MAAC Championship Update
At the halfway mark of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
men’s basketball season, the MAAC is ranked 16th among the nation’s
NCAA Division I basketball programs, and several teams have defeated
quality teams from higher ranked conferences.
The ranking and the significant victories
not only promise a battle for positions in league play the rest of
the regular season, but also a quality men’s championship tournament
in just six weeks at Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena.
The men’s and women’s MAAC
Basketball Championships, which Rider University will co-host, are
scheduled March 6-10 at the arena. The women’s tournament, also
a very competitive event, opens with first-round play on Thursday,
March 6 and ends with the championship game on Sunday, March 9. The
men’s first-round starts on March 7 and concludes with the title
game on Monday, March 10.
(For ticket information, call the Rider
Athletics Department at 609-896-5054.)
“The parity that exists in the
MAAC makes the MAAC Basketball Tournament one of the most exiting
in the country,” said Curt Blake, Rider athletics director.
“I’m extremely pleased that Rider is serving as the host
institution this season with all games being played at the arena.
Past years are certainly indicative of the competitiveness in the
MAAC with lower seeded teams often coming out on top and earning the
right to compete in the NCAA tournament.”
According to Rich Ensor, MAAC commissioner,
“It should be an exciting tournament for both the men’s
and women’s MAAC teams. The Sovereign Bank Arena was chosen
for the first time because it meets the financial requirements and
it allowed the conference to test a new location for our premier sporting
event. The venue is first class with easy access to major highways
and rail lines. It is a smaller building than the Pepsi or HSBC arenas
(the tournament sites in recent years) and that could lead to an exciting
atmosphere as teams battle for the NCAA automatic qualifiers.”
This year MAAC men’s teams hold
a winning record versus non-league opponents – a big reason
for ranking 16th among the 31 Division I conferences.
During the holidays Iona (over North
Carolina) and Manhattan (over St. John’s) put the conference
in the national spotlight on the same night at the Holiday Festival
in New York. Siena has had noteworthy victories over Providence, Montana
State and Loyola-Marymount. Fairfield stunned University of North
Carolina-Wilmington and Rider upended Princeton. Manhattan also defeated
Seton Hall last night.
MAAC coaches picked Manhattan as pre-season
favorites to win the men’s title and their senior guard Luis
Flores as pre-season player of the year. So far, the Jaspers are doing
nothing to dispel the voting. The Jaspers are 8-1 in the league and
14-3 overall. Flores ranks 7th nationally in scoring, scored 44 points
to hand Fairfield, also 8-1, its only league setback. Another exciting
player to watch is St. Peter’s freshman guard Keydren Clark,
who is 5th in the nation in scoring (24.4 points) and tops among freshmen.
Deng Gai of Fairfield, an NBA-quality
shot blocker, is 6th in the nation in blocked shots with 3.5 per game.
Of course, Rider has sophomore guard Jerry
Johnson, who is averaging 18 points per game this season. His
stellar 36-point game in the heartbreaking 85-84 game loss to Canisius
in last year’s tournament is etched in all opponents’
memory. The Broncs’ other sophomore guard Robert Taylor,
along with Johnson, is also among the leaders in 3-point field goals
in the MAAC. Taylor leads the league in steals.
In women’s play, Siena is the
pre-season favorite to win the title. They are led by Gunta Basko
of Latvia, twice MAAC player of the year. Niagara is the mid-season
leader with an 8-1 league record, with St. Peter’s second at
6-2.
Rider’s two super sophomores –
Katie Hall and Becky Hower – are taking turns leading
the MAAC in 3-point field goals made. Heading into this week Hall
was tops with 34 3-pointers in MAAC play, and Hower followed with
32. Hall ranks 24th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage
(.447) and 28th in free throw percentage (.875).
The 18 men’s and women’s
games in five days, March 6-10, promises to be MAAC’s version
of March Madness. The tournament promises to be great fun for students
– not only the games, but the competition among student groups.
The tournament will also provide great family entertainment.
