MAAC Men's Basketball 2014 Postseason Recap
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. – No. 13 seed Manhattan College finished their season with a 25-8 record after falling to defending national champions and No. 4 seed Louisville last night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, Florida. The Jaspers reached the NCAA Tournament for first time since 2004, and their seventh time overall. Ashton Pankey led the Jaspers in the hard fought battle with 16 points and five rebounds, while Emmy Andujar added 13 points. As the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Tournament, Manhattan defeated No. 1 seed Iona for the conference title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Senior George Beamon finished his career with 1,843 points, which ranks fourth all-time in Manhattan history, while fellow senior Rhamel Brown finished his career as the active leader in career blocked shots among Division I players.
Iona College ended their season in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday with an 89-88 loss to Louisiana Tech with a last second score, with just 2.2 seconds left on the clock. The Gaels (22-11) were led by David Laury who posted 21 points and 16 rebounds in the loss, while A.J. English added another 21 points. Senior Sean Armand finished the game with eight points and a team-high seven assists. With the loss Iona finishes their season with a program-record fifth straight 20+ win season. Iona held the No. 1 seed in the MAAC Tournament but fell to Manhattan in the championship game 71-68.
Quinnipiac (20-12) saw its season come to a close on Wednesday night, when a last-second three-pointer fell through the hoop to give Yale a 69-68 victory in the opening round of the 2014 CIT. Yale scored the game-winning three point shot with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. The Bobcats were led by Evan Conti who scored a season-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He knocked down three threes and grabbed four rebounds. Ousmane Drame and Shaq Shannon each finished with 12 points. Ike Azotam finished his career scoring eight points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Azotam is now just the 13th player ever to score 1,600 points at Quinnipiac. The No. 3 seed in the MAAC Tournament fell to Manhattan 87-68 in the semifinal round before being invited to play in the CIT.
Canisius fell to the VMI Keydets 111-100 Tuesday night in the first round of the 2014 CIT. The Golden Griffins finish their season with a 21-13 overall record. The Griffs had four players score in double figures in the loss, led by senior Chris Perez, who scored a season-high 30 points. Fellow senior Billy Baron was good for 24 points, and finishes his career as a Griff with 1,405 career points, just the fourth played in school history to score more than 1,400 career points while dishing out more than 350 career assists. Prior to being invited to join the CIT, the No.4 seed in the MAAC Tournament fell to Iona in the semifinal matchup 75-72.
Siena College has survived the first week of post season play and currently holds a record of 16-17. The Saints defeated Stony Brook 66-55 in a CBI first round game Tuesday night in Albany, New York. Siena got 20 points from Rob Poole and 17 from Brett Bisping as they won their 14th national postseason game. The Saints were the No. 5 seed in the MAAC Tournament, but fell to No. 4 seed Canisius in the quarterfinals 71-65. The Saints will now host a CBI quarterfinal contest Monday night at the Times Union Center against Penn State at 7PM.