Siena

Writers Picks: Top Upsets & Surprise Teams

CHN — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:53:57 -0700

Need help filling in your bracket? CHN writers give their predictions below about who will be the big winners and losers of this year's bracket. See how these picks compare to CHN's Official Prediction.

Surprise = Team that will exceed expectations/seed

Failure = Team that will underperform seed

Upset = Projected 1st round upset special

Writer	Brubaker	Carpentier	Fox	Johnson
Surprise	USC	USC	Davidson	WKU
Failure	Wisconsin	Duke	Drake	Tennessee
Upset	Siena	Siena	WKU	Siena
	over Vandy	over Vandy	over Drake	over Vandy

Writer	Teitel	Tomassini	Wesler	White
Surprise	Pitt	Temple	Stanford	Kansas St
Failure	Xavier	Georgetown	Duke	Memphis
Upset	Kansas St	Oral Roberts	Villanova	WKU
	over USC	over Pittsburgh	over Clemson	over Drake

What can we make of these picks? USC is a favorite to advance to the Sweet Sixteen at the expense of Wisconsin (a belief shared by CHN's Official Prediction.) Western Kentucky and Siena are trendy upset picks.. while thoughts on Pitt are mixed.

See what these writers had to say about the Final Four.

A Saint's Welcome: Siena Advances to NCAA Tournament

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:08:10 -0700

Albany, NY - Given the tight nature of the MAAC title race throughout the regular season, one that saw six teams finish within two games of first place, it would have been natural to expect a close final between co-champs Rider and Siena. However, the Saints' lone senior and birthday boy Tay Fisher made sure there would be no such drama. Taking all ten shots from behind the arc and making six, Fisher scored twenty-one points and helped lead Siena (22-10) to a 74-53 win in tonight's MAAC Tournament title game. Kenny Hasbrouck, named tournament MVP for his work over the weekend, finished with seventeen points and Edwin Ubiles scored fifteen.

Jason Thompson attempted to put Rider (23-10) on his back, but his 22 and 12 effort went for naught as the Saint pressure took control from about five minutes left in the first half on. "I thought they were disruptive with it (the trapping), but their offense was the difference," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey, and he had a point there as well. Siena shot 51.9% from the field for the game and knocked down nine three pointers. The Saints also forced sixteen Rider turnovers, scoring twenty-one points off of those Bronc miscues. But the true story on this night was the lone player to stick around after Fran McCaffrey took over for the recently removed Rob Lanier.

"He believed. He stayed (when everyone else left). Hasbrouck knew me for two weeks. I told him if he came, we'd do something special," said McCaffrey.

On Fisher's exploits tonight, Rider head coach stated that he "thought he broke open a competitive game late in the first half" with twelve points that helped move the Siena lead from 23-22 to 37-26 with 3:31 remaining in the half. From there the Saints rode a strong defensive effort to a 41-30 lead at the half. Siena also outscored Rider 17-4 in bench points, a stat that underlined both Fisher's shooting and the fact that the Broncs were without Ryan Thompson and had a hobbled Justin Robinson. On this night, however, it wouldn't have mattered who was on the floor. This was Tay's night.

So while Siena moves on to the NCAA Tournament, Rider is hopeful of receiving an NIT bid. And to be frank, they should.

"I hope it's not over. I think this team gets an NIT bid," said Coach Dempsey, and with a first-round draft pick and a school-record twenty-three wins as part of their resume there's no reason why the NIT wouldn't take the Broncs. There's also the newly-formed CBI, but no disrespect to the Gazelle Group I don't see a team turning down the NIT for the CBI. "I just told Tommy 'you're getting a bid'. They're a program that clearly deserves a postseason bid," said McCaffrey after the game.

Thus ends an exciting season of MAAC basketball. Expecting the birthday boy to blow out the candles? Sure. But a blowout in the title game? I don't think even the most optimistic of Saints supporters expected that.

Possible seed for Siena: 14 or 15.

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: Siena

Joel Welser — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:01:05 -0700

Siena Saints

Metro Atlantic (22-10, 13-5)

Big Wins: 11/17 Stanford (79-67), 2/8 at Marist (97-88), 2/23 at Boise State (93-70)

Bad Losses: 11/9 at James Madison (88-100), 2/16 Loyola Maryland (76-83), 2/18 at Manhattan (72-73)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2002, First Round loss to Maryland

Coach: Fran McCaffery (0-2 in 2 NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Ronald Moore, Sophomore, Guard, 8.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.1 rpg

Kenny Hasbrouck, Junior, Guard, 15.6 ppg, 2.2 apg, 2.3 spg

Edwin Ubiles, Sophomore, Guard, 17.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Josh Duell, Junior, Forward, 5.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg

Alex Franklin, Sophomore, Forward, 15.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg

Key Roleplayers:

Tay Fisher, Senior, Guard, 7.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg

Clarence Jackson, Freshman, Guard, 3.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg

Chris De La Rosa, Freshman, Guard, 2.5 ppg, 1.5 apg

Ryan Rossiter, Freshman, Forward, 2.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg

Corey Magee, Sophomore, Forward, 1.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

A few teams will hit more three-pointers than Siena, but not many will knock them down with more consistency. Tay Fisher is a sharpshooter off the bench, but he leads the team with two long balls per contest. Edwin Ubiles is the team’s leading scorer and he hits 44.2 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. Ubiles does not do most of his damage from behind the arc and has a nice mid-range game and can get to the basket with ease. His main scoring mate in the backcourt is Kenny Hasbrouck. Hasbrouck hits almost 40 percent of his shots from long range, but he is by no means a one-dimensional scorer.

The backcourt, led by point guard Ronald Moore, also creates a ton of turnovers. The team will almost garner ten steals per game and that is a very impressive number. That leads to a ton of easy buckets for the guards on the other end of the floor. Even better than creating turnovers is not giving them up and the Saints only commit about 11 turnovers per game.

Why They Can Disappoint:

Unfortunately Siena gives up a lot of their possessions with missed rebounding opportunities. Alex Franklin is a solid rebounder, but he does not get much help from fellow forwards Josh Duell, Ryan Rossiter or Cory Magee in that department. The lack of rebounding is one reason why the Saints defense is not so heavenly. The team gives up over 72 points per game and allows the opposition to shoot over 45 percent from the floor.

Who To Watch:

Moore is more than just a point guard. Although it is his leadership that keeps the turnovers down, he will do a little bit of everything that his team needs. He can hit the mid-range jumper and occasionally the three-pointer, but usually he will get a bulk of his 8.7 points per game around the basket. Moore is also a decent rebounder for his size and will spearhead the defensive effort.

- More 2008 NCAA Tournament Coverage

- All 2008 Tournament Capsules

MAAC Semifinals Recap: Rider to Face Siena

Raphielle Johnson — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:47:53 -0700

ALBANY, N.Y.- To say that things didn't look good from a depth standpoint heading into tonight's MAAC Tournament semifinal for Rider would be an understatement. Both Ryan Thompson and Justin Robinson missed the game due to injury, but Jason Thompson showed the Times Union Center crowd why he's Player of the Year and Matt Griffin and Kamron Warner stepped up to get the Broncs a 76-71 victory over Marist.

Thompson put up 32 points and 18 rebounds for the regular season conference co-champions, and the freshman Griffin (8 points and 4 assists) and senior Warner (10 points) took full advantage of their expanded roles. Harris Mansell shook off an ankle injury suffered last night to score 16, including six straight from the foul line in the game's final thirty-five seconds.

The Red Foxes were led in scoring by freshman Jay Gavin, who posted twenty-one. Ryan Schneider, barely used in Friday's quarterfinal win over Niagara, scored all eighteen of his points in the first half as Marist went into the break ahead 39-32.

Rider ran off a 9-0 run to start the final stanza, capped by a Griffin three-pointer. Averaging around twelve minutes per game for the season, Griffin played thirty-two minutes in the semifinal. As for his objective heading into the game, Griffin aimed to "be aggressive, play within myself and lead the team". He did just that for Tommy Dempsey's squad, but the star of this one was Thompson, who was virtually unstoppable at times.

During one stretch late in the second half, Thompson scored ten straight Rider points, the last three coming on a three-point play with 1:57 remaining to put Rider ahead 70-64. From there it was all about the junior Mansell, who finished off the win from the foul line. Marist, who attempted forty-one three pointers on the night, shot 28% from the field in the second half and finishes their season with a record of 18-14.

Siena 65, Loyola (MD) 63

With the score standing 38-21 Loyola with 3:29 to go in the first half, it looked as if the Siena Saints were going to have to wait a couple more years to win the MAAC Tournament on their floor for the first time since 2002. But a team that ranked in the bottom half of most of the conference's defensive categories throughout the season put together its best defensive effort of the season to catch the Greyhounds at the end for a 65-63 win.

Forward Alex Franklin, who led the Saints with 22 points, made up for two missed free throws by blocking a shot that would have tied the game with three seconds remaining. Loyola's tip attempt to tie missed, and the Saints move on to Monday night's final. Kenny Hasbrouck scored all seventeen of his points in the second half, including Siena's first seven of the half. Marquis Sullivan scored fourteen to lead the Greyhounds (19-14), but the story was the Saint pressure that eventually negated Loyola's advantage on the boards.

"We scrambled a lot on defense. As we got more pressure on them we felt (that) we could come back," said Siena forward Edwin Ubiles. And to be frank, as Siena made their run you had the feeling that the Saints were in control even though it took them a while to get the game back within two possessions. Once they did, all it took to get the win was a Josh Duell layup on a good pass from Hasbrouck.

Siena outscored the Greyhounds 18-7 in points off turnovers, and 36-22 in the
paint. Loyola shot 33% from the field in the second half.

MAAC Tournament Final
Rider vs. Siena
7PM EST, ESPN2

NYC Metro Ranking & Report: Jason Thompson Leads Rider

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:59:25 -0800

I’d be a fool not to mention the New York Giants’ 17-14 victory in Super Bowl XLII. Congratulations to the organization and all you Giants who helped this team achieve their 3-5 home record. Just kidding, enjoy the moment and the fact that just when everyone said this team couldn’t win, they went ahead and did it. Now, let’s move on to the week that was in the metropolitan area on the hardwood.

Team of the Week:
Rider
Results:
W 79-65 @ Marist, W 89-75 @ Siena

Back to back fourteen-point road wins last week put the Rider Broncs in the driver’s seat for the MAAC regular season title. And their current nine-game win streak makes them one of the nation’s hottest teams as well. In the Wednesday night showdown in Poughkeepsie, Rider won the battle on the boards 38-27 and shot fifty percent (8-16) from behind the arc in avenging their January 4^th home loss to the Red Foxes. Senior center Jason Thompson led four Broncs in double figures with twenty points, and also tallied nine boards, four blocks and four assists.

The win at Siena on Saturday featured one of the more impressive offensive displays put up in college basketball all season long, with Rider scoring fifty-nine points to take a twenty-five point lead into the locker room. While they didn’t perform as well in the second half, looking somewhat tentative on the offensive end of the floor, Rider had essentially put the game away in the first twenty minutes. Jason Thompson played all forty minutes and put up twenty-three points and twenty-one rebounds, and all five starters reached double figures. Be it Jason on the block, Ryan in between, or sharpshooter Harris Mansell from deep, Tommy Dempsey’s Broncs have a number of scoring options from which to choose.

No disrespect to the fans who decided to spark the “We Own Jersey” chant at the end of the Seton Hall/ Rutgers game Thursday night, but this may be the Garden State’s best team right now.

Honorable Mention: Iona (wins over Manhattan and St. Peter’s to move to 5-7 in the MAAC); Sacred Heart (wins at FDU and St. Francis-NY to move into first in the NEC)

Player of the Week:
Jason Thompson (Rider)
Numbers for the Week:
20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks @ Marist; 23 points, 21 rebounds, 5 assists @ Siena

For those who saw the midseason 30 list for the Wooden Award and thought “Who is Jason Thompson?” last week, the senior big man gave quite the answer in his two appearances. For the season, Thompson now averages twenty points and more than eleven (11.5 to be exact) rebounds per contest. But this shouldn’t be a surprise, given the fact that of the three players in college basketball to average twenty and ten last season, he’s the only one who returned to school. So while the experts focus on the big men in conferences with a higher profile, Jason continues to do what he does best, helping lead the Broncs to wins along the way. If this keeps up, one of those higher profile teams will find out quite a bit about Thompson and his mates in March.

Honorable Mention: John Baumann (Columbia): 19 and 7 @ Yale, 23 and 13 vs. Cornell; Brian Laing (Seton Hall): 23 and 6 @ Rutgers, 24 and 6 @ Georgetown; Drew Shubik (Sacred Heart): 16, 14 and 9 assists @ FDU, 9, 6 and 6 assists @ St. Francis-NY.

Turnaround of the Week:
Fairfield winning at Niagara, 76-72, two days after getting blown out 88-60 at Canisius.

Now, the Stags winning at Niagara isn’t an upset along the lines of the Super Bowl that we all just watched. But when you’re coming off of a twenty-eight point loss to a team with one conference win (and three wins total) going into said meeting, not too many people are expecting you to win the game. Fairfield, thanks in large part to the durable Jonathan Han at point, was able to get a split of the trip to Western New York.

Han, a junior from Brooklyn, hasn’t played fewer than thirty-five minutes in a game since logging thirty-two in a game against Holy Cross on November 13^th. The floor general has helped keep this team afloat in the MAAC when it looked as if they were earmarked for a finish at or near the bottom of the conference. Five Stags reached double figures, and they also limited the Purple Eagles to 4-22 from behind the arc to move to 6-6 in league play.

Other Observations of the last week

-- St. John’s recovered from an embarrassing effort on Wednesday in beating South Florida on Saturday.

As if last week’s loss to Pittsburgh was bad enough, the Red Storm found a way to fall further on Wednesday, suffering their worst defeat ever in Big East play against Georgetown. In a game where the largest deficit was thirty-nine, St. John’s didn’t score their first field goal of the game until about five minutes remaining in the first half. Fans were even more upset with the team and head coach Norm Roberts, and that game was the type of effort that can implode a season. But give these guys credit, they didn’t allow it to do so.

Yes, the end of their six-game losing streak came at South Florida, a team battling its own issues right now. But to make the big plays down the stretch without the services of one of your best players (Anthony Mason Jr. went down with a sprained ankle late in the first half) shows that this group does indeed have some mental toughness. Next up for the Red Storm is Rutgers at the RAC, another young team that has struggled at times this season and is coming off of a bad loss at Louisville.

-- Even though they’re only 3-4 in the Patriot League, Army owns road wins over both Holy Cross and Bucknell.

The above statement shows two things: just how wide open the Patriot League actually is this season, and the fact that the Black Knights do indeed have a chance to make some noise in the coming month. Army, thanks to Jarell Brown’s twenty-one point effort, left Sojka Pavillion on Sunday with an impressive 68-52 win. Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery missed the game today due to illness, but that should not take away from the fact that Jim Crews’ squad forced twenty-three Bison turnovers in this one.

The issue for Army is to consistently put up efforts like this, as the execution was lacking in their 83-58 loss at Lafayette Wednesday night. If they can, then there is a chance to make a move up the Patriot standings, as they still get Bucknell, Holy Cross and Lafayette at home.

-- In their last two games, Manhattan has forced a combined 43 turnovers. But they lost both games.

Usually, forcing a high number of turnovers will get your team into the win column. But this hasn’t been the case for the Jaspers of late, and the reason is quite simple: they’re not defending well enough when they don’t force a turnover. In the two-point loss to Iona Wednesday night, the Gaels shot 50% from the field despite twenty-one miscues. On Sunday, St. Peter’s wins by ten, shooting 52.1% from the field while committing twenty-two turnovers.

So even though they shoot a respectable 42% from the field themselves, they rank dead last in the MAAC in field goal percentage defense (46.7%). Four of the five best teams in the league in this category are also four of the top five teams in the standings, a good indicator of what the Jaspers need to improve upon if they want to end their current seven-game skid.

-- Thought to be a team that had a chance to compete in the Atlantic 10, Fordham is struggling to keep their head above water right now.

It’s been a good year for the Atlantic 10, but unfortunately for the Fordham Rams they haven’t been part of the renaissance. A team that brings back five senior starters going into the season now finds itself fighting to simply qualify for the conference tournament with a 2-5 league record. Similar to Manhattan, the Rams are last in their conference in field goal percentage defense, an issue all the more glaring when you take into consideration the fact that this is one of the A-10’s poorer offensive teams (11^th in field goal percentage) as well.

No one’s expecting the Rams to run up and down the floor, putting up a lot of points in the process. This isn’t that kind of team, but if they don’t get stingier on the other end of the floor they may not be headed to Atlantic City next month. And that would be a bitter pill to swallow for this senior class.

　

Games to keep an eye on

Marist @ Siena (Monday, 7 PM)

Two rivals get together in Albany in a game that will go a long way in deciding who ends up winning the MAAC regular season title. Part of a three-way tie for second, both are just a game back of Rider in the loss column, a team both have lost to in the past week.

Notre Dame @ Seton Hall (Wednesday, 7:30 PM)

This game should feature a lot of points, as well as a lot of three pointers. The question for Seton Hall will be how they go about slowing down Luke Harangody inside. All three Pirate big men fouled out of the overtime win against Rutgers, but they can’t get away with that in this one.

Wagner @ Mount St. Mary’s (Thursday, 7 PM)

In order for the Seahawks to keep within striking distance of Sacred Heart, they need to get a few road wins. Both of their conference losses came on the road, in blowout fashion at that. The Mountaineers, led by guards Chris Vann and Jeremy Goode, are more than capable of knocking Wagner off.

Niagara @ Rider (Friday, 7 PM)

No television for this one, but this game offers the opportunity to check out two of the MAAC’s best players, Charron Fisher (Niagara) and the aforementioned Jason Thompson. But to focus on just those two would be unfair to the likes of Tyrone Lewis and Ryan Thompson. There’s a lot of offensive talent that will be on display in this one, a game that could be a preview of things to come next month when the MAAC Tournament takes place in Albany.

Providence @ St. John’s (Saturday, Noon)

Two teams who will be in desperate need of a Big East win if they want to qualify for the Big East Tournament. While many expected growing pains for the Red Storm, not too many expected the Friars to scuffle the way that they have for stretches this season. Losing Sharaud Curry hurts, but there’s still some talent on this roster, enough to say that they shouldn’t be 12-9. The winner breathes a temporary sigh of relief while the loser falls deeper into the hole.

Rhode Island @ Fordham (Sunday, Noon)

The battle of the Rams takes place in the Bronx, and this is a game that Fordham must have at this point in the season. And given their defensive troubles of late, welcoming a team with two of the conference’s better scorers (Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron) isn’t the best way to get out of their funk. But no one said this would be easy for Fordham either.

Updated Rankings (last week’s in parentheses)

1. Rider (3)

2. Seton Hall (1)

3. Sacred Heart (5)

4. Marist (2)

5. Wagner (4)

6. Army (8)

7. Yale (6)

8. Iona (13)

9. Rutgers (7)

10. Fordham (9)

11. Columbia (12)

12. St. John’s (10)

13. Long Island (11)

14. Fairleigh Dickinson (14)

15. Fairfield (15)

16. Hofstra (16)

17. Monmouth (17)

18. Princeton (21)

19. St. Francis-NY (18)

20. St. Peter’s (22)

21. Manhattan (19)

22. Stony Brook (20)

23. NJIT (23)

Daily Poll: Who Will Win the MAAC?

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:00:43 -0700

2007-08 Siena Basketball Preview

Joel Welser — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:34:17 -0700

Siena Saints

Overall Rank: #86

Conference Rank: #1 Metro Atlantic

2006-07: 20-12, 12-6, 3^rd (t)

2006-07 postseason: none

The backcourt wins championships in the MAAC and Siena is second to none in that category. Kenny Hasbrouck is a prolific scorer and averaged 16.0 points per game last year. Often overlooked with his lofty scoring output is the 6-3 junior’s stellar defense. Ronald Moore is a shutdown defender himself, but it is his ability to find the other scorers on the perimeter that make him one of the best point guards in the conference. Moore will find Edwin Ubiles on the wing plenty of times during the 2007-2008 campaign. Ubiles, who averaged 11.8 points and 4.0 rebounds, had a solid freshman season and is expected to continue to develop as a sophomore. Tay Fisher saw his minutes decrease with the influx of talent on the perimeter, but the senior is a great experienced option off the bench.

Who’s Out:

The frontcourt losses are big and replacing Michael Haddix and David Ryan will not be easy. Haddix led the team with 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds during his senior campaign. The 6-6 center may have been undersized, but he made up for it with his heart, hustle and skill. Ryan was not much of a presence in the paint, but did develop into the teams most consistent outside shooter. Center Mousse Diop and guard Mike Beers saw limited playing time during their senior campaigns. Walk-on guard J.G. Braga has opted to transfer after playing in just six games during the 2006-2007 season.

Who’s In:

Josh Duell, a transfer from Vermont, will add some much needed depth to the frontcourt. While Duell is a not a dominating post scorer and will spend a lot of time on the perimeter, he is a big body and will work hard on the glass. The junior averaged 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds during the 2005-2006 season with Vermont, but his numbers dwindled when he did not have Taylor Coppenrath by his side and taking up all the focus of the opposing defenses. Coach Fran McCaffery does not need any of the incoming freshmen to provide much this year. Ryan Rossiter and Steven-Ryan Priestly will add more depth up front and both have the potential to contribute this year if the returning frontcourt runs into problems. Chris De la Rosa will provide plenty of excitement over the next four years. The 5-10 point guard is a clutch performer, but will likely spend the year learning from the returning players. Clarence Jackson is a great shooter, and Siena could really use that particular skill, but as a freshman Jackson will not see the floor too often.

Who to Watch:

The frontcourt is obviously where the questions remain. At 6-5, Alex Frankin is undersized, but showed plenty of potential at the end of his freshman year. Like Ryan, the player he is expected to replace at power forward, Franklin is not a back to the basket post player. However, unlike Ryan, Franklin is not a long range shooter either. Franklin has developed a solid mid-range shot, but stepping beyond the arc will not happen with Franklin. Cory Magee saw limited action in all 32 games as a freshman and will provide a solid post presence off the bench. If the 6-8 forward can develop as much as Siena fans hope, Magee could find himself in a starting role. James Carr only saw action in six games as a freshman, but at 6-10, he has the size to contribute more, especially after a year hitting the weights.

Final Projection:

The backcourt can be dominating, but there is a problem with the outside shooting. Hasbrouck, Moore and Fisher are all capable shooters, but nobody on the team is a real consistent long range threat. Yet, between the three of them, at least one will emerge as a go to shooter. As long as the new look frontcourt can hold their own on the glass and provide enough of an interior scoring threat to open up the perimeter, Siena will take home the MAAC championship. Otherwise, it is a year too early for the Saints and the big seasn will be in 2008-2009.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Ronald Moore, Sophomore, Guard, 7.4 points per game

Kenny Hasbrouck, Junior, Guard, 13.1 points per game

Edwin Ubiles, Sophomore, Guard, 22.2 points per game

Alex Franklin, Sophomore, Forward, 9.1 points per game

Josh Duell, Junior, Forward, 9.1 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview | Discuss the Preview

MAAC Championship Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0800

In a season that saw teams picked to finish in the middle of the MAAC when the season began compete for the regular season title, it all comes to a climax in Bridgeport, CT this weekend. Marist, preseason pick to win the conference, held up their end of the bargain in winning the conference’s regular season title, their first ever outright MAAC crown. Led by the dynamic backcourt of seniors Jared Jordan and Will Whittington, the Red Foxes went 14-4 in conference play, finishing a game ahead of streaking Niagara. The versatile Charron Fisher, a junior who averaged twenty-one and eight for the Purple Eagles this season, has led the way on the offensive end for a team that has five players averaging double figures in scoring. And like Marist, Niagara arrives in Bridgeport on an eight-game winning streak. These two teams will have to wait until the end of the first round games on Friday night to know who they will face on Saturday.

Loyola (MD) and Siena tied for third in the MAAC, but the Greyhounds get the tiebreaker due to their season sweep of the Saints. Loyola is led by All-MAAC performer Gerald Brown and third team member Marquis Sullivan, one of the better backcourts in the MAAC. Siena comes into the tournament as one of the league’s younger teams, something that should definitely bode well for the future (they will most likely be the favorite to win the league next season). Senior forward Michael Haddix has been a mainstay for Fran McCaffrey’s squad throughout the season, as has sophomore guard Kenny Hasbrouck. And in freshmen Manny Ubiles, Kenny Moore and Alex Franklin, the Saints have a talented trio of youngsters who can play with anyone.

Just below these two are Manhattan, host Fairfield and Rider, three teams that certainly have the talent needed to make a run to the tournament title. Manhattan took a little while to adjust to first year head coach Barry Rohrssen, but the Jaspers caught fire in January and hung around the top of the league standings for a while. Like Siena, this is a young team (Guy Ngarndi is the only contributing senior that the Jaspers will lose this year) that should compete for the conference title next season. Fairfield went through a brutal stretch to begin the season, stumbling out of the gates with a 3-15 record. Then they got hot, closing out the season with a record of 10-3, including wins over Niagara and two over their first round opponent Loyola. Unlike Manhattan and Fairfield, Rider hasn’t done as well down the stretch, going 3-5 in their last eight games. But in Jason Thompson the Broncs have one of the more versatile players in the league, so long as he avoids foul trouble.

At the bottom of the league are three teams that have limped down the stretch in Canisius, St. Peter’s and Iona. The Golden Griffins, who had a five-game win streak at one point in the season (including a win over Marist), have lost their last eight games. Their opening round opponent, St. Peter’s, went on a seventeen game losing skid before finishing out the regular season 2-2 in their last four. And Iona, the last team in Division I college basketball to win a game this season, has battled injuries all season long, forcing Jeff Ruland to rely on freshmen more than he may have wanted to when the season began. A positive for the Gaels has to be that their only conference win came at the expense of Rider, their first round opponent.

Format: Two opening round games on Friday will decide which teams play the top two seeds, Marist and Niagara, in Saturday’s quarterfinals. All games will be played at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT.

Dates: March 2^nd-5^th(all games available on ESPN Full Court, final on ESPN 2, all times EST)

Opening Round: Game 1: #8 Canisius vs. #9 St. Peter’s (7:30 PM)

Game 2: #7 Rider vs. #10 Iona (10 PM)

Quarterfinals: Game 3: #4 Siena vs. #5 Manhattan (2 PM)

Game 4: #1 Marist vs. winner Game 1 (4 PM)

Game 5: #2 Niagara vs. winner Game 2 (7:30 PM)

Game 6: #3 Loyola (MD) vs. #6 Fairfield (10 PM)

Semifinals: Game 7: winner Game 3 vs. winner Game 4 (6 PM)

Game 8: winner Game 5 vs. winner Game 6 (8 PM)

Final: Game 9: winner Game 7 vs. winner Game 8 (9 PM, ESPN2)

Canisius vs. St. Peter’s

Canisius won both game between the two teams, by three at home and a twenty-one point blowout in Jersey City. Of course, the Peacocks were mired in a seventeen-game losing skid at the time, and they’ve found a way to take better care of the basketball of late. It’s tough to win games when you’re averaging over sixteen turnovers a game, something that during the season has found a way to negate the fact that SPC has four players averaging at least ten points per game. Juniors Raul Orta and Todd Sowell, along with sophomores Kevin Spann and Akeem Gooding, have led the way in year one of the John Dunne era. Expect better things from this group next season, as they also had to adjust to life without Keydren Clark this year.

The Golden Griffins are led by a trio of seniors, guards Chuck Harris and Corey Herring and forward Darnell Wilson. But the man to watch is a freshman; 5’10” guard Frank Turner, a point guard that has a good assist to turnover ratio (1.45:1) and can find his own shot as well as get his teammates involved. Like the Peacocks, the Griffs have a first year head coach, former Hofstra assistant Tom Parrotta. Just like the Hofstra teams he helped recruit and mold; this outfit likes to use their guards to attack on the offensive end.

The winner of this one gets Marist on Saturday, and Canisius was able to knock off the conference champions at home earlier this season. St. Peter’s was swept in the season series by the Red Foxes.

Rider vs. Iona

The Broncs have plenty of talent on their roster, led by junior forward and first-team All-MAAC performer Jason Thompson. But they have been maddeningly inconsistent throughout the season. But when you realize that the team only has one senior on its roster (guard Terrence Mouton), you begin to realize just why it’s been difficult for this group to maintain any kind of positive momentum. Thompson is the one player that the Broncs can ill afford to have in foul trouble, but they face a team in Iona that is limited when it comes to depth. Yet this didn’t prevent the Gaels from getting their first win of the season over the Broncs back on February 3^rd in New Rochelle. The Broncs do a good job of valuing the basketball, averaging more assists than turnovers per game on the season. With Iona averaging almost eighteen turnovers per game, this could be the difference in this one.

The Gaels have two seniors available, forwards Anthony Bruin and Justin Marshall. Dexter Gray, a transfer from St. John’s, was supposed to contribute but he ran into academic issues four games into his season. Junior guard Kyle Camper was supposed to take over the point, but he suffered a foot injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. And Gary Springer was lost before the season even began due to a knee injury. All this has resulted in freshmen and sophomores getting the majority of the minutes this year, something that should bode well for the future. But it didn’t help the Gaels much this year.

The winner will take on second seed Niagara on Saturday, and the Purple Eagles swept both teams in the regular season.

Siena vs. Manhattan

Within 48 hours, the Siena Saints went from competing for the MAAC title to the four seed, thanks to their loss to Marist and the head-to-head tiebreaker with Loyola. Besides Michael Haddix and David Ryan, this is a young group that you have to believe is capable of special things in the near future. But to look ahead to next season with this group would be to ignore the fact that there is enough talent on this roster to snatch the league’s automatic bid this year. Kenny Hasbrouck, a second team All-MAAC selection, can kill opponents by either slashing to the basket or hitting the three point shot. Manny Ubiles, only a freshman, is one of the MAAC’s best athletes, and classmate Kenny Moore can also provide a spark. They’ve fallen short in two classics with Marist, so you have to think that they’d like nothing more than to see their rival in the semifinals.

Manhattan is also a young team that will compete for the conference title in 2007-08. Arturo Dubois has been the Jaspers’ rock in the paint while the trio of Devon Austin, Darryl Crawford and Antoine Pearson has scored from the perimeter. Unfortunately for the Jaspers, however, they’ve had trouble at times putting the ball in the basket. And given the Saints ability to but the ball in the bucket, any prolonged droughts could spell trouble for Manhattan. Enjoy this game, because if the two teams meet in next season’s MAAC Tournament a lot more could be on the line.

Loyola (MD) vs. Fairfield

Two of the league’s best scoring guards get together in this one, Loyola’s Gerald Brown and Fairfield’s Michael Van Schaick. Brown, who led the league in scoring with twenty-two points per game, has only scored thirteen and twelve in his two games against the Stags this season, both wins for Fairfield. Can they slow him down for a third time this season? That remains to be seen, but Brown will need help from his teammates, most notably Marquis Sullivan. In those two games, the third-team All-MAAC selection averaged eleven points per game. And in an offense that relies so much on its primary scoring option, someone else has to step up. But we’ve seen it before in conference tournaments where one guy puts a team on his back and carries them through the weekend. So don’t be shocked if Brown gets it done for the Greyhounds.

Michael Van Schaick is the Stags’ only player averaging double figures in scoring, but he’s got two freshman forwards in Greg Nero and Anthony Johnson who have picked up the slack this season. In the two wins over Loyola, Johnson has been the better performer of the two, averaging 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. With Van Schaick putting up nineteen per in those two wins, it’s easy to see why Fairfield won both of those games. Whichever team gets more from their supplementary players will move on to the semifinals.

Marist and Niagara (both have byes)

The top two teams in the MAAC have to wait until the first round games on Friday night to figure out who they’re going to play on Saturday. This can be seen as either a gift (your opponent gets tired while you watch) or a curse (you come out of the gates rusty and get upset). Marist is led by one of the better guard tandems in the nation in Jared Jordan and Will Whittington, but how well they do this weekend may depend on forward Ryan Stilphen and center James Smith. In the season finale last Saturday, Smith went for 24 and 12 in the Red Foxes’ overtime win over Siena. Rebounding has been an issue at times for Marist, especially when their outside shots aren’t falling. But given the offensive firepower on this team, look for the Red Foxes to have little trouble putting the ball in the basket. Against teams on their side of the bracket, Marist has lost at Canisius and at Manhattan.

Niagara has one of the more balanced attacks in the MAAC, with five players averaging at least eleven points per game. In addition to the aforementioned Fisher, head coach Joe Mihalich can look to forwards Cilf Brown and J.R. Duffey for contributions, along with guards Lorenzo Miles and Tyrone Lewis. This versatility is what makes the Purple Eagles so difficult to defend, and this could lead to a decent run in this tournament for Niagara. Against teams on their side of the bracket, the Purple Eagles have lost road games to both Fairfield and Loyola this season.

My pick to win the MAAC: Marist.

2006-07 Preview: Team's #121-130

Joel Welser — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:53:09 -0700

Capsules of teams ranked 121st to 130th in CHN's 144 Teams in 144 Days Preview.