Category: MAAC

Buonaguro’s Future at Siena Unclear

I asked Siena head coach Mitch Buonaguro in late January, what he would go back and tell himself now when he was first hired as head coach. He said he would tell himself to “have thick skin.” Continue reading “Buonaguro’s Future at Siena Unclear” →

All New York City Final in MAACachusetts

SPRINGFIELD – The MAAC’s second final at the MassMutual Center will be historic, putting two New York City teams against each other in the championship game for the first time.

The fourth-seeded Iona Gaels meet the sixth-seeded Manhattan Jaspers in a battle of New York City sized proportions. Weeks ago this matchup seemed extremely improbable. Continue reading “All New York City Final in MAACachusetts” →

Fairfield Seniors Leave Lasting Legacy

SPRINGFIELD – In the final minute two of Fairfield’s most important four-year seniors in the history of the program exited the court.

With 51.3 seconds left Colin Nickerson exited the game down 57-42 to an embrace from head coach Sydney Johnson. With 27.3 seconds remaining, perhaps the most prolific player in recent history, Derek Needham, exited the floor to an embrace from his coach that lasted almost until the final buzzer.

“He’s a great kid to coach,” Johnson said of Needham. “These young people give you so much, so I just wanted him to know how much I appreciate it. Special kid.”

Fairfield fell short of their goal with a 60-42 loss to sixth-seeded Manhattan in the MAAC semifinals. The seniors had a remarkable run reaching the semifinals four times, advancing to the championship game twice under two different head coaches.

“I feel like we had a lot of success since we’ve been here,” Nickerson said. “We’ve always had good teams, good coaches and we’ve fallen short so now for the future program they have to figure out how to get over that hump.”

Needham said that when they were juniors the transition from Ed Cooley to Johnson went seamlessly.

“We had great years, great four years,” Needham said. “During coaching transition still great teams. We’re blessed to have coach Johnson. Usually when you bring some coaches in they switch everything up. Coach Johnson trusted us even when we were juniors so just as we’re going the program is in building. We’re still going up it’s not going to go down.”

Needham said when he talked to then-Senior Anthony Johnson in his freshman year, he realized how quick the four years might go.

“I remember talking to Anthony Johnson my freshman year he’s like you’re dunking now but you’ll be tired by the end of this season and I feel like that just happened yesterday,” Needham said. “Four years go quick, man. That’s what I’m trying to tell our younger guys.”

After the buzzer sounded Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello embraced the senior Needham close to mid court during post game handshakes and had words for him before shaking the rest of the remaining Stags’ hands.

“I’m a big fan of his from afar,” Masiello said. “I’ve watched his numbers over his career, I’ve watched him play. He came into this league as rookie of the year, I think he averaged 17 a game. He has done whatever it takes for his team to win.”

“He’s gone from a scorer to a point guard, a point guard to a scorer. He is a class act, he doesn’t say a word on the court. He plays the game the way its supposed to be played. I have so much respect for how hard he plays every night. He gets everyone’s attention whether he’s scoring the ball or not. He plays defense, he is all about his teammates. He is what MAAC basketball is about. Wasn’t  heavily recruited, came here had a great career here, one of the best guards to ever play at Fairfield. I love kids like that and seeing kids like that have success just told him that. That’s what it’s about these young men having success. I told him if I could do anything for you in life pick up the phone because he’s what kids should be all about in college.”

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.

Manhattan’s Second Half Spurt Leads to 60-42 Win over Fairfield

SPRINGFIELD – The sixth-seeded Jaspers continued their improbable run, making the championship game with a 60-42 victory over seventh-seeded Fairfield Sunday.

Manhattan advances to play Iona in the MAAC championship game for the first time ever.

Emmy Andujar led the Jaspers with a game-high 16 points. Fairfield’s Mo Barrow led the Stags with 15 points.

Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello said that Andujar makes the game look very easy.

“The game comes very easy to him and it looks very easy to him,” Masiello said. “Sometimes I don’t give him enough credit and I’m very hard on him he’ll sit here and say he needs that but he doesn’t. He knows how to play, he has a great feel for this game and he has mid-ranges, he goes off the bounce he shoots it, unbelievable passer, he rebounds, the whole package.”

“The only one to stop Emmy Andujar is Emmy Andujar and that’s it. You’re looking at a kid who wasn’t heavily recruited and has been through more adversity than most people in their life this year. No one deserves success more than him. He’s humble, he’s what being a Manhattan Jasper is all about.”

Manhattan controlled the second half of the game after carrying a one-point lead into halftime. Andjuar drove past Barrow through contact for a layup to extend the Jasper lead to 31-28. After a Barrow jumper miss from the free throw line, Mohamed Koita drilled a three-pointer from the baseline next to the Manhattan bench to give the Jaspers a seven-point lead, forcing a Fairfield timeout with just under 11 minutes left.

Second team All-MAAC center Rhamel Brown was held in check early, picking up his second foul with just over 10 minutes left in the first half. Brown scored his first points, a basket plus a Needham foul on the bucket with 10:06 left.

The Jaspers went inside to Brown on their next offensive possession, got fouled by Barrow and made both shots. The Jaspers extended the lead to nine with free throws to get it as large as 44-35.

Brown led the Jaspers with a team-high seven rebounds to go with his seven points and three blocks.

Masielllo said that with Brown struggling it helped get Roberto Colonette active who scored nine points and had three rebounds.

“The most unsung guy in this program is Roberto Colonette,” Masiello said. “He tells us guys what we need to do even when he’s not in the game and then when he’s in the game he does all the dirty work. He came in and listen we miss Rhamel when he’s not in the game he’s one of the best in the country, but Roberto is a different type of player. He’s going to take charges, he’s going to rotate and we change we adjust to it.”

“Emmy stepped up we played more physical on guards, we can’t get beat off dribble penetration and we adjusted they do that. That’s the beauty of this team they understand that and that’s what I think makes this group of young men so special.”

Off a missed layup from Nickerson, Andujar went coast to coast for a layup to cap an 8-2 run, giving the Jaspers a 46-35 lead. From there the Jaspers held a lead greater than 10 for the rest of the game.

Kates drove to the free throw line, his pass found Brown on the block and the junior threw down a two-handed dunk to give the Jaspers a 50-37 lead with 3:17 left.

For a time it didn’t look like the Jaspers were going to continue their late season run to the finals. Fairfield opened up the game scoring the game’s first six points and led by as many as 11 after a Derek Needham layup gave the Stags a 16-5 lead.

“I just said we were down 12-2 to this team about eight days ago,” Masiello said he told the team at the first media timeout. “We’ve been down 17, been down 15, been down 19. We’ve seen it all. These kids know what to do, I believe in them. They can go out and play this game without me, they’re those type of kids. My job’s easy, they do the hard stuff. I just give them some advice. I tell them some things to do things I see on the side, these kids do it all themselves. If every coach had these kids he’d be successful.”

However, the Jaspers closed the gap throughout the next eight minutes. Following a Colin Nickerson turnover, Donovan Kates buried a three-pointer with 50 seconds left to give the Jaspers their first lead. That 23-22 lead capped a 7-0 run and put the Jaspers ahead going to halftime.

Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson said that his team’s 12 turnovers cost them and let Manhattan get back into the game.

“I thought turnovers helped get them back in the game,” Johnson said for his team who turned the ball over eight times in the second half. “Once they got back in the game, we’ve had scoring droughts all season long and that showed up in the second half so we let them get back into it. Credit them they didn’t give up and that was it. We just couldn’t turn the corner.”

Fairfield did not have any answers offensively, going cold. The Stags were held to shooting just 34.9% for the game, including no three point shots made. It’s the first time this season the Stags failed to make a three-pointer in a game, missing all nine of their opportunities from beyond the arc.

Manhattan shut down Needham, holding him to four points on two of 10 from the field.

“I think they like me,” Needham said of how hard the Jaspers guarded him. “I always hear their coach ‘don’t leave Needham, don’t leave Needham.’ I think they rush two guys at me all the time.”

“Some teams got your number and you can’t be afraid to admit Manhattan, they do a good job of guarding me.”

Michael Alvarado said Masiello preached in every timeout to make sure they stayed on Needham throughout.

“We just can’t lose sight of him,” Alvarado said. “Coach always said in every huddle don’t lose sight of him and don’t let him get off. Make someone else beat us so that’s what we tried to do the last three times we played them.”

With the 18-point victory, the Jaspers swept the three-game series from the Stags this season.

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.

Laury Powers Iona to Finals with 79-73 Semifinal Win over Niagara

SPRINGFIELD – Iona’s well-balanced attack managed to jump ahead in the second half and put away the top seeded Niagara Purple Eagles 79-73 in the first semifinal in the MAAC Tournament.

David Laury led Iona with 20 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Antoine Mason led Niagara with a game-high 21 points.

“I think I’m getting the comfort level that I’ve been seeking,” Laury said. “I had it when I first came out but it didn’t come away.”

“I don’t really know why it happened but we started to get it back the whole year. These guys Momo, Sean, have had confidence in me telling me to do certain things. Sometimes I lack aggression and I just had to be aggressive.”

Iona took control late in the second half. after trading baskets with the Purple Eagles and trailing 40-39 at the break.

Jumpers from the free throw line by Sean Armand and Taaj Ridley helped Iona stay ahead but the Purple Eagles stayed in it with baskets from Mason off the window and a deep two from Juan’ya Green. Sledge’s transition layup off a Green turnover gave Iona a 60-57 lead.

Laury posted up for a basket to give Iona a 62-59 lead. From there, Niagara missed their next three shots, the last one a Green floater in the lane that couldn’t go. Momo Jones responded with a floater in the lane of his own that went down, giving Iona a 66-59 lead. The lead was their largest since being ahead 9-2 in the first half.

Sledge made a three pointer close the Iona bench to give a nine-point lead at 70-61 with 6:37 left.

Iona head coach Tim Cluess described Sledge’s three as “huge” and that Armand and Jones tell Sledge to shoot more when he’s open.

“These guys yell at him every day to shoot it more when he’s open,” Cluess said. “We give guys the freedom, if you’re open shoot the basketball. They get on him a lot to shoot in practice and I was glad to see him have the confidence and also make the three. He feels real good about himself.”

On the ensuing defensive possession, Jones drew a charge on Mason slashing from the right baseline. A pumped up Jones got up and pounded his chest to the crowd following the call.

“We got ’em,” Jones said. “I had grown up with [Mason] since I was young kid, young player. I knew he wanted to go right and I kept telling coach the whole night all he wants to go do is go right.”

“He said guard him and that was just the mindset. Make him go right, take a charge.”

Mason drew his third foul on the charge call.

“I knew if I could get that charge that he would slow down, he would stop being as aggressive as he was,” Jones said. “I think after that charge I think I really set him back. He wasn’t as aggressive as he was early on.”

Mason scored just three points for the remainder of the game.

Niagara could not find their offense from the outside, making just seven of 33 three pointers for the game. The Purple Eagles’ last three pointer came from T.J. Cline with 17:42 left to give Niagara a 47-45 lead.

“I thought we had some good looks from some guys who could make shots and we didn’t knock them down,” Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. “Maybe we were just a little out of rhythm or we were further away from the three-point line than our toe on the line but I thought we had a lot of times.”

The Purple Eagles were also without Tahjere McCall who suffered a knee injury in the quarterfinal game against Siena.

“There are excuses and there are facts and the fact is our starting point guard didn’t play,” Mihalich said. “He gives us 23 minutes of terrific perimeter defense. It gives Juan’ya a chance to get off the ball, for him not to do as much.”

“The team we put out on the floor wasn’t as good as the team that scored 79 points today, but there’s excuses and there’s facts and we missed him. We missed him a lot.”

Niagara struggled out of the gate early making just two of their first nine shots and Iona flexed their muscles early, running out and grabbing a 9-2 lead. However, the Purple Eagles got back into the game with baksets from Mason, Ameen Tanskley and Marvin Jordan.

Jordan’s three pointer gave Niagara their first lead at 19-16 but Armand responded with a three of his own from the corner contested by Devon White to tie it back up. Green drove the baseline to the basket, received contact from Ridley his traditional three-point play. Niagara would grab a lead as large as six thanks to a Mason jumper from the free throw line over Iona’s zone.

The Gaels responded right back with a run of their own capping it with a Laury drive in the lane with a missed layup, but Ridley trailed the play and threw down the ball one-handed to cut the lead to one.

The teams traded baskets to halftime. After Jones missed a basket through contact, T.J. Cline threw a wayward pass picked off by DaShawn Gomez and Jones fired a three to give Iona a 39-38 lead with 1:02 left. However, Green responded by driving the lane for a layup to give the Purple Eagles a 40-39 edge at halftime.

Iona came out running in the second half. Jones drove the lane and got a traditional three-point play on Ameen Tanksley, his free throw cut the lead to 43-42. Sledge went coast to coast for a layup that cut the lead to 51-50, later his drive to basket missed but Laury’s put back on an offensive rebound gave Iona a 54-53 lead with 13:58 left.

Niagara cut into the lead with free throws and a Tanksley drive to the basket to cut the lead to 70-65 with 4:28 left. Green drove to the basket to cut the lead to three with 2:57 left, but Niagara would not be able to close the gap any more.

Laury drove the lane and got a foul on Cline who yelled “no!” emphatically on the call near the baseline. The sophomore made two free throws and Iona went on to ice the game from the line.

Iona made nine of their last 10 from the free throw line to hold on to the win, making 18 of their 22 free throws for the game.

Sledge held first-team All-MAAC member Green in check, holding him to 11 points on five of 17 shooting from the field.

“We went back to what we did the first matchup and we won that game,” Jones said of guarding Green with Sledge. “We shut them out and Tavon did a great job on [Green]. We just helped him out a little bit in terms filling in the gaps here.”

“When it came down to it, Tavon did a tremendous job. All praise goes out to him. Juan’ya is a great player, getting even better, tonight Tavon had that motor in his tank tonght that he’s had all year, that he comes to practice with, that he wakes up with and tonight it helped us tremendously.”

Niagara joins the last two regular season champions in the MAAC to not make the finals of the tournament. Iona and Fairfield during the previous two seasons respectively fell in the conference semifinal game. Five of the last eight regular season champions have not advanced to the championship game.

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.

Niagara’s Mihalich on KenPom Stats

SPRINGFIELD – Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said hasn’t been a big believer in KenPom stats offered on his team.

“I’m not a KenPom guy,” Mihalich said. “I’m fascinated by it, but there’s just too many numbers on that screen I can’t follow them all.”

“My assistant kind of is so he tells me so that’s what we do good. Every once in a while I’ll ask him what are we good at, he’ll say we don’t turn it over and we get other teams to turn it over.”

Niagara ranks in the top 50 nationally in turnover percentage on each end of the floor. The Purple Eagles are 17th in the country on the offensive end, turning the ball over on just 16.7% of their possessions. On the defensive end the Purple Eagles turn teams over 22.6% of the time, good for 43rd in the nation.

In their quarterfinal win over ninth-seeded Siena these traits were more evident as they drew the Saints into 20 turnovers which led to 32 points and a 74-62.

Other tempo free stats suggest that Niagara’s offense has been pekaing at the right time. Their BracketBuster win over Northwestern State featured one of their best offensive efficiency mark of the season at 1.23 points per possession. Their final regular season game saw them almost match it in a 78-61 win over St. Peter’s where they scored 1.27 points per possession in a slower paced game.

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.

Iona’s Big Men Help Carry Gaels to Semifinals

SPRINGFIELD – While the Iona Gaels got 54 of their 89 points from junior Sean Armand and senior Momo Jones, they needed the help of their inside men to help reach the semifinals.

One player the Iona Gaels were without in their first meeting was sophomore David Laury.

The transfer Laury became eligible in December, playing his first game against LaSalle and starting all but two games during the season.

Junior Sean Armand said that when Laury is on his game like in the quarterfinals, with 10 points and 14 rebounds against Canisius, he’s tough to stop.

“When Dave comes to work, he’s one of the best players in the league,” Armand said.

Not only did Laury pgive his A-game in Iona’s four-point victory over Canisius but senior Taaj Ridley brought his top game with 13 points and five rebounds.

“It’s always good to have Taaj coming with the energy and the effort that he can bring,” Jones said of Ridley. “We just try to get him going every day, that’s practice included.”

“If he has energy it brings a lot of energy to our team because he’s just that. He’s our Kenyon Martin, that’s who he is for us and when he comes to play like that we’re a very good team.”

Head coach Tim Cluess said the difference between the stretch where they lost six of seven close games and now is how they value each possession.

“Honestly I think we’re understanding the importance of each possession more than we did earlier in the year and how a possession can really effect the game,” Cluess said. ” I think our attention is much better than I think it was several weeks ago.”

Iona made the semifinals for the third straight season and will look to return to the championship game for the first time since 2011.

“I think it’s a great statement of our players work ethic and how hard they go about what they do,” Cluess said. “I’m really happy when hard work pays off for them because when you work that hard you want results so young men can realize why they work so hard and carry that to other areas in life. I’m really happy for Iona and I’m really happy for my players.”

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.

Manhattan Upsets Loyola (MD) with 55-52 MAAC Sendoff

SPRINGFIELD – Manhattan gave Loyola (MD) a farewell present for leaving the conference, holding the lead throughout and delivering a 55-52 last second victory in the final Quarterfinal matchup of the MAAC Tournament.

After Rhamel Brown missed a post up opportunity against Erik Etherly, Dylon Cormier grabbed the loose rebound by the free throw line and drove the length of the court. Cormier got the basket to go above a sea of Manhattan defenders and his nifty work up close got him a traditional three point play on Brown. His free throw cut the lead to 53-52, the closest the game had been since 4-3.

On Manhattans’ ensuing possession Etherly stole the entry pass to Brown inside. Cormier drove the lane but his shot was rejected by Brown.

“Towards the end we had great looks, the ball had a lid on it,” Cormier said. “We had a couple good looks got a chipee layup that just didn’t go our way.”

After RaShawn Stores missed a three pointer, Loyola (MD) got opportunities to take the lead in the final two minutes but could not convert.

Cormier missed a three at the end of the shot clock but his rebound was grabbed by Robert Olson, Olson’s fade away shot went in and out, but he was able to scramble for the rebound. The Greyounds got the ball inside to Etherly but he could not get the ball up over Manhattan’s big men.

“I think it just came down to who wanted it more who was the tougher team,” Brown said. “They tap it around a lot, they kept the ball alive there for a couple possessions but I think in the last few in the last 10 seconds we gritted down and we said that we’re not going to let them get the ball in. We were able to get possession.”

Stores made two free throws following a foul by R.J. Williams and Olson’s desperation heave did not go.

Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello said that he felt he tried to slow the game down late to their detriment.

“I did a poor job late in the game, I pulled us out of attack mode,” Masiello said. “I played to the clock. It was a cardinal sin of coaching but it’s a good lesson for us.”

Masiello said that he was hoping in the final sequence that the clock would continue to run as Loyola (MD) found opportunities on the offensive glass.

“They did a good job of tipping the ball out and we didn’t come up with loose balls,” Masiello said. “I thought we tried to dribble loose balls instead of just grab it. That’s something we talk about and it’s a lot easier to say that than do that but I thought that was the difference in the last couple minutes we tried to dribble it instead of grab it and secure it.”

“We were fortunate I thought we got a good challenge with the last play we let someone behind us which we shouldn’t have done. We made a lot of mistakes late in the game, left Olson open on a bump to the corner, Mike Avlarado didn’t play him in the slot for a three but we were fortunate to get a rebound.”

The Greyhounds grabbed three offensive rebounds in the final minute but could not convert on any of the extra possessions.

Cormier led the Greyhounds with a game-high 14 points. Brown led Manhattan with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Stores and Emmy Andujar each had  nine points off the bench.

Loyola (MD) struggled out of the gate, making just three of their 14 two-pointers but their four of eight from deep and making all 12 free throws kept them within striking distance. An 8-1 run to close the half closed the Manhattan lead to 34-30 at halftime.

“They probably won the game in the first four minutes of each half,” Patsos said. “We usually win the games in the first four minutes of the half and the first half of the second half. I take that on me. I totally take full responsibility for the  loss.”

Manhattan controlled the start of the second half just as much as the first. Rhamel Brown was found by Andujar on a baseline drive, baiting Franz Rassman so he can pass it to Brown for the emphatic throw down. On the next possession Donovan Kates nailed a three pointer from the baseline opposite the Manhattan bench, giving Manhattan a 45-33 lead with 15:25 left.

Off an inbonds pass, Kates found Roberto Colonette whose cut to the basket layup went in to give the Jaspers their largest lead at 47-33 with 13:25 to go.

Loyola (MD) responded back thanks to Anthony Winbush back with a drive to the basket and the Greyhounds followed that up with a press, forcing an Andujar charge near the Loyola (MD) bench. The ensuing possession, Winbush posted up Andujar for a basket that cut the lead to 10.

R.J. Williams cut the lead to seven with a deep two-pointer and after Jared Jones blocked an Alvarado layup, Dylon Cormier drove to the basket in transition for the layup to cut the lead to 49-44. After a Brown post up two in the paint on Etherly, Olson nailed a deep two-pointer to cut the lead back to five with 5:58 left.

Stores responded with a drive in the lane, getting fouled by Etherly with one second on the shot clock. Patsos on the sideline throughout the possession could be seen begging for a five second call as Williams guarded Stores outside the arc. Stores made both free throws to give Manhattan a 53-46 lead but Olson responded with a three pointer from the wing to cut the lead to four with 4:34 left.

In that final minute Loyola (MD) was out of timeouts because head coach Jimmy Patsos used his final timeout after Olson’s three pointer cut the lead to four.

“I was trying to get us rest because we kept making moves,” Patsos said because his team was fighting foul trouble throughout. “I’m trying to manage the game.”

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.