That was the general reaction from students the day after the debacle that immediately followed the Saints winning the MAAC tournament. Initially, the influx of security and police officers appeared to have the upper hand. With 30 seconds left in the game they quite literally lifted a female student off into a nearby tunnel while one member of security was poking Siena fans who were getting too close to the rail with the end of a large MAAC banner. Narrowing down the passage to the floor to basically two aisles was looking like a successful tactic in keeping the student sections from storming the court.

Until with approximately 11 seconds left when the bunched up sea of yellow began to chant in unison, “You can’t stop us!” Then everyone in the arena knew that 30 men really couldn’t stop 1,000 running students. They tried anyway, however, and with the tight spaces security created a jailbreak scenario ensued that actually increased the chance of injury to students.

Around campus students are describing how they watched helpless people trapped up against steel bars as the momentum of the crowd kept pouring down a single aisle. In classes they talked about how scared they felt compared to past years. When told that it was the MAAC that insisted on targeting Siena students and not the Times Union Center, many students took it as an anti-Siena ploy. Would security even move to stop the 50 or so Fairfield fans from rushing down to the court if Needham hit that game winner? There certainly weren’t any apologies on campus for Siena’s basketball success or for the students’ passion for the team.

MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor made a comment referring to the student’s rushing the court this year as inappropriate due to the Saints’ recent success in the MAAC tournament. What Ensor is unable to understand (or admit) is that these past 4 seasons have stood as the most historic college basketball period in Siena’s history. This wasn’t just another game. It was the end of an era that has never been seen before in this league. How many teams across the nation over the last ten years have been to their conference finals 4 consecutive times, and won 3 in a row? How many teams in the MAAC have done that…ever? Yes, Siena was expected to win this season, but no team is ever expected to have the lasting dominance they’ve have and the students should not be criticized for wishing to be a part of that in some way.

“It’s frustrating because you always see that picture around campus of Ubiles on top of everyone’s shoulders after they won it all last year. It’s an awesome shot. Who wouldn’t want to be in that picture? But all of a sudden this year we’re not allowed. I don’t get it,” senior Lisa Dussalt. There are some who feel the Siena students should have remained in the nose bleed seats and watched their team cut down the nets through binoculars. There are some who feel that by storming the court and disobeying rules, the students were ruining the integrity of college basketball. So what does this writer say to those people who feel college sports shouldn’t be enjoyed most by the students who make up the schools? I envision that classic Ubiles picture where he is being hoisted up in celebration by his peers and think to myself: Funny how you’re not in it.

The Saints went on a 15-1 run in the middle of the second half to take what was a close game and turn it into a solid win. Ryan Rossiter struggled but made all six of his free throws to finish with his third straight double-double.

The Saints appeared to start in a shooting drought that rivaled their second half in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Siena made just one of their first 13 shots, missing their first four and turning the ball over five times in that span.

Manhattan’s strategy of backing off of Siena’s big men and bottling up the inside appeared to stifle the Saints early. The Jaspers then used zones to push the game to behind the arc. The Jaspers also let Moore go unguarded to help inside and finished the half up four.

Player of the Year Alex Franklin missed the first two shots for the Saints but scored Siena’s first four points while every other Saint starter struggled to score. Darryl Crawford started out strong, scoring 10 points early before drawing two fouls.

Clarence Jackson’s three pointer with 15:26 left gave Siena their first lead at 46-45. Alex Franklin’s spin move with 13:27 to go gave the Saints a 50-49 lead. Franklin led the Saints with 21 points.

Jackson struggled, making just 2-15 shots and going 2-11 from three point range.

Coach Fran McCaffery turned to his bench for scoring and got contributions early from O.D. Anosike, Kyle Downey and Owen Wignot. Wignot made Siena’s first two three pointers. Anosike left the game with an apparent injury with 16:39 to go after getting into an altercation on the court. Downey scored 8 points off the bench for the Saints who led Manhattan in bench points 22-16.

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.

Using his up to date stats and log5 methodology, he has determined the probabilities of every MAAC Team to win the 2010 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championships. These odds are also featured on the Basketball Prospectus article today “March at Last: Conference Tournament Projections.” In his article he explains the log5 method in simple terms:

Think of a coin with one side labeled “win” and the other side labeled “loss.” The chance of the coin landing on “win” is the team’s rating. Log5 is derived from the probability that a team’s coin will land on win and its opponent’s coin will land on loss. (If they land on the same side, you re-flip.)

His take on the MAAC Tournament?

The MAAC produces the biggest Championship Week long shot in Marist, who has a 1-in-6500 chance to leave Albany with an NCAA bid in hand. They were able to lead Siena for 17 minutes on Sunday, so maybe there’s hope. Siena is easily the best team in the conference and gets to play at home but, even so, they have a 1-in-4 chance of being disappointed.

We also let him break down the conference race from a statistical perspective and his answers might surprise you…

Siena Saints Blog: Who would be your favorite to win MAAC Player of the Year? What argument do the numbers make?

Ken Pomeroy: This is a good test, because I haven’t seen anything other than a few minutes of Siena this season. Nor have I checked in on who is getting the buzz from the conference’s beat writers. Also – I’m not going to look at any per game stats. So we’ll see how I match up with popular opinion.

Due to Siena’s dominance, you have to look at their roster first, and Alex Franklin is their MVP, although I’m sure there’s some support for Edwin Ubiles and Clarence Jackson. Franklin’s been more efficient offensively, and his ability to draw tons of fouls and rebound very well adds an extra dimension, so I’d give the conference award to him. I have to give honorable mention to Fairfield’s Anthony Johnson, who’s an impact player on both ends and Frank Turner of Canisius who has to be one of the most effective point guards in mid-major-land.

Siena Saints Blog: Is there anything that can explain Rider’s collapse from the contenders to being a number five seed?

Ken Pomeroy: They actually aren’t too much different from last season, they’ve just had a bit worse performance in close games. With so many guys coming back, you’d expect a little improvement, but it doesn’t work out that way for every team in that position.

Siena Saints Blog: Who would be your tournament dark horse?

Ken Pomeroy: The only fair answer here is “anybody but Siena.” There are only two tournaments with a more overwhelming favorite than the Saints. So picking a specific team to win the tourney is like throwing darts. Niagara is under-seeded as a six, though.

Siena Saints Blog: The MAAC decided to move the championships to Springfield, MA in 2012 to 2014. What’s your take on major/midmajor conferences moving their tournaments to neutral sites?

Ken Pomeroy: Yeah, I love this idea. Since the MAAC is so compact geographically, I think they can make this work. Neutral site tournaments are ideal for crowning a champ, it’s just a matter of whether fans will show up. The A-10 has struggled in that regard in Atlantic City, the Mountain West couldn’t make Denver work, and we’ll see what happens with the WCC this season (playing their 2nd year in Las Vegas, NV). But I would think you’ll at least get enough Siena fans making the short trip over the Berkshires to make the Springfield experiment worth it.

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.

The Gaels are led by sophomore G Scott Machado, who is averaging 11.8ppg and 4.2 apg.  He is followed by junior F Alejo Rodriguez and freshman G Kyle Smith, who both average 8.8ppg.  Coach Kevin Willard has developed a young team by preaching defense, and the Gaels have responded – they hold opponents to just under 62ppg on less that 40% shooting.  What the team lacks in size inside they make up for by hot shooting from the outside – Iona shooters are making almost 38% of their shots from 3-point land.  Excitement has returned to New Rochelle, and this team is gunning for the first place Saints.

Meanwhile, the status quo has remained unchanged in Loudonville.  The Saints had all week to prepare for the Gaels after learning that they will face Butler in the Bracketbuster on Saturday, February 20.   The coach and players would have told you what they’ve been telling you all year, though – they truly are taking one game at a time, and all they care about at this moment is beating Iona.  Edwin Ubiles should be back in the starting lineup as he’s been seen practicing with the team all week.  Kyle Downey is still nursing his broken foot and should not be expected back until at least the MAAC Tournament.  What looked like a team who was losing players to injury has seemed to gain experience on the bench.

In what will be the third sell-out of the year, the Times Union Center will be rocking out for the “Gold Rush,” with fans being urged to all wear gold shirts or attire.  Since there are only single tickets left, and few of them at that, the powers that be have decided to  televise the game on Time Warner Cable 1.  Game time is 7:00pm.

First place is not on the line Friday night, but the Gaels want the win – an upset Friday night would go to prove that Siena can be beaten on their home-court, which is what every team is going to need to do if they want to win the MAAC tourney come March.  The Saints want to keep streaking – an at-large bid is still unlikely and would not be likely unless they ran the table, but an unbeaten conference season gets closer with each win.

Friday night may be the big match up of MAAC foes this year where the immovable object meets the unstoppable force – as Iona and Siena renew their conference rivalry fans should be in for a heck of a game.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• A HEALTHY EDWIN IS A HAPPY EDWIN: Eddie scored 15 points off the bench at Marist on Saturday, and looked good doing it.  He was active and energetic, and even though he admits that the shoulder (non-shooting) is sore he knows he can play through it.  While Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter have been bearing the brunt of the work (literally) the Saints are going to need as much of Eddie being Eddie as they can get the rest of the season.  He is the X-Factor that each team needs to scheme for, and he’s going to relied on every game the rest of the way.
• HOW DEEP DOES THE BENCH GO?: Right now, it seems to be getting deeper.  During Edwin’s absence Owen Wignot got the starting nod each time – and while he still has yet to build on his athleticism and get in the scoring column more often he has looked terrific on defense and has played very productive minutes.  Right behind him is freshman OD Anosike, who continues to mature with each game.   His rebounding ability is outstanding, as are some of the post moves he’s starting to display.  While coach has seven strong to start, he is getting Kyle Griffen, Jonathan Breeden, and Davis Martens in more – each minute a bench player takes gives the starters that much more of a rest, which is invaluable this time of year.  Unfortunately, don’t expect to see TOO much of the bench Friday night, because…
• ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?: This is the time of the year when Coach McCaffery and his Saints don’t lose.  The team’s record in February and March is stellar, much for one reason – Coach has no problem riding his starters.  Expect all five to log big minutes Friday night – the conditioning of the team is excellent, and this is nothing new to them.  They’ve been doing it for four years now.

Last season Siena lost their 13th conference game at Rider to break their undefeated streak.