George Beamon, Antoine Mason, Iona in the New York Groove and the MAAC Press Break
George Beamon (Courtesy of MAAC athletics)
All the comings and goings of Metro-Atlantic men’s basketball.
Beamon and Mason grab weekly honors
Beamon averaged 22.5 points and 7.0 rebounds last week helping lift the Jaspers to consecutive wins over Iona and Siena. He shot 50% (16-32) from the field and 90% (9-10) at the free-throw line as Manhattan extended its win streak to three games. Beamon began his superb play on Thursday posting a game-high 21 points in the Jaspers’ 75-72 victory at Iona. He grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists and shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line to give the Gaels their first MAAC loss of the season. Then on Saturday, Beamon scored a game-high 24 points shooting 10-for-19 from the field (52.6%) to knock off Siena, 72-53, at Draddy Gymnasium. He grabbed seven rebounds, had three steals, blocked two shots and dished out two assists in the win over the Saints.
Big second half propels Manhattan past Siena
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan men’s basketball team continued its superb play on Saturday as the Jaspers rolled past Siena 72-53 in the MAAC National game of the Week on ESPN3 at Draddy Gymnasium. George Beamon led the Jaspers in scoring for the 14th time this season with 24 points as Manhattan (12-7, 5-2 MAAC) won its third straight MAAC game. Jaspers’ sophomore Michael Alvarado dished out a career-high nine assists and senior Kidani Brutus had 14 points off the bench as Manhattan is off to its best MAAC start since 2005-06.
Loyola rallies from 15 down to beat Fairfield
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Robert Olson scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including seven in a row at one point, and the Loyola University Maryland men’s basketball team overcame a 15-point second half deficit to defeat Fairfield University, 66-63, in front of a national television audience on ESPNU in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action.
The victory moved Loyola’s record to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the MAAC. The Greyhounds are now tied for first place in the league with Iona College, their opponent on Sunday.
The Stags (8-9 overall, 3-3 MAAC) took a 45-30 lead on two Keith Matthews free throws with 16:42 to play. Just over eight minutes later, a Justin Drummond layup capped a 17-5 Greyhounds run that cut Fairfield’s lead to 50-47.
Siena fends off Rider
Siena built a 22-point second half lead and then held on for its life, ousting Rider 83-79 at Times Union Center for its fifth win in six games. OD Anosike had 23 points and 14 rebounds – his 12th consecutive double-double – and Brandon Walters added a career-high 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Saints.
Balanced attack leads Canisius past Marist
Canisius junior guards Gaby Belardo and Alshwan Hymes scored 18 points apiece, and freshman forward Kevin Bleeker added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench as the host Golden Griffins defeated Marist 67-57 Friday night in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win snapped Canisius’ three-game losing streak and moved the team to 4-12 overall and 1-5 in MAAC play, while the Red Foxes slipped to 7-10 overall and 2-5 in league action.
Strong second-half leads St. Peter’s past Canisius
Saint Peter’s College used a 24-6 run over the first 6:49 of the second half, and the visiting Peacocks shot 61.9 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from 3-point range in the game’s second stanza en route to a 74-60 win over Canisius College Sunday afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win snapped Saint Peter’s two-game losing skid and improved the team to 4-14 overall and 3-4 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 4-13 on the year and 1-6 in conference action.
Iona regains first place in win over Loyola
NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men’s basketball team erased a five-point halftime deficit, outscoring Loyola by 18 in the final 17:30 in a 74-63 victory at the Hynes Center to regain sole possession of first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings. The Gaels (14-4, 6-1 MAAC) rebounded from a stunning loss at the buzzer Thursday night to defeat the Greyhounds (12-5, 5-2 MAAC) this afternoon.
Belardo on the fast track
When spring semester classes begin this week on the campus of Canisius College, Gaby Belardo will find himself in a new position. Worry not Golden Griffin fans, the 6’2″ guard hasn’t decided to trade his perimeter game for post play.
Upon successful completion of fall classes, Belardo, a second semester junior, will officially make the transition from under-graduate to …
Machado among Wooden Award midseason Top 25
Los Angeles (January 17, 2012) - The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 was announced today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPNU’s The Experts sports talk show. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the list is made up of 25 student-athletes who, based on their performances in November, December, and the beginning of January, are the frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. The Women’s midseason list will be released on January 27th.
Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger is the only player returning from last year’s Wooden Award All American team. A finalist a year ago, Sullinger averages 17.4 points and 9.3 rebounds, while recording eight double-doubles so far in 2011-12.
Crunch time is here for Big 4 teams
Can Niagara (8-11, 3-4) finish in the top six and dodge the first round? The Purple Eagles certainly raised that possibility with a weekend sweep of Saint Peter’s and Marist that has them sitting just a game out of fourth.
Anosike putting up impressive numbers in classroom too
A day after posting his school-record 12th straight double-double in a win over Rider, we asked the nation’s leading rebounder a simple question: What number are you most proud of: 12 or 3.75?
“Honestly, I would have to say my academic performance,” Siena’s star forward OD Anosike said in reference to his stellar 3.75 grade point average this fall. “It’s something that’s always been important to my family, and I take a lot of pride in it.”
Anosike’s most recent report card looked like this:
Mason-JMU game has MAAC sideline connections
When George Mason travels to Harrisonburg, Va., for a Colonial Athletic Association meeting with in-state rival James Madison tonight (7 p.m.), there will be more than a little MAAC history on the respective sidelines.
A couple of blog items below is a piece about the new instant replay system in place at all MAAC venues, and how well it worked at the end of the recent Manhattan upset victory over Iona.
Here’s a link to a couple of photos, sent along by conference officials, directly from the replay system that show Emmy Andujar’s game-winning three-pointer against te Gaels.
Replay system scores “A”
The new “toy” available at every men’s and women’s MAAC game more often than not goes unused, unneeded.
But, the end of Thursday’s stunning Manhattan upset of Iona on a last-second shot by Jaspers’ freshman Emmy Andujar, the toy was consulted and it’s nice to know that it works.
The toy is GamePlan SIFT, and your Hoopscribe will readily admit that he doesn’t know what the acronym stands for. Suffice to say that it is a replay system that has five cameras, two at each end of the court (one from each side) plus one on the game clock, that is used as a tool for game officials to watch replays of certain situations.
Tempo-free MAAC: Iona still in driver’s seat
Iona may have lost a last-second game to Manhattan, but the Gaels are definitely still the team to beat in the MAAC. Iona is the top team in the league in efficiency margin, but it comes with a bit of a caveat, the Gaels have also played one of the easiest schedules in the conference thus far this season. Compare that with Manhattan. The Jaspers have played the third hardest conference schedule thus far. That’s by far the hardest schedule of any contender thus far. It also makes me think that the Jaspers, and their impressive defense, are for real.
Iona gets back in the New York Groove
I took my ten year-old son Ian for our first live look at Iona this season. On the coldest day in January, we made the walk along North Avenue past the Mirage Diner to the Hynes Athletic Center on the Iona campus. The Gaels, taking the floor for the first time since their buzzer beating loss to Manhattan on Thursday, faced an insurgent Loyola.
The Greyhounds, who beat Fairfield on Friday in Bridgeport, Conn, were looking to upend the conference by taking out both pre-season MAAC favorites in one tidy weekend road trip. Ian and I wanted to see if it could be done, and so did many others; at the tip, Hynes was near capacity despite the Giants’ playing at Green Bay in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on the same afternoon.
Standings
Iona ………………6-1 …… 8 5 7….. 83.0…. 64.7 14-4
Loyola (Md.) …..5-2 …… 7 1 4 ……67.1…. 63.9 12-5
Manhattan ……..5-2 ……. 7 1 4…… 68.0… 60.3 12-7
Fairfield …………4-3…… . 5 7 1…… 64.9…. 61.7 9-9
Siena ……………..3-4 ……. 4 2 9…… 63.3…. 69.0 8-9
Niagara…………. 3-4……. . 4 2 9….. 70.7…. 74.7 8-11
Rider ……………..3-4 …….. 4 2 9 …..74.3….. 75.9 6-13
Saint Peter’s …….3-4 ……. 4 2 9…… 61.4….. 65.9 4-14
Marist …………….2-5 ……. 2 8 6 …..73.6 ……81.4 7-11
Canisius ………….1-6 …….. 1 4 3 ……60.0…. 68.9 4-13
3-POINT FG PCT DEFENSE G ………3FGM ……3FGA Pct.
1. Manhattan ………………………19 ………..112 ………..350 . 3 2 0
2. Canisius ………………………….17 ………..122………. 358 . 3 4 1
3. Fairfield ………………………….18 …………92……….. 268 . 3 4 3
4. Siena ………………………………17………. 137……….. 396 . 3 4 6
5. Saint Peter’s …………………….18 ………..110……….. 305 . 3 6 1
6. Iona ……………………………….18………. 137 …………374 . 3 6 6
7. Niagara………………………….. 19………. 152…………. 414 . 3 6 7
8. Rider ……………………………..19 ………..161…………. 422 . 3 8 2
9. Marist …………………………….18 ……….129………….. 335 . 3 8 5
10. Loyola (Md.) ………………….17……….. 91…………… 234 . 3 8 9
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