’s field of 68, Masiello knows Andujar will have to play a prominent part. The Manhattan coach has confidence in that possibility.
“If he’s not one of the best five players in this league, (than) this league’s a lot better than I thought.”
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