MAAC Report: MAAC TOURNEY SCENARIOS, SHU ends regular season with win, other notes

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FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Anthony Latina and his staff are going to sit in their offices and watch the MAAC games on Sunday, waiting for their matchup. The Pioneers will either take on Iona, Mount St. Mary’s or Fairfield in either the 8-9 game or 7-10 game of the MAAC Tournament. They’ll drive down to Atlantic City on Wednesday, stay in their resort hotel, and compete on Thursday night.

Sacred Heart is the first MAAC team to complete its regular season. With a 77-69 win over

Mount St. Mary’s on Friday night inside the Pitt Center, the Pioneers improved to 9-11, a far cry from the 1-6 start, but still lower than the team would’ve expected preseason. But now, as Latina says, every team is 0-0.

“Whoever loses goes home,” Latina said. “We feel like we have some veteran guys who have been in this situation. Obviously, we have a tougher road because we have to win an extra game, go back-to-back, but we believe that if we play our best, we have a shot against anybody.”

The Pios scored just six points in the first 11 minutes and change, and then exploded, making seven threes in the final eight minutes and 20 seconds of the first half. Nyle Ralph-Beyer closed the first half with a contested three. Anthony Arrington did everything right in defending him, and Donny Lind came over to give him a high-five immediately after the play, but Ralph-Beyer, the conference’s top outside shooter, made it count.

It continued to be that kind of night for SHU in the second half, making seven more threes and finishing with 71 points in just 28 minutes of basketball, led by 17 from each of Ralph-Beyer, Anquan Hill and Yann Farell.

On Hill and Farell’s senior night, as well as Dashon Gittens, the Pioneers snapped a two-game losing streak and got big rebounds down the stretch to do it.

“They were outworking us,” Latina said. “I thought the guys ramped it up a little bit, and we started getting some 50-50 balls.”

“Rebounding comes down to, especially in late moments, who wants it more,” Lind said. “Who’s more aggressive to go get it, and unfortunately, they got a few big ones.”

It wasn’t the type of game that Sacred Heart wanted to play, as it wasn’t able to run in transition for much of the night, but what makes the Pioneers potentially dangerous heading into Atlantic City is that they can find that transition opportunity quickly, and with an improving defense, they don’t need quite as many.

“It’s vital (to get in transition),” Latina said. “It gets the blood flowing for us a little bit for better or for worse. But you can’t fastbreak if you don’t defensive rebound or cause turnovers.”

He also discussed the defensive improvements, as the Pioneers have ascended into the MAAC’s top 10 in defense over the last five games after being near the absolute bottom in the first part of the season.

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“Our defensive awareness and positioning is drastically improved,” Latina said. “I think we lacked that for much of the season. I think now it’s win or go home, so there’s a little more sense of urgency.”

Meanwhile, the Mount had great defensive energy throughout the game, but couldn’t grab the rebounds down the stretch to start possessions.

Anastasios Rozakeas made back-to-back threes to cut the lead to two, and the Mount made another to cut it to one, but stops were hard to come by at that point. Xavier Lipscomb’s turnover down by six with 1:16 to play, trying to find Rozakeas in the corner, was the dagger.

The Mount was bruised and battered heading into Atlantic City last year, and they’ll be bruised, but maybe not battered this year, although Luke McEldon did miss part of the second half getting tended to by trainers before returning.

Lind hasn’t invoked last year to this group, but he might at some point. The Mountaineers take on Fairfield on Sunday with the winner getting the final bye, and the loser getting the seven seed.

“It’s all about our everyday approach,” Lind said. “Making sure we stay together and just trying to find a way to get a little bit better. We got an unbelievable locker room in there. They’re hurting right now, but it’s an unbelievable group of guys that really care about each other.”

Other Games

Saint Peter’s 75, Manhattan 65

The Peacocks jumped out of the gates hot and expanded their lead out to 18. Bashir Mason’s team finishes the home season 10-0 in MAAC play and 13-1 overall, with the only loss coming to Dartmouth on Nov. 29. But the Peacocks are stil just 3-6 on the road, and have to face Marist on Sunday in Poughkeepsie. TJ Robinson made his return and had 13 points with seven assists and four rebounds after missing last week’s road losses to Iona and Siena. Bryce Eaton and Brent Bland each pitched in 14. As for the Jaspers, it’s two losses in a row after three wins in a row, and now only the 9-seed or 10-seed is in play, depending on whether they win or lose to Iona on Sunday. Terrence Jones is averaging 21 points and 5.8 rebounds over his last four games.

Iona 80, Rider 58

There’s early-season Iona. The Gaels played 72 possessions and won by 22, notching their fastest regulation game sine Jan. 2 and their biggest win margin since Jan. 11 against Canisius. Yes, it came against Rider, but the Gaels needed a performance like this where they were the better team from start to finish and won by a good margin. Kosy Akametu had 22 points and has been KenPom MVP in each of Iona’s last two wins and three of their last four wins. Zion Cruz led Rider with 25 points. Iona is locked into the eight seed in the MAAC Tournament no matter what happens against Manhattan on Sunday. The Gaels have only won once in Draddy in their last four trips.

Fairfield 72, Siena 58

Both teams were missing a key forward with Brandon Benjamin out for Fairfield, and Antonio Chandler out for Siena. Isaac Munkadi was awesome in replacement of Benjamin, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Benjamin, who will be named to an All-MAAC team next week, is day-to-day and warmed up, but it didn’t feel right, according to Chris Casey. Declan Wucherpfennig had 17 rebounds. Deuce Turner and Braden Sparks combined for 36 points. Fairfield led from start to finish, and Siena loses its fourth out of the last six games. Saints take on Rider on Sunday.

Canisius 67, Merrimack 62

Merrimack has nothing to play for as they’ve already locked up the MAAC regular-season title, but Joe Gallo can’t really bench his starters as he has multiple players redshirting and multiple players injured. So he only got 17 minutes out of his bench between Dylan Veillette and Jaylen Stinson, while KC Ugwuakazi, a key reserve, missed the game. Kevair Kennedy still shined with 25 points, but the Griffs picked up the win. It was the first time that Canisius won a game when trailing or tied at the five minute mark since December 2022, per the illustrious Matt Reitnour. So far, this may be the most impressive win of Jim Christian’s tenure at Canisius, even if neither team had anything to play for.

Niagara 78, Quinnipiac 76 (OT)

While Niagara didn’t have anything to play for, the Purple Eagles have been a thorn in Quinnipiac’s side of late. Since Jan. 9, 2022, Niagara is 6-2 against the Bobcats, with the two losses being overtime in 2023-24, and by one in Hamden earlier this year. Reggie Prudhomme made two buzzer beaters, one in regulation to force overtime, and one in overtime to win the game, for the Purple Eagles. In what has been a trying season for Niagara, this win is a feather in the cap of Greg Paulus’ team for not giving up on the season after the losses to Rider and the Mount knocked them out of MAAC Tournament contention last week. Perhaps more notably, Amarri Monroe didn’t play in the final 9:23 of regulation or in overtime, and had an ice bag on his right knee going through the postgame handshake line.

SCENARIOS

WHAT WE KNOW

• Merrimack is locked into the No. 1 seed, and Iona is locked into the No. 8 seed.
• Quinnipiac, Saint Peter’s, Siena and Marist have all clinched byes.
• The winner of Fairfield vs Mount St. Mary’s will clinch the final bye, and the loser will be the seven seed.
• Niagara, Canisius and Rider will not compete in the MAAC Tournament this year. They have all been eliminated

Manhattan/Iona scenarios

• If Manhattan beats Iona, the Jaspers will be the No. 9 seed and take on Iona, meaning that Sacred Heart will be the No. 10 seed and face the loser of Fairfield-Mount
• If Iona beats Manhattan, the Jaspers will be the No. 10 seed and take on the loser of Fairfield-Mount, meaning that Sacred Heart will be the No. 9 seed and face Iona.

How each team can get the ____ seed

2 Seed

• Siena
  • Siena win over Rider AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s
• Saint Peter’s
  • Saint Peter’s win over Marist OR
  • Rider win over Siena

3 Seed

• Marist:
  • Marist win over Saint Peter’s AND Rider win over Siena
• Saint Peter’s:
  • Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND Rider win over Siena
• Quinnipiac:
  • Marist win over Saint Peter’s AND Siena win over Rider
• Siena:
  • Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND
    • Siena win over Rider OR
    • Rider win over Siena AND Canisius win over Qunnipiac 

4 Seed:

• Marist:
  • Marist win over Saint Peter’s AND Siena win over Rider OR
  • Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND Mount St. Mary’s win over Fairfield AND Canisius win over Quinnipiac
• Siena:
  • Rider win over Siena AND
    • Canisius win over Quinnipiac AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s OR
    • Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND Saint Peter’s win over Marist
• Quinnipiac:
  • Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND
    • Rider win over Siena AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s OR
    • Siena win over Rider AND Saint Peter’s win over Marist
• Fairfield:
  • Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s AND Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND Canisius win over Quinnipiac

5 Seed

• Marist: 
  • Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND
    • Mount St. Mary’s win over Fairfield AND Quinnipiac win over Canisius OR
    • Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s AND Canisius win over Quinnipiac
• Siena:
  • Rider win over Siena AND Mount St. Mary’s win over Fairfield AND Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s
• Quinnipiac:
  • Canisius win over Quinnipiac AND Mount St. Mary’s win over Fairfield OR
  • Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND Siena win over Rider AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s
• Fairfield:
  • Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s AND
    • Siena win over Rider AND
      • Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND Saint Peter’s win over Marist OR
      • Canisius win over Quinnipiac AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s
    • OR
    • Rider win over Siena AND
      • Marist win over Saint Peter’s OR
      • Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND Quinnipiac win over Canisius

6 Seed

• Marist:
  • Saint Peter’s win over Marist AND Quinnipiac win over Canisius AND Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s
• Siena:
  • Rider win over Siena AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s AND Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s AND Quinnipiac win over Canisius
• Quinnipiac:
  • Canisius win over Quinnipiac AND Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s
• Fairfield:
  • Fairfield win over Mount St. Mary’s AND Siena win over Rider AND Marist win over Saint Peter’s AND Quinnipiac win over Canisius
• Mount St. Mary’s
  • Mount St. Mary’s win over Fairfield

7 Seed

• Fairfield
  • Fairfield loss to Mount St. Mary’s
• Mount St. Mary’s
  • Mount St. Mary’s loss to Fairfield