Clarence Jackson, who shot just 2-15 in the Quarterfinal game, came alive in the second half with a three pointer at 15:59 to give Siena a one point lead. Jackson then made another three pointer with 11:16 to go to give the Saints another one point lead. Jackson scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half on 6-9 shooting.

Ryan Rossiter converted a basket in transition, grabbed a rebound and scored a two with 9:21 to give the Saints a 53-48 lead. Rossiter focused on defense against the Broncs, pulling down 18 of the team’s 39 rebounds. He asserted his defensive presence early and often, not allowing any Bronc to drive to the basket with ease.

The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Player Ryan Thompson and Player of the Year Alex Franklin, carried their teams early. Senior Ryan Thompson scored Rider’s first 12 points. Franklin and Moore combined to score 11 of the first 13 Siena points. Moore found his shooting stroke, scoring 15 points on 5-10 shooting and recorded 10 assists.

Thompson struggled to score in the second half, scoring just 6 points on 3-6 shooting. The Preseason MAAC Player of the Year exited to a standing ovation in the second half, finishing up with 21 points to lead the Broncs. Mike Ringgold scored 20 points and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds.

Siena did not trail at halftime in consecutive home games this season, yet has won both games in this weekend’s MAAC Tournament by double digits.

Siena will face the winner of Niagara vs. Fairfield at 7PM tomorrow night on ESPN2.

Rider dominated St. Peter’s, starting out on a 16-3 run to start the game and held off the Peacocks late charge to win handily 69-57 in Saturday’s first quarterfinal game. Senior Ryan Thompson came out scoring in their quarterfinal against St. Peter’s, leading the Broncs with 22 points on 5-13 shooting. The Broncs forced 16 first-half turnovers from the Peacocks, taking a double digit lead as early as just over six minutes into the game.

Thompson failed to make his case for MAAC Player of the Year, shooting just 42.1% field goal percentage during the regular season after two straight seasons over 50% shooting.

Junior Mike Ringgold proved to be tough to stop for the Peacocks, scoring 15 points on 4-7 shooting, making 7-15 free throws but fouled out with 5:17 left in the game. Ringgold has scored double-digit points in five of his last six games. However, the Saints have had Ringgold’s number, limiting him to just four points in their last meeting on February 26th. The Saints held the Broncs to a 36.3% field goal percentage in their two meetings this season.

Meanwhile the Saints turned the Jaspers over 15 times and came back from a halftime deficit to win by double-digits. The game was not without drama when Fran McCaffery pulled his team off the court when the buzzer sounded and refused to answer reporters questions on the situation.

Every starter except Ronald Moore scored double-digit points against the Broncs in their two meetings this year. The starters combined to shoot 68% from the floor in their two meetings. Clarence Jackson fared particularly well against the Broncs, scoring 38 points and shooting 65% from the field in their two meetings.

Siena is 2-0 in the MAAC Tournament against Rider all-time and 7-8 in MAAC semifinal games.

Siena Saints Blog: Who do you think was the biggest All-MAAC Team snub?

Steve Amedio: This one is easy: Frank Turner, Canisius, who got picked for the third team. The guy has been underrated his entire career. He currently ranks 4th in scoring, 5th in Field Goal percentage, 2nd in assists, 1st in steals and 15th in REBOUNDING and he’s only 5-foot-10! Without him, Cansius wins a lot fewer games. Second team? OK, maybe. But, third team? That’s a travesty. The knock on him, early in his career, was that you could turn him over. Not any more … he’s third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Not to knock other players, but he’s had a far better season than Iona’s Scott Machado, who plays the same position and was voted to the second team. I have no problem with Machado being on the second team. He had a nice season. But, Turner had a better season. And, I think he’s had a better season than Ryan Thompson, who is on the first team. Thompson had a terrific six game stretch in February, but I don’t think you should be on first team for six games. If he had 25 good games this year like everyone expected, Rider would have finished third, as predicted, and not have a 16-15 overall record.

I also think Ubiles should have been first team, but not so overwhelmingly so like Turner. On the women’s side, I think Brittane Russell of Canisius also should have made first team, rather than second team. She is one of five players nationally in the last 20 years to record career totals of 1,200 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 300 steals. She is 15th nationally in steals this season. She is 10th in scoring in the MAAC this season, 1st in steals, 4th in assists. She is just a disruptive defensive presence on the court and should clearly be the Defensive Player of the Year. That should count for something, too.

Siena Saints Blog: Who is your dark horse team for the MAAC Basketball Championships?

Steve Amedio: Let me go on record as saying that Siena will win the tournament, and with ease. The only team this dominant relative to everyone else I’ve ever seen was the La Salle teams of Lionel Simmons (1986-97 through 1989-90). This Siena team isn’t that good, but the distance between it and everyone else is as great as I’ve ever seen. Heck, the conference’s second-best team, Fairfield, played the entire season without two key starters and half the season without a third key starter. If there is a team that will cause some trouble, my pick is Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks have two good post players, two good perimeter players and a little bit of depth. That said, they’ll have to play Siena in the semifinals, so their season ends there.

Siena Saints Blog: Who do you think the coaches will give Player of the Year award to?

Steve Amedio: My guess is that Alex Franklin of Siena will be the Player of the Year. He is the league’s most-unstoppable inside force, and has been consistent from start to finish. If Ryan Rossiter got the award, though, I’d have no complaint. But Franklin is a senior and Rossiter is a junior. My only “pulse” about how coaches vote is that they almost always favor the senior when it comes time to vote for the top award.

Siena Saints Blog: Who should the Saints be scared of more: Rider or St. Peter’s?

Steve Amedio: I think that one’s pretty clear. Siena has beaten Rider by 22 points in Albany and by 26 at Rider. Rider doesn’t seem to match up very well with Siena. Their team chemistry just doesn’t seem to be there this season, and Siena plays hard and well on the defensive end and has kept Ryan Thompson in check so far. I actually thought Saint Peter’s had a shot at Siena when they played in Jersey City, N.J. Siena was without Edwin Ubiles, but still won by eight with a great defensive effort. My thought, though, is that Saint Peter’s matches up a little better with Siena. Still, the matchup definitely favors Siena by a lot should they play Saturday.

Siena Saints Blog: It’s simple, sometimes, to overlook the Women’s side of the MAAC but are we seeing the best MAAC player ever finish this week in Marist’s Rachel Fitz?

Steve Amedio: Rachele Fitz is certainly among the best ever in the MAAC, but not in the Lionel Simmons’ class as far as being head and shoulders above everyone else on the men’s side. Fitz is like Chinese water torture, she hurts you little by little. Her game is a lot more subtle than most real stars, but she does everything well. Anyway, she’s in the discussion along with Loyola’s Patty Stoffey and, maybe, Siena’s Melanie Halker.

Siena Saints Blog: We got your prediction on the Men’s side, how do you see the women’s tournament ending up? Will Marist’s reign on the conference end?

Steve Amedio: Will Marist win the tournament? Yes but they appear more vulnerable than in the past. They don’t have a presence yet, and only get consistent scoring from three players. But that’s enough for a team that lost just three times. Throw out Sunday’s loss at Manhattan, that was a fluke. Iona, though, forced Marist to go overtime on Friday in a game that Marist needed to win to clinch the regular-season title. The Gaels are very good, clearly the second-best team in the league and the one team at least capable of pulling off an upset. That said, Marist is extremely well coached, can play in a variety of ways and is the most-intelligent team on the court in the league. They rarely make mistakes.

The Saints benefited from hot shooting in the first half, going on a 16-2 run over six minutes, to take a double-digit lead. The Saints shot 61.3% from the field in the first half and 56.4% for the game, making seven three point field goals.

Edwin Ubiles led the Saints with 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting and made 3 of 5 three pointers. Ryan Rossiter notched a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Ronald Moore scored 8 points, his most since Feburary 5th, and dishing out eight assists. Alex Franklin scored 12 points and Clarence Jackson turned in 16 points and two three pointers.

Novar Gadson led the Broncs scoring 25 points on 10 of 17 shooting. Meanwhile the Saints held potential MAAC Player of the Year Bronc Ryan Thompson in check, holding him to 10 points on 4-11 shooting. Thompson scored just 14 points in Rider’s two meetings with the Saints, off from his 17.1 points per game status.

This is the first time the Saints have swept the regular season series from the Broncs since the 2005-06 season, Fran McCaffery’s first season as Siena head coach.

The Saints have now won 23 or more games in each of the last three seasons.

When Rider faced Siena this earlier this season, the Saints’ dominant performance began Siena’s record 15 game winning streak. Siena has clinched the #1 seed in the MAAC Tournament, while Rider is still in the hunt with Niagara and St. Peter’s for the #4 seed.

Friday night will feature the two leading candidates for MAAC Player of the Year on each side of the court. After a slow start to the season, the preseason MAAC POY, Ryan Thompson, has been on fire of late. Over the last 8 games, Thompson is averaging 23.8 PPG and 3.8 APG, yielding 5 Rider wins and 2 close overtime losses, one to their Bracket Buster opponent, Hofstra. Alex Franklin has scored 20+ points in six out of his last ten games, and is averaging 16 PPG – 7.7 RPG – 1.5 APG on the year. Contrast that with Thompson’s season numbers; 17.1 PPG – 5.1 RPG – 2.7 APG, and this game could be the final judgement call for MAAC POY.

The Saints physically dominated their previous meeting, with Franklin and Rossiter both posting double-doubles. The Broncs didn’t help their cause, shooting 0-15 from beyond the arc and ultimately losing by more than 20. Siena held Ryan Thompson assist-less, and to just 4 total points that night. In what could be Ryan’s last game against the Saints, it would be a tall order to expect that same result. With all of Siena’s losses coming on the road this year, look for this game to be much more competitive.

SienaSaintsBlog: Who is a better contender this year: Iona or Fairfield?

Ray Floriani: A slight edge to Iona but this is really tough because the teams are fairly similar. They both defend and force turnovers. Iona’s turnover (forced) rate is 23% of opposition possessions while Fairfield is 22%.

In the non-league schedule I give Iona a slight nod. They defeated Creighton at the very competitive Old Spice Classic in Orlando and knocked off Providence on the road. Fairfield’s non-MAAC slat was not as tough as Iona’s but it was close and competitive and they gave Rhode Island a good game before dropping a close one.

Derek Needham is doing a great job at the point for Fairfield. Yorel Hawkins and Anthony Johnson can score for the Stags. Scott Machado is an excellent talent at guard for the Gaels. Iona has a number of weapons as 6-11 Jonathan Huffman who can step outside and hit the three.
Fairfield hosts Siena on Saturday with a prime opportunity to prove me wrong.

SienaSaintsBlog: Who would you label as your surprise team this season?

Ray Floriani: Would have to say Iona. As noted they have great guard play with Machado , Kyle Smyth and Jermel Jenkins just to name a few. They defend and a key factor is the ability to succeed on the road. They knocked off Providence but in conference they have impressive wins at Niagara and Rider. They are 3-3 in conference but some of those wins we discussed caught the attention of many observers and not just those who follow the MAAC.

SienaSaintsBlog: When are we going to see the real Rider Broncs show up?

Ray Floriani: From a tempo free perspective Rider’s numbers are revealing. Overall the offensive efficiency is 98 and defensive is 101. In the MAAC those numbers are 93 and 97. In both cases the Broncs have a negative margin (offensive minus defensive efficiency) which does not bode well for any hopes of making a run for the title. It is still early and the Broncs are 3-3.

Their turnover rate is under 20% so they are caring for the ball but as a team they are shooting 41% from the field. That low percentage is especially harmful given an interior defense that is allowing opponents to shoot 50% from two point range.

Rider has four players averaging double figures but coach Tommy Dempsey is getting little help from his bench.
As noted, there is time but there are corrections needed on both ends of the floor. On the other hand maybe that great opening win at Mississippi State left us all expecting more than we expected.

SienaSaintsBlog: Is Ryan Thompson playing his way out of Player of the Year?
Ray Floriani: I think he’s a great player. Thompson averages 14 PPG because he is so unselfish and doesn’t force things. Those qualities were also opinions of the nine or so NBA scouts who saw Thompson in Rider’s OT loss at Rutgers.

Thompson does not have POY numbers at this juncture. But down the stretch Dempsey will probably encourage him to be less unselfish and look for his shot especially in close contests. The remainder of the season will determine if Thompson gets that POY hardware in Albany come March.

Ray Floriani is the RTC correspondent for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Northeast Conference. Ryan Restivo is the RTC correspondent for the Colonial Athletic Association.

Siena started strong and entered halftime with a 16 point lead. On the offensive end, the Saints seemed able to score in any situation. As usual, Ronald Moore was superb running the fast break adding 12 more assists to his already stellar resume, while the outside shooters dusted off some rust to hit some clutch 3’s. One factor throughout the game was the physical dominance of Siena’s big men in half court settings as Ryan Rossiter and Alex Franklin got to the basket at will. Both players ended with double-doubles. Franklin and Clarence Jackson led all scorers with 22 points with Jackson sinking four 3-pointers.The Saints stayed in zone for most of the game as Rider continued to beat themselves by not making shots. The team remained focused and didn’t let their large halftime lead slip away. Kyle Griffin did a solid job at point giving Moore some much deserved rest.

Forward Mike Ringgold led his team with 16 points and G Justin Robinson added 11 for the Broncs. Rider could not overcome their first half offensive woes, shooting only36% and going 0-15 from beyond the 3-point line. Senior Ryan Thompson was held to just 4 points in the game. In what was expected to be a close game between two conference heavyweights, ended up being a blow out by half. Rider now enters into a slight break in schedule where they don’t play again until after the new year.

This game was highlighted by forceful dunks (Franklin), intimidating blocks (Rossiter), and balanced scoring and passing from the entire team. This is the type of Saints performance that validates the preseason opinions of MAAC coaches and basketball experts who picked Siena as the favorite to win the conference.

(courtesy Kenpom.com going into Tuesday)
Chance of winless record:    24.68% (overall)    31.92% (in conference)

Marist lost convincingly against Binghamton, shooting 29.4% from the field. The Bearcats dominated in a 70-52 rout, their 2nd win over a Division I team (their other D-I win came at home against Bucknell). With this loss Marist increased their odds of going winless 20% over one night. Marist scored 5 points in the final five and a half minutes of the game.

Add to it the fact that Casiem Drummond is not eligible yet and might never be. On Monday a crushing blow was sent to Marist as they ruled Drummond to be academically ineligible (courtesy: Poughkeepise Journal).

You have to wonder whether Drummond will ever play for Marist at this rate. Friend of the site, Greg Hyrina adds his comments at his site as well. This will not be a great year to be a Red Foxes fan, the team is very young and inexperienced and you just have to hope that these players that second-year Head Coach Chuck Martin has brought in will continue to show their potential and develop.

Consider that, according to Kenpom.com’s game probabilities: the chances of Marist when they travel to Siena are listed as 0%. You have to figure they have a chance but they are a very young team and could be exposed further against Siena and the more experienced MAAC teams.

Everyone Else Doing Well

Every other MAAC team has at least 5 wins this season but it’s time to review the teams that have impressed us still as teams finish their out of conference schedules and get ready for a grueling MAAC regular season.

Fairfield has been off to a strong start and hung tough in Rhode Island but fell just short in an 89-84 loss. Anthony Johnson led the way with 23 points, on 10 of 14 shooting, and 10 rebounds. Derek Needham has to be near the lead for Rookie of the Year, scoring double digits in all but one game. Siena and Fairfield are #1 and #2 in the MAAC in shooting from inside the 3 point arc, respectively. We will see how real Fairfield is quickly as they will travel to the Buffalo swing to start the New Year.

Rider has settled into a quiet 8-5 this year. After a great win at Mississippi State, they are looking like a team that is still searching for an identity as they enter conference play. Rider was unable to hold off Rutgers in Overtime, being outscored 10-0 in the overtime period. Ryan Thompson is finding his groove, with 26 points and 8 rebounds in a loss. Thompson ceded the stage at Monmouth to Jamar Youngblood. Youngblood, who transferred from Monmouth to Rider, torched the Hawks making 3 of Rider’s 4 three’s and scoring 19 points in a 7 point come from behind win.

Iona and Albany met for the first time and Iona came away with a 13 point win. Kyle Smyth has erupted for 48 points over the last three games on 65% shooting. Smyth is 4th best on the team with 41.3% 3 point field goal percentage and has made a huge leap in his development. Siena handled the Gaels well on the road in their first meeting but look for Iona to be much improved going into that February 5th matchup.

MAAC Notes

Rico Pickett for the Jaspers, a junior college transfer, has put up double digit points in every game where he’s taken double digit shots. However 1.4 3 point field goals per game and a 28.9% three point field goal percentage leave him with some more work on his game. Manhattan is on break until December 30th when they travel to Vanderbilt.

Niagara hosts St. Bonaventure tonight and then takes off for the holidays… Manhattan has yet to see one-armed Kevin Laue score a collegiate point yet, he is 0 for 1 from the field and 0 for 3 from the free throw line. Loyola has started out at 5-5 and travels to Indiana tonight to play the Hoosiers. If Loyola (5-5)

loses tonight, they will be the only the 3rd MAAC team under .500 this year (Canisius is 4-6, Marist is 0-8).

The MAAC’s official blogger, Steve Amedio combines his 20 years of experience covering Siena and the MAAC at his site: Keepin’ Track of the MAAC. He’s witnessed college basketball games at over 130 different venues and wrote the MAAC Preview in The Sporting News. In our second part we talk about the two contenders right behind the Saints: Niagara and Rider.

Ryan/Siena Saints Blog:  I’ve had my doubts about the Purple Eagles and it didn’t help that they lost Tyrone Lewis to start the year. The Purple Eagles, entering Wednesday, ranked 30th in the nation shooting 41.2% of all their shots from three point land. This has led to some good wins but also a bad loss against Austin Peay and then let Akron shoot a 77.2 eFG% in a 57-point second half where the Zips shot better than 60% from two and three point range.

Steve Amedio/Keepin’ Track of the MAAC: Don’t worry about Niagara. Joe Mihalich is one of the top coaches in the MAAC. In my mind, it’s Mihalich and McCaffery, take your pick on which one is better. Lewis had a minor foot injury and missed a couple of games. He’s 100 percent now.

Niagara plays an up-tempo style, but relies even more on creating turnovers off its press. It did the same last year, but is even quicker this year. Austin Peay was not a bad loss. It’s one of the better teams in a decent Ohio Valley Conference and has three starters plus a couple of experienced reserves back from a 19-win team a year ago. Akron is a terrific team. It won the Mid-American Conference a year ago, a league every bit the equal of the MAAC if not slightly better, and is the favorite to win again this year.

Ryan/Siena Saints Blog: Only way I call Niagara’s loss to Austin Peay bad is for two reasons. First off Niagara shot 11 for 26 from three point range (42.3%), lost a 15 point lead at halftime and let the Governors shoot 63% from the field in the second half. That combined with the Akron 2nd half outburst could be a concern. It’s a small sample but Niagara has been outscored in the second half in 6 of their 10 games this year.

Steve Amedio/Keepin’ Track of the MAAC: When you go on the road and face a quality opponent, it’s never a bad loss. Siena was ahead of Temple by 14, I think, midway through the first half and that’s not a bad loss.

My guess about the Niagara-Austin Peay game is that Peay made the necessary halftime adjustments. It doesn’t surprise me that Peay shot well in the 2nd half. Niagara isn’t known for its half-court defense.

Ryan/Siena Saints Blog: Rider got off to a hot start winning big over Mississippi State but cooled off considerably. If you combine the two pre-tournament games for Rider in the Cancun challenge, they shot 18 for 64 (28.1%) from three point range and cooled down considerably. Since then they were able to win three straight home games but struggled against winless Marist and lost against LaSalle.

Steve Amedio/Keepin’ Track of the MAAC: In my MAAC blog post on Rider, my “early” report on Rider is that the Broncs have been somewhat inconsistent thus far. But, they not only have that win over Mississippi State, but one over St. Joseph’s, too. The struggle against Marist was a little surprising. I was more surprised by the loss to Sam Houston State: not by the loss, but by the margin. Rider is very talented. That front-court duo of Mike Ringold and Novar Gadson is a personal favorite. They are both warriors. I’ve gone on record to say that Gadson should have been the MAAC’s Rookie of the Year last year and not Iona’s Scott Machado.

Ryan/Siena Saints Blog: What do you think in the great debate: Niagara or Rider?

Steve Amedio/Keepin’ Track of the MAAC: I’ll take the easy way out on this and just say that Niagara and Rider will more than likely finish 2nd and 3rd without predicting the order. It could go either way. If I had to, I’d take Niagara for 2nd, but it really doesn’t matter much. The No. 2 and No. 3 teams play each other in the MAAC tournament’s semifinal round. That’s really the only night it will matter, the night that will ultimately determine which is better. Rider has that bruising front-court, but no one maximizes its talent like Niagara and Mihalich. Bilal Benn and Tyrone Lewis are just disruptive forces in the pressing defense. Plus, I like Anthony Nelson a lot as a point guard. They’ve got 5 guys averaging double figures in scoring and a sixth averaging close to nine. They’ve got more depth than last year. It’s good enough to realize that both teams are very good at this level.

Ryan/Siena Saints Blog: I agree with you on the Niagara-Rider 2-3 argument. If you took Siena, Niagara and Rider: two of these three will play each other on Semifinal Sunday night. If it’s Niagara and Rider, we can only hope that it will be as great as last year’s game.