ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (Mar. 10, 2023) – The 2023 Hercules Tires Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men’s Basketball Championship quarterfinals round concluded on Thursday night at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall with both lower seeds securing wins. Moving on to the semifinals was No. 11 Marist College and No. 5 Niagara University. The Red Foxes upended No. 3 Quinnipiac University to become just the second 11 seed to make the semis, while the Purple Eagles escaped a second half rally by No. 4 Siena College.
 
No. 11 Marist – 75 | No. 3 Quinnipiac – 59
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | ATLANTIC CITY, NJ
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Marist dominated third-seeded Quinnipiac in a 75-59, wire-to-wire victory in the quarterfinals. The Red Foxes led for all but 28 seconds, controlling the contest from whistle to whistle. Marist scored the game’s first five points and seven out of the first nine. The lead would grow to seven points with 8:44 on the clock, and the Red Foxes would maintain a comfortable lead the rest of the way only allowing the Bobcats to get within three points before leading by eight at the break. Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, Marist doubled up Quinnipiac in the scoring column 24-12, growing its lead to a 20-point spread. The largest lead of the night came when Patrick Gardner made a layup, giving Marist a 66-42 lead with only six minutes left. The Red Foxes would cruise to the finish line, winning by the 16-point margin. Marist had three players reach double digits, led by a 22 points and nine rebounds performance by Gardner, followed by 21 from freshman Isaiah Brickner and 10 by Tyler Saint-Furcy. Quinnipiac also had a trio of players surpass double figures with Dezi Jones scoring a team-best 14 points, Ike Nweke posting 12 points, and Matt Balanc finishing his night with 11 points. For just the second time in as many years and only the second time in MAAC history, will the No. 11 seed play in the league’s final four. No. 11 Marist will battle No. 10 Saint Peter’s in the semifinals for the right to become the first ever double-digit MAAC team to appear in the championship title game. The two teams will meet on Friday at 8:30pm. This is the first appearance in the semifinal round for Marist since 2008.
 
No. 5 Niagara – 71 | No. 4 Siena – 65
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | ATLANTIC CITY, NJ
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Fifth-seeded Niagara edged fourth-seeded Siena, 71-65, to move into the semifinals of the MAAC Championship. The Purple Eagles held off a late second-half run by the Saints, with Aaron Gray hitting a corner three as the shot clock expired to put Niagara ahead by four points with 12 seconds left. Siena started the game with a six-point cushion, going up 6-0. Niagara would cut into the lead and eventually take it over with 8:56 left in the half. That lead expanded to nine points in the opening half before Niagara led 34-26 at break. A Noah Thomasson three-point jumper at the 17:52 mark of the second half extended the lead to 11 points. Siena would chip away at the deficit and eventually go on a 9-0 run to pull within one single point. With eight minutes remaining, a trifecta from Javian McCollum gave Siena its first lead since the opening half but the lead was short lived with Niagara scoring the next eight points to grab a seven point advantage. In the waning moments, the Saints got to within one point but the aforementioned game-securing three by Gray was just enough to grab the win. Noah Thomasson scored 18 points for the team lead. Joe Kasperzyk was next with 16 points, Gray scored 12 and David Mitchell added 11 points. McCollum led all scorers with 24 points, Michael Eley added 16 and Jared Billups contributed 12 points. Niagara returns to the semifinals for the second time in the past three seasons. They will meet No. 1 Iona at 6:00pm on Friday.
 
For all information regarding the 2023 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, please visit MAACSports.com/basketball and by following @MAACHoops and #MAACHoops on Twitter.
 
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) is in its 42nd year of competition during the 2022-23 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
 
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