MAAC Earns Six Victories in the 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters
MAAC Sports
MAAC Earns Six Victories in the 2008 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters
Edison, N.J. ? The MAAC earned six victories during the sixth annual O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters.
Rishawn Johnson’s lay-up with 23 seconds left helped lift Canisius College to a 64-60 win in its first-ever meeting with America East’s University of Albany. Canisius rallied from an 18-point deficit down to snap a five-game losing streak. Elton Frazier led the Golden Griffins with 20 points, while Greg Logins had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Jonathan Han scored all 14 of his points in the second half and added eight assists to lead Fairfield University to a 60-51 victory over Drexel University of the Colonial Athletic Conference. Greg Nero scored 12 points and Herbie Allen had 10 for the Stags, who have won six straight. Marty O'Sullivan's layup with 15:37 remaining capped an 8-0 run and gave the Stags their largest lead of the game, 39-29.
Gerald Brown scored 16 points, and Loyola College came up strong at the finish to hand the University of California at Davis from the Big West Conference its 10th straight loss, 67-64. Marquis Sullivan scored 14, and Michael Tuck had 13 for the Greyhounds, who are tied for first place in the MAAC.
Stanley Hodge's 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted Niagara University past the Southern Conference’s Appalachian State University, 76-75. Appalachian State took a late two-point lead when Donte Minter hit a jumper with 27 seconds left and Jeremy Clayton hit the first of two free throws with 13 seconds left to put the Mountaineers up 75-73. Charron Fisher rebounded the miss, and then missed a tying layup with seven seconds left. Tyrone Lewis collected the rebound and Niagara called timeout with four seconds left to set up Hodge's game winner. Fisher, the nation's leading scorer, finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for Niagara, which entered the day sharing the MAAC lead with three other teams. Hodge scored 18 points, Benson Egemonye added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Lewis scored 10 points for Niagara, which forced Appalachian State into 23 turnovers.
Harris Mansell scored 21 points, and Ryan Thompson had 16, including a free throw in the final seconds that gave Rider University a 73-72 win over California State University Northridge from the Big West. With the score tied at 72, Thompson drove the lane and missed a shot, but was fouled with six seconds to play. He made the front end of a one-and-one and missed the second. Tony Osunsanmi of Northridge then grabbed the rebound passed to Deon Tresvant, who hurried down the court but missed a 15-footer in the final second.
Alex Franklin had 30 points and 18 rebounds, and Edwin Ubiles added 22 points as Siena College posted a 93-70 victory over Boise State University of the Western Athletic Conference. Led by Kenny Hasbrouck, who wound up with 19 points, and Ubiles, the Saints then pulled steadily ahead, finishing the game on a 13-5 run. Siena held Boise State's leading scorer, Reggie Larry, to only eight points, 10 below his season's average. Tyler Tiedeman scored 12 points and Jamar Greene 10 for the Broncos, who played without starting guard Matt Bauscher. Bauscher rolled an ankle in practice this week. The smaller Saints outrebounded the Broncos, 44-36, and outscored Boise State, 46-28, in the key. Siena used its quickness to force 20 turnovers, while committing only nine themselves.