Ray Floriani of College Chalktalk is the RTC correspondent for the MAAC and NEC Conferences.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ –
Standings as of January 30, 2009
- Siena 10-0
- Niagara 6-3
- Rider 6-3
- Fairfield 5-5
- Manhattan 5-5
- Iona 5-5
- Loyola 5-5
- Marist 3-7
- Canisius 2-8
- St.Peter’s 2-8
Player of the Week : Ryan Rossiter, Siena. The sophomore forward sparkled in a big win over Niagara with an 18 point,12 rebound, 5 block effort.
Rookie of the Week : Novar Gadson , Rider. The 6-7 swingman averaged a double double, 19 points, 10 rebounds in a2-0 week for the Broncs.
A tempo free rundown. The cliché tells us ‘offense sells tickets, defense wins ballgames.’ So this week we will look at defensive efficiency in conference games to date.
Defensive Efficiency
- Siena 93
- Iona 93
- Niagara 96
- Manhattan 97
- St.Peter’s 99
- Fairfield 101
- Rider 102
- Loyola 102
- Marist 102
- Canisius 102
MAAC Morsels.
- Quick note: Why is St. Peter’s fifth in defensive efficiency yet near the bottom of the MAAC standings? Simply, offense. The Peacocks’ offensive efficiency is 92, the lowest in the conference.
- Siena has won 14 of 16 since dropping their initial three at the Old Spice Classic in November. Fran McCaffery has all 5 starters averaging over 9 points per game. The work of Ryan Rossiter, MAAC Player of the Week, is a welcome addition to a veteran cast. Rossiter gives Siena another productive player to count on.
- Speaking of the Old Spice Classic, the 2009 field has been announced and includes the likes of Michigan, Baylor, Marquette and Xavier. For the fourth straight year the MAAC will sponsor the event at the Milk House in Orlando. Iona is the MAAC school in this year’s tournament to be held Thanksgiving weekend.
- Marist dropped two tough homes games but coach Chucky Martin got some good news. Cassiem Drummond will join the program. Drummond , a 6-10 center transferred out of Villanova. He will be eligible following the Fall 2009 semester. Drummond was a Bloomfield Tech (NJ) High School teammate of Marist freshman guard R.J. Hall.
- Tyrone Lewis leads Niagara in scoring but the thing that makes the Purple Eagles dangerous is four starters average double figures. Despite losing their showdown at Siena, 82-65, Joe Mihalich’s club received significant contributions from freshman guard Austin Cooley who had 13 points in 26 minutes.
- St.Peter’s had a hard luck three game losing streak. Two by a combined total of three points. St.Peter’s fell at Loyola 57-56 then dropped a 62-60 decision to Manhattan as Antoine Pearson of the Jaspers hit a fifteen footer as time expired. Guards Nick Leon and Ryan Bacon, a forward and hard worker inside, continue to excel for the Peacocks.
- Iona became the first MAAC program to win 250 games in regular season conference play. The Gaels did it with a 71-51 win over Manhattan at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Freshman guard Scott Machado had a solid all around outing with 13 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
- Tough year for Canisius but junior guard Frank Turner excels. Turner has hit double figures scoring seventeen times. He became the first Canisius player to score 20 points in three consecutive games since Micheal Meeks did it in the mid-nineties.
- Keep an eye on Rider. The Broncs are 6-3 at the halfway mark in the MAAC. Of greater significance is six of Rider’s games to date have been on the road. So the comforts of home court await as the second part of the schedule unfolds.
- Fairfield is another club to watch with another nice home stretch coming up. Incidentally, Fairfield point guard Jonathan Han was not in the starting lineup against Rider. That snapped a string of 69 consecutive starts. Han has started 97 of 109 career appearances.
- Loyola scored their first road win over Marist in a decade with a 73-72 overtime victory. Loyola’s Brett Harvey tied the game in regulation with a 35 footer at the buzzer.
- Hard to believe…Just over a month remains before everyone meets in Albany.