Men's & Women's Basketball Championships Preview
By: SEAN BRENNAN
Is this the year Iona sees its two-year reign as MAAC Tournament men's champions come to an end or are the Gaels on the verge of a three-peat? Can anyone stop the steamroller that is the Quinnipiac Bobcats and their 19-game winning streak on the women's side? Or are there dark horse teams lurking in the shadows with plans to wreak havoc in Albany this weekend?
All answers will be revealed this weekend as the first days of March Madness are upon us with the MAAC Championship set to tip off at the Times Union Center beginning Thursday.
"It's that time of the year, the best time of the year, with the MAAC Championship," Marist women's head coach Brian Giorgis said. "Our kids are excited and looking forward to it and can't wait to get on the court Friday."
"The regular season is now over," Manhattan men's head coach Steve Masiello said. "Now it's about the next season, and that's the conference championship."
Indeed, it is, and the MAAC's annual postseason soiree will tip off bright and early Thursday with the women's opening round when No.8 Canisius will take on No. 9 Monmouth at 9:30 a.m. No. 7 Manhattan will meet on No. 10 Iona at 11:30 a.m. with the women's tripleheader concluding with No. 6 Niagara facing No. 11 St. Peter's at 1:30 p.m.
Three straight opening-round men's games will then commence with No. 8 Monmouth facing No. 9 St. Peter's at 5 p.m. followed by No. 7 Quinnipiac squaring off with No. 10 Siena at 7 p.m. with No. 6 Fairfield matching up with No. 11 Marist in the day's finale at 9 p.m.
In the women's bracket, Canisius, Manhattan, and Niagara each swept the season series from their first-round opponents.
On the men's side, St. Peter's split the season series with in-state rival Monmouth with the Peacocks winning the first game, 77-64, in Jersey City while the Hawks rebounded for a 73-57 win at home.
"Everybody knows in any game you don't want to see Saint Peter's and especially when it's in an elimination game," Monmouth head coach King Rice said. "This game is going to be a defensive game; both teams think they can guard each other. It's two evenly-matched teams, and (St. Peter's head coach) John (Dunne) does as good a job game-planning as anybody. It's going to be a tough, tough battle."
The Peacocks come into the tournament on a two-game winning streak after wins over Quinnipiac and Siena to close out the regular season.
"We're coming off a couple of wins, and we're shooting the ball a little better right now, and we're feeling pretty good going up to Albany for Thursday's game," Dunne said. "I anticipate a grind-it-out game. Both teams will play hard and give extra effort."
Dunne's team limited both Quinnipiac and Siena to under 50 points in the Peacocks' last two wins. But Dunne said while the defense is important, Saint Peter's will still need to take advantage of opportunities on the offensive end to advance.
"You've got to shoot the ball well," Dunne said. "Balance wins. Defense doesn't win. Balance wins. So at the end of the day, we've got to make shots."
Quinnipiac and first-year coach Baker Dunleavy comes into its first-round game on a three-game losing streak with two of those losses coming in double overtime. And now they must face No.10 Siena on its home court, no easy task.
"It's a challenge anytime you play on the road," Dunleavy said. "But we've played a lot of road games lately. Honestly, I think we're kind of excited about getting this opportunity. We want to prove to ourselves that we can get something done in a hostile environment and that's what it's going to be. As opposed to complaining about it, I think we want to embrace it and attack the challenge."
The Saints will be without Roman Penn who was lost for the season due to injury. But head coach Jimmy Patsos is hoping a large turnout of Saints Nation will help put Siena over the top after they lost both regular season matchups to the Bobcats.
"We played Quinnipiac pretty tough up at our place but down there they got the better of us," Patsos said. "I know they are a different team and we no longer have Roman Penn. But I know it's going to be a battle. I'm looking forward to playing Thursday at 7 p.m. It's great for our fans, it's great for the community, and I hope everyone comes out. It's going to be a tough, 40-minute battle."
Thursday's men's finale will pit a sixth-seeded Stags team and its new all-time leading scorer, Tyler Nelson, against No. 11 Marist.
"He's the top scorer our school has ever had. He passed (former Stags' star) Tony George a couple of games ago," Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson said. "You've got to have God-given talent which he has, you've got to be really competitive, which he is, and you've got to get better, and he went from a catch-and-shoot guy, and now he's got the whole package. Deep threes, mid-range, all the way to the rim, playmaking ability, clutch shots. He's just really expanded his game."
Which is not exactly comforting news for Marist head coach Mike Maker.
"Obviously we've had our struggles this year. Having said that I think we've been awfully close to having a much better record," Maker said. "So, we're looking for the opportunity at the conference tournament as a new season and a new opportunity. We have great respect for Fairfield. We split during the regular season; each won on their home court. But we'll have our hands full, especially with Tyler Nelson."
The Quinnipiac and Marist women's teams finally get to taste some action on Friday in the quarterfinals when the top-seeded Bobcats take on the winner of Canisius-Monmouth at 1 p.m. Quinnipiac will be a formidable foe for whoever it faces as the Bobcats just completed their third unbeaten MAAC regular season and just won their fourth straight conference regular-season title.
So, what makes Quinnipiac so consistently dominant?
"I'm blessed to have great coaches, great administration and, more importantly, great players," said Bobcats head coach Tricia Fabbri. "I'm not doing this by myself or without outstanding young ladies who say yes to Quinnipiac. That's how we've been able to stay consistent. We get some outstanding young ladies who can play a pretty good game of basketball that go out and love to compete and are really just so tough."
Following Quinnipiac's first game, Marist, the second seed, will take the floor against the winner of Manhattan-Iona at 3:30 p.m. The Red Foxes went a combined 3-0 vs. the Gaels and Jaspers in the regular season.
"I feel pretty good about (the team)," Marist head coach Brian Giorgis said. "We had a very good regular season. We gave Quinnipiac a run both games that we played them. But right now, we're just focused on the winner of Manhattan-Iona. But we feel we've had a really good year for a very young team where everybody returns next year and starting three sophomores and a freshman."
The remainder of the women's quarterfinal field will see No. 3 Siena, led by head coach Ali Jaques, taking on the winner of Niagara-St. Peter's Saturday at noon followed by Joe Frager's fourth-seeded Fairfield Stags facing the No. 5 Rider and head coach Lynn Milligan at 2:30 p.m.
The women's semifinals will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with the championship game slated for Monday at 2:30 p.m.
The men's quarterfinals will commence on Friday with top-seeded Rider facing either Monmouth or St. Peter's at 7 p.m. The Broncs swept the Peacocks in two tightly-contested games during the regular season and split the season series with the Hawks.
"It's been a long time since we were able to get the one seed and I can't be more proud of everything our guys have done," Rider head coach Kevin Baggett said. "I'm very proud watching the maturation of every one of our players."
The top seed has not been a particularly good spot to be in on the men's side the past several seasons, with the last No. 1 team winning the tournament in 2010. But Baggett is not one for ancient history.
"We're happy to be the No. 1 seed. We have not been that since 2002," Baggett said. "We don't worry about history. One of our goals was to win the conference which is what we did and obviously securing the NIT bid. Then the next (goal) is to go up and see what we get done at the tournament. History is made to be re-written. I think it was 2010 the last time a one seed won, so I'm hoping we can rewrite that and go up there and change that so people can stop saying that comment about the one seed."
Baggett also said whoever the Broncs play in the quarters will be a battle.
"King and John are very good coaches," Baggett said. "They'll have their teams ready. We've struggled with both of them to be honest with you. We were able to win both games against St. Peter's but both of those games were dogfights. Obviously, we got our behinds handed to us against Monmouth (last week). So those guys are going to prepare their guys the right way. We're just thinking of it as trying to win the first game and advance to the next."
Second-seeded Canisius will take the court for its quarterfinal-round meeting with either Quinnipiac or Siena Friday at 9:30 p.m. The Golden Griffins swept the season series from the Bobcats but split with the Saints.
Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon said a highly-competitive regular season is what has prepared teams for what's coming at them this weekend in Albany.
"I thought it was a hard-fought regular season," Witherspoon said. "It seems like every team has either beaten someone or taken them to the very brink. I just thought that every team was very good. There were so many close games that I saw, or we were involved with. That was pretty remarkable to see."
Saturday night at 7 p.m. will see No. 3 seed Niagara see its first action when the Purple Eagles face the winner of Fairfield-Marist. Niagara swept the Red Foxes in the regular season and split with the Stags. The Purple Eagles boast the most explosive backcourt in the league with Kahlil Dukes and Matt Scott, who finished second and third, respectively, in the conference in scoring. But Scott is nursing an ankle injury which head coach Chris Casey said leaves his status as "day-to-day."
But if Scott is unable to go, Casey will lean on Dukes and sophomore James Towns.
"Anytime you lose a guy like Matt you need guys to step up," Casey said. "It's what we talk about all year and why you've got to be ready because you don't know when you're going to be needed. James has done a great job of stepping up and helping put points up on the board. He's done a very good job of that."
The last quarterfinal-round game will pit a pair of archrivals against each other when No. 4 Iona takes on No. 5 Manhattan at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night. The Gaels swept the Jaspers in their two meetings this season.
"I feel as good about my team as anybody feels about their team," said Iona head coach Tim Cluess, who has won the past two MAAC Tournament titles. "I'm really excited about it, and I feel we have as good a chance to win the whole thing and we're looking forward to playing."
The Jaspers dropped a pair of 13-point decisions to the Gaels this season, and head coach Steve Masiello knows his team will be staring down a daunting opponent.
"I look at it as we are going against the champions," Masiello said. "They are a back-to-back NCAA team and the back-to-back MAAC men’s basketball champions. Tim has done the best job of any program consistently year in and year out. Iona has set the bar for this conference, and we understand that. We're going against a team that's done it, and they continue to do it, and they've done it with different kids. It doesn't matter what round it is; it's Iona."
The men's semifinals will be held Sunday at 7 and 9:30 p.m. with the championship game tipping off Monday night at 7 p.m.
"This tournament is going to be incredible," said Fairfield's Johnson. "It's going to be a dogfight. Whoever comes out of it in Albany will be a very tested team. It's going to be a great tournament."