Furman (7-4) at Manhattan (4-7)
Furman is set to return to the floor after a nine-day hiatus, as it will face the Manhattan Jaspers for the sixth time in program history, as the Paladins look to continue their strong play as of late. The Paladins hold a 3-2 all-time series edge, but haven't played the Jaspers since taking a 94-76 win in 1974 in Greenville. In fact, the past two previous meetings were both in Greenville and both won by Furman.
The Paladins haven't played the Jaspers in Manhattan since 1954, taking a 92-80 win in that contest. Interestingly, it's Furman's first game in the Big Apple since Dec. 4, 2013, when the Paladins suffered a 79-48 loss to Fordham in Niko Medved's first season at the helm. Furman also faced off against Columbia in the Big Apple on Nov. 14, 2011, taking a 62-58 win over Columbia under the direction of Cornell graduate and former Furman head coach Jeff Jackson.
Furman has played games in the northeast in recent seasons, with games at Harvard (2024), at Princeton (2023), at Villanova (2018), at St. Peter's (2017) and at UConn (2015) in recent seasons. However, the Paladins have somehow avoided games in the Empire State.
The Jaspers play as a part of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and have a strong tradition of good basketball within a league that itself has a strong tradition, and also includes the likes of Iona, Canisius, Fairfield, Marist and Siena to name just a few.
In fact, Bob Richey's first-ever game as a head coach back in March of 2017 came against a team that hailed from the MAAC, as the Paladins faced off against St. Peter's in a CIT Final Four matchup, and things wouldn't end so well for the Paladins in that game, dropping a 77-51 contest to the Peacocks in what was a game that would see Richey serve as the interim head coach after Niko Medved announced he would be leaving to take the Drake job, which was effective immediately.
The Jaspers are coming off what was a 17-14 record last season and were picked towards the upper portion of the league, as Manhattan was picked to finish fourth in the 13-team league in the preseason according to the league's head coaches. In what was John Gallagher's second season last year, the Jaspers were a little ahead of schedule when they won 17 games, which included a 12-8 conference mark and that was good enough for a tie for fourth place in the league standings at the end of the season.
The Jaspers enter the matchup with the Paladins sporting wins against St Joseph's Brooklyn (W, 125-59), vs. Utah Tech (W, 79-75), Mississippi Valley State (W, 80-73), and Fairfield (W, 70-66). Losses for the Jaspers have come against Fordham (L, 53-82), at Marist (L, 68-80), at Army (L, 78-81/OT), vs. Wagner (L, 101-103 OT), at Texas A&M (L, 68-109), at Hawaii (L, 56-86) and at Southern Cal (L, 83-114).
The Jaspers are currently 320 in KenPom as of Dec. 18, 2025, and the Jaspers win this season came against Utah Tech, which is currently ranked No. 250 in KenPom. The Jaspers' 17 wins a year ago were a 10-win improvement over Gallagher's first season at the helm, which saw Manhattan win just seven games in Gallagher's first season at the helm back during the 2023-25 season, as he replaced Steve Masiello, who is currently the associate head coach at St. John's under the direction of Rick Pitino.
In a story similar to that of Wofford's own drama inside the SoCon, the former head coach Masiello was fired just two weeks prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, which was also supposed to be the final year of his contract. That led Manhattan star forward and preseason MAAC Player of the Year Jose Perez into the transfer portal, and the former Gardner-Webb and Marquette guard would end up at West Virginia before finishing out his career at Arizona State in the 2023-24 season.
Masiello was seen as one of the hottest young coaches in the early part of his career as the Jaspers' head coach, as he led Manhattan to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 and '15. The 17 wins last season marked the most by a Jaspers team since 2015, which also coincided with the program's last tournament appearance.
This season, the Jaspers have taken their share of lumps against a decently tough schedule. Coming into the 2025-26 campaign, Manhattan welcomed the return of two starter from that team that won 17 games and broke through to finish above .500 a year ago, as MAAC Rookie of the Year and 6-8 forward William Syndor, who averaged 13.9 PPG and was a unanimous all-conference selection in the preseason.
However, due to a compliance issue that has yet to be resolved by the school, Syndor has yet to suit up in one game this season for the Jaspers. Syndor's projected return is sometime in January, although no official word has been provided. With Syndor's absence being such a notable one, it's taken its toll on the Jaspers early on this season, as they have struggled to meet those top four expectations at least early on this season.
It would be comparable to VMI's situation currently in the SoCon, as the Keydets are dealing with an undisclosed injury to top player and preseason SoCon Player of the Year Rickey Bradley Jr. The good news for the Jaspers is that they also returned the league's "Sixth Man of the Year" from last season, in 5–10-point guard Devin Dinkins (14.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 31 assists, 27 steals), who was just behind Syndor in scoring average in 2024-25 for the Jaspers, at 13.6 PPG.
Dinkins is currently the Jaspers' second-leading scorer this season, averaging right at 14.0 PPG. Dinkins shoots the ball decently from the perimeter, at just over 33% for the season, having knocked down 17-of-51 attempts from long-range this season. His 17 triples are tied for the most on the team and he's started all 11 games for the Jaspers at point guard this season after winning the MAAC's "Sixth Man of the Year" award last season.
Manhattan has four players averaging in double figures entering this evening's contest, led by 6-0 junior guard Jaden Winston out of DeMatha Catholic, who is averaging 14.8 PPG this season and has a pair of 20+point scoring performances, including a 29-point effort in a road loss to Southern California earlier this season.
Sophomore forward Roxburgh Fraser, who hails from Melbourne, Australia, is averaging 12.3 PPG and has managed to hit double figures in four of the past five games for the Jaspers, while 6-3 graduate student and guard Terrance Jones adds 10.7 PPG off the bench. Jones is tied for the team lead with 17 threes, shooting them at an impressive 43.6% (17-of-39) clip so far this season.
Syndor's absence has seen the Jaspers struggle on the boards throughout the season, as Manhattan currently ranks No. 346 overall in total rebounding margin (40.9 RPG/-7) for the season. It's a stat that could be one to watch tonight, as Furman, which employs a pair of twin towers, in 6-11 Cooper Bowser and 6-11 Charles Johnston, ranks tied for 28th nationally in overall rebounding margin (+9).
The Paladins enter tonight's game winners of six of their past seven games, including having won three-straight, with the last coming back on Dec. 9, in a 105-59 route of non-Division I Bob Jones University. It was Furman's 230th win since the start of the 2015-16, which is most among current SoCon teams over that same span.
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