ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- — Braden Sparks had 17 points in Fairfield's 71-60 victory against Manhattan on Thursday in the opening round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

Sparks had five assists for the No. 7 seed Stags (20-11). Brandon Benjamin scored 15 points while shooting 6 of 9 from the field, and added nine rebounds and three blocks. Tony Williams went 4 of 8 from the field (3 for 5 from 3-point range) to finish with 11 points. Declan Wucherpfennig had 13 rebounds.

Terrance Jones led the way for the No. 10 seed Jaspers (12-20) with 16 points and four assists. Manhattan also got 15 points and three steals from Jaden Winston. Devin Dinkins finished with 11 points. Anthony Isaac had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Fairfield took the lead for good with 1:47 to go in the first half. The score was 31-27 at halftime, with Williams racking up eight points. Fairfield outscored Manhattan by seven points in the final half, while Sparks led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points.

Fairfield advances to face No. 2 seed Saint Peter's on Friday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.