Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Preview
by Matthew Moll
The seeding: The MAAC Tournament will take place at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY March 4-7. Ninth seed Loyola, No. 8 seed Marist, No. 7 seed Canisius, No. 3 seed Fairfield and No. 2 seed Rider will all compete on one side of the bracket to vie the winner of the No. 10 Siena, No. 5 Iona, No. 4 St. Peter’s, and No. 1 seed Niagara side of the bracket.
Seeds two through four (Rider, Fairfield, and St. Peter’s) all received first round byes thus will need three wins to Dance. Niagara, the number-one seed does not play until the semifinals on March 6, and will in effect only need two wins to before joining the field of 65. Seeds five through 10 (Siena, Loyola, Marist, Canisius, Manhattan, and Iona) will need four consecutive wins in four days to qualify for the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.
First round previews
No. 10 Siena vs. No. 5 Iona
The reinventing of the Saints basketball program had its share of snags, which led to a last place finish and a No. 10 seed. But a bit of grace was granted to the Saints pitting them against a team they defeated once and played closely twice. In the initial meeting Siena earned their first MAAC win of the season with a 59-56 win over Iona. Two months later they would play another closely contested match that would end in a 75-72 win for the Gaels. The Saints are winners of two of their last three including a win over No.2 seed Rider.
Iona’s season concluded with alternating streaks of wins and losses setting them up to be the MAAC’s highest seed without a bye and with a match-up against a team that plays them well. Look for Steve Burtt, who scored 19 in both contests to be there again, but they will need Ricky Soliver to return to his normal self to avoid the upset.
No. 7 Canisius vs. No. 8 Marist
Marist’s drastic dirge from MAAC leader to the eighth spot was compliments of a string of nine losses in their last ten games. The Red Foxes’ surprise jolt to the top immediately followed with a collapse that has this team reeling. The tailspin began January 28, when senior Will McClurkin was suspended by the team and did not appear in the next five games, all of which they lost and have yet to recover.
Early in the season Marist had teams seeing red defeating MAAC higher-seeds Niagara, St. Peter’s, and Fairfield, but they would encore with losses to all three of the aforementioned teams and two losses to their first round opponent. In their last meeting Canisius shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, but cooled en route to an 85-81 win. The previous meeting Canisius defeated Marist 61-51 in overtime.
Canisius enters the contest not playing great, but playing better than the opponent. The Golden Griffins shared identical MAAC records, but because of the head-to-head, 2-0 count in favor of the Griffins, they received the higher, yet ultimately meaningless seed.
Expect to see first year coach Matt Brady to have something for his team to chew on as he enters his first post season. Marist and Canisius have proven they match up evenly and should have another close game. Canisius is saddled with the burden of beating a team that they have played closely twice and won twice and now have to beat them a third time to continue their season. Canisius should though take advantage of the struggling Foxes in the early stages of March.
No. 6 Manhattan vs. No. 9 Loyola
The Greyhounds avoided the cellar this year and won six times as many games as they did the previous year under new head coach Jimmy Patsos. The climb out of the subterranean vault, also included a win over their opponent, repeat defending champion Manhattan and an early season win over one seeded Niagara. The 77-70 win for Loyola included several double-digit leads and began a three game winning streak for the ‘Hounds. The next time they faced each other Manhattan took a 17-4 run into the locker room to shut down Loyola and take a 77-61 win.
This game will not be like either of the two. Manhattan is in a place they have not been before, playing in the first round of the MAAC tournament. Loyola is going into the tournament with the expectation of competing. The Jaspers however have a head coach that has won this tournament twice before and expects to make one last run. Expect coach Bobby Gonzalez to will his team to the next round and try to cast out those team-Luis Flores doubts.
Predictions
Hubie, Hubie, Hubie: The only team that has shown they can compete with Niagara is Rider. Rider split the season series with the Purple Eagles. Rider needed overtime and 28 points from Jerry Johnson to defeat the current one seed 113-106. The previous meeting however the Broncos fell short 102-97. Both match-ups were shootouts and both games no one could stop Juan Mendez. Mr. MAAC POY scored 31 and 29 respectively against the Bronco defense. If Niagara can win their semifinal game and they find themselves scoring in the 90’s Rider is the most legitimate team that can follow suit. Niagara also lost four other games one to Loyola (fluke), Manhattan (Peter Mulligan could not miss), Marist (when they could win), and Iona (fluke) to complete their loss record. But the theoretically other comparable opponent would be Fairfield, but again in theory. The Purple Eagles swept the season series by a combined 12 points.
Who has a shot: Rider as mentioned before can play with Niagara, but Jerry Johnson cannot guard Juan Mendez (and won’t be guarding him), but then again no one in this league has proven they can. The only possible exception to this: Fairfield and the forever-looming Deng Gai. With Gai in the middle Mendez was held to 18 points (nearly six points below his average) in the Gai versus Mendez latest tilt. Mendez still managed a double-double, but Fairfield’s Terrance Todd made an appearance and Niagara received only six points from their bench. So if it comes down to Fairfield and Niagara and Gai can shut down Mendez, who knows.
Only two other teams can be given serious consideration. One Manhattan. The Jaspers just need to think back to last year and remember the feeling and take what they have earned. Sure they are without a certain someone, but if CJ Anderson is going to explode and make this into his team why not start now rather than wait until next season. Two St. Peter’s. Keydren Clark at times led the nation in scoring and his passing (yes you read right) inspired this team at the end of the season. Clark and Co. is a sleeper and just need to go on a run. They have proven capable to do so winning nine of their last 11 including a streak of five wins in a row.
Who is it going to be: Despite the fact that it is March, more implausible thing have happened, and lying fallow could be what is culpable for a contrary outcome, it has to be Niagara.
