Saint Peter’s and Niagara Advance to the Men’s Semifinals
Atlantic City, N.J. (March 12, 2021) – Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s Basketball Championships semifinals are set. No. 2 Saint Peter’s, behind a big second half, was able to get past No. 11 Rider to advance. After taking a big lead, No. 5 Niagara stages off a late rally to hold on against No. 4 Marist.
No. 2 Saint Peter’s (14-10) - 75 | No. 11 Rider (6-17) - 60
2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship – Quarterfinals
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | Atlantic City, NJ
Key Moments:
- Scoring 14 of his 20 points in the second half, Daryl Banks III of Saint Peter’s was named the Tropicana Player of the Game.
- Rider lead for the entire first half, jumping out to a lead by as many as 10 points.
- The Peacocks were led in scoring by the all-conference duo of Daryl Banks III and KC Ndefo, while Hassan Drame also exceeded double-digits scoring in the victory.
- The Peacocks owned the paint, winning the battle of the glass, grabbing 24 rebounds compared to just 17 for the Broncs and outsourcing Rider 34-26 in the paint.
- Murray led the Broncs with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. He made 6-of-11 attempts from the floor and played the full 40 minutes.
Notables:
- Ndefo's one block gives him 209 for his career, tying him for first place with Ryan Bacon on the all-time leaderboard.
- Saint Peter’s posted a season-high, .636 field goal percentage (28-of-48), while also shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc and a near-perfect .923 from the line (12-of-13).
- Rider's bench outscored that of Saint Peter's, 30-16.
Up Next:
Friday night, Saint Peter’s will take on No. 7 Fairfield in the tournament semifinals. The game will be at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNews.
No. 4 Marist (12-9) - 62 | No. 5 Niagara (9-10) - 67
2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship – Quarterfinals
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | Atlantic City, NJ
Key Moments:
- With 15 points, five rebounds, and three blocks tonight, Kobi Nwandu was named the Tropicana Player of the Game.
- The Purple Eagles received major contributions across the board. Raheem Solomon netted a season-high 17 points to lead all scorers and dished out a season-high four assists, Nicholas Kratholm added 10 points and five rebounds and Marcus Hammond snagged a team-high nine rebounds.
- Marist’s Jordan Jones recorded a double-double after halftime alone, tallying 10 points and 10 boards in that span. Eight of his 10 caroms were on the offensive glass, a career high.
Notables:
- The Purple Eagles, who never trailed, led by as many as 19 points after controlling the first half and first 10 minutes of the second half.
- The Purple Eagles are now 14-11 in the quarterfinal round.
- Niagara improves to 5-2 all-time versus Marist in the MAAC Championship.
Up Next:
Friday night, Niagara will face off against No. 9 Iona in the tournament semifinals. The semifinal matchup will be at 6:00 p.m. on ESPNews.
See below for the upcoming schedule and matchups:
| Round |
Game |
Matchup |
Date |
Times |
Network |
| First Round |
Game 1 |
No. 6 Canisius vs No. 11 Rider |
March 8 |
7:00 PM |
ESPN+ |
| First Round |
Game 2 |
No. 8 Quinnipiac vs No. 9 Iona |
March 9 |
5:00 PM |
ESPN+ |
| First Round |
Game 3 |
No. 7 Fairfield vs. No. 10 Manhattan |
March 9 |
7:30 PM |
ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinal |
Game 4 |
No. 1 Siena vs Game No. 9 Iona |
March 10 |
5:00 PM |
ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinal |
Game 5 |
No. 2 Monmouth vs No. 7 Fairfield |
March 10 |
7:30 PM |
ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinal |
Game 6 |
No. 3 Saint Peter’s vs No. 11 Rider |
March 11 |
5:00 PM |
ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinal |
Game 7 |
No. 4 Marist vs No. 5 Niagara |
March 11 |
7:30 PM |
ESPN+ |
| Semifinal |
Game 8 |
No. 5 Niagara vs No. 9 Iona |
March 12 |
6:00 PM |
ESPNews |
| Semifinal |
Game 9 |
No. 3 Saint Peter’s vs. No. 7 Fairfield |
March 12 |
8:30 PM |
ESPNews |
| Championship |
Game 10 |
Winner Game 8 vs Winner Game 9 |
March 13 |
4:00 PM. |
ESPNU |
About the 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships:
The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships return to New Jersey on March 8-13, 2021 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. To stay up to date on MAAC basketball, visit
http://maacsports.com/basketball and follow
@MAACHoops on Twitter.
About Time Out for Black Lives
Time Out for Black Lives aims to inspire and educate youth, athletes, families and fans. The initiative has an interactive website where coaches and student-athletes from MAAC basketball programs contribute their time and resources to read children’s books in entertaining videos, all focusing on Black culture, history, music and myths. The program comes as part of the MAAC’s
United for Justice campaign that was announced over the summer. For more information, visit
timeoutforblacklives.com.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.