Siena fans rush the court as the Saints celebrate their third straight MAAC Championship Monday night.

The MAAC attempted to stop Siena fans from storming the court and instructed the security at the Times Union Center to do their best to stop them.

However the battle between students and security was a petty one compared to the one that raged after the game.

Times Union Center General Manager Bob Belber said MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor was adamant that students not reach the floor while Belber had doubts as to whether or not it would be successful.

“He wanted barricades to be placed across the concourses to prevent the students from filtering into other sections of the arena to gain access to the floor,” Belber said in a statement.

“I told [Ensor] a number of times that the kids just want the opportunity to celebrate,” Belber said. “[Ensor] was determined to try to keep the students off the court, which is why there were security guards trying to keep students from entering the court areas.”

Belber also said that the security guards were trained to let the students go if the pressure was too great. Eventually the students broke through and reached the floor late after Siena’s overtime victory over Fairfield.

A Siena spokesperson said there were no sustained injuries and the Albany police said there were no arrests related to the court storming last night.

MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor fired back at Belber this afternoon. Ensor said his only plan was to want to protect the integrity of the game.

“That was our plan,” Ensor said to keeping the students off the court. “How the arena trains its staff and implements the plan is their business.”

Meanwhile Ensor did not spare taking a shot at the Siena Saints student section either.

“The incidents that occurred where are students aren’t listening and starting interacting with security and started throwing punches is really a reflection on the students,” Ensor said.

“I think there’s a tradition that’s developed at Siena that they want to storm the court and be a part of the action,” Ensor said. “The first time you win a championship, maybe there’s a reason for the spontaneity. At this point, it’s gotten beyond that to a very systematic approach.”

Meanwhile Marist and Rider fans will hope to not be run into the security policy that Siena fans ran into Monday night when they win their first MAAC tournament championships.

Belber said that he hopes the incidents last night will not strain the relationship between the Times Union Center and the community.

“The staff of the Times Union Center worked very hard and put in tremendous hours to host this record-breaking tournament, and it is a shame that there are negative feelings toward them for trying to carry out the directive of the MAAC,” Belber said.

The MAAC broke the attendance record set last year in this year’s MAAC Tournament.