SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Rhamel Brown scored 18 points, 11 after halftime, and Michael Alvarado added 17 as second-seeded Manhattan broke away from seventh-seeded St. Peter's 72-58 in a Metro Athletic Association quarterfinal Saturday night.
The Jaspers (23-7) advance to play Quinnipiac (20-10) in Sunday's semifinal. Manhattan has reached the MAAC semis for the second straight year.
Manhattan, winners of nine of its last 10 games, battled through a close contest with the Peacocks (14-17) with five ties and eight lead changes until Brown found space inside for three straight buckets. The burst helped Manhattan break from 44-43 to 54-48 in about 4 minutes.
St. Peter's Chris Burke hit a 3-pointer to come as close as 58-52, but Manhattan finished on a 14-6 clip.
Alvarado scored 13 points at the free throw line as the Jaspers sank 29 of 42 attempts. Manhattan owned a 33-27 rebounding edge, with Brown collecting 10.
Marvin Dominique scored 14 for St. Peter's.
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