MAAC Men's Basketball Championship Preview
ALBANY, NY – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men’s Basketball Championship gets started Thursday at 5 p.m. with the first of three first-round matchups.
Seeds six through 11 will try advance to quarterfinals, which start on Friday. The first matchup of the evening tripleheader is No. 8 Marist College (12-18, 7-11 MAAC) and No. 9 Saint Peter’s University (9-21, 6-12) at 5 p.m. The middle game of the trip is No. 7 Manhattan College (10-20, 8-10) against No. 10 Fairfield University (9-21, 6-12) is scheduled to start 7 p.m. The final game of the opening night is No. 6 Monmouth University (11-20, 10-8) versus No. 11 Niagara University (13-18, 6-12), which is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.
Head coach Tim Cluess led Iona College (14-15, 12-6) to the program’s fourth MAAC Regular Season Title in his nine seasons on the bench. The Gaels closed the season with seven straight wins. It is the program’s 10th regular season title.
Some championship trends are heading into the week in Albany. The top seed in the MAAC Championship has not won the title since Siena did in 2010 in the third year of three straight crowns. Every championship game since 2013 has featured Iona or Manhattan. Iona has advanced to the last six MAAC Championship games and seven of the previous eight under Tim Cluess. Since 2001, the lowest seed to win the MAAC Championship was Siena as a seven back in 2002. Between 2001 and 2010 the top seed won seven times before this seven-year drought.
Quinnipiac University’s (16-13, 11-7) Cameron Young was a unanimous choice for the All-MAAC First Team, and Siena College’s (16-15, 11-7) Jalen Pickett was a unanimous choice for the All-Rookie Team.
Young led the MAAC in scoring this season at 23 points per game. The California native poured in 55 points in a triple-overtime win at Siena on February 17. The 55 points established a new single-game MAAC scoring record, a Times Union Center scoring record, and was the most in an NCAA game this season. That performance helped Young earn National Player of the Week from CBS Sports.
Pickett claimed 11 Rookie of the Week honors this season, which ties a MAAC record and is the third-most in NCAA history. In MAAC play, Pickett averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 assists, and 2.1 steals and added a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. Pickett was named National Freshman of the Week on February 19 after averaging 28.0 points, 8.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals, and 2.0 blocks while shooting an even 50-percent from the field.
Iona teammates EJ Crawford and Rickey McGill were both named to the All-MAAC First Team.
Crawford was second to Young’s 25.5 a game average at 18.8 points per game. The Connecticut native was also efficient, shooting 53-percent from the floor and 85-percent from the free throw line against MAAC foes.
McGill averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game to help the Gaels claim their first outright MAAC Regular Season Title since the 2014-15 season. The senior averaged 16.9 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.4 steals per game in MAAC play, which placed him in the top four of each of those categories.
Siena’s Jalen Pickett became the first freshman since Lionel Simmons of La Salle in 1986-87 to make the first team as a freshman. Pickett claimed 11 Rookie of the Week honors this season, which ties a MAAC record and is the third-most in NCAA history.
Canisius College’s (14-16, 11-7) sophomore guard Takal Molson was named MAAC Rookie of the Year last season and made the All-Rookie. This season the Buffalo, NY native moved up to the All-MAAC First Team this season. Molson increased his scoring average, rebounding average, and free throw percentage in his second season with the Golden Griffins. Molson led Canisius in scoring at 17 points a game.
Siena’s Sloan Seymour joined Pickett on the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Pickett Seymour was third in the MAAC in 3-pointer made per game at 2.7—connecting on 85 triples in 31 games. The 85 3-pointers accounted for 92-percent of Seymour’s made field goals on the season.
Manhattan College’s Warren Williams, who averaged 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds a game, earns a spot on the All-Rookie Team. The New Jersey native shot 56-percent from the field, which led the MAAC.
Fairfield’s Neftali Alvarez and Quinnipiac’s Tyrese Williams also made the All-Rookie Team. Alvarez averaged 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists for Fairfield. The native of Puerto Rico won the first two Rookie of the Week honors of the season and collected another one on December 24. Williams averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists during the season. Against Lafayette on December 8, Williams dished out seven helpers to go along with 16 points.
Quinnipiac won 107-100 in triple overtime at Siena on Sunday at the Times Union Center. In the game, Quinnipiac’s Cameron Young scored 55 points, which established a new MAAC game record, Quinnipiac Division I scoring record, Times Union Center scoring record, and the most points in the Division I this season. Jalen Picket of Siena scored 46 points and added 13 assists. Pickett tied the previous MAAC scoring record for a single game and became the second player since 2000 to have a double-double of 45-plus points and 10-plus assists. The two combined for 101 points. The Division I record for points by opposing players in the same game is 115. On Feb. 21, 1970, Pete Maravich had 64 for LSU, while Dan Issel had 51 for Kentucky in the 121-105 UK win.
In MAAC play, 26-percent of games have been decided four points or less or in overtime. That mark is the eighth among Division I leagues. On the other end of that spectrum, only 3-of-99 games this season have decided 19 points or more, which is the fewest among Division I conferences.
Home teams are 52-47 (.544) after the regular season. The MAAC had the ninth-best home win-loss record earlier this season. Rider University (16-14, 11-7) had the most home wins (9) in the MAAC this season.
Tickets for the MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are still on sale. Tickets can be purchased by visiting
Ticketmaster.com or the Times Union Center Box Office.
For more information on the 2019 MAAC Basketball Championships, visit
maacsports.com/basketball. Be sure to follow the conversation on all social media platforms by using #MAACHoops19.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.