MAAC Monday reaches its midpoint this season after each Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference program has played at least 10 league games. Therefore, this week’s opening segment, as it usually is at this juncture, will reveal my picks for all-conference awards to this point before the usual segue into quick hits from around the conference, stat leaders and power rankings. With that being said, here are the best of the best from the first half of MAAC play:
First Team All-MAAC (in alphabetical order)
Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac
Greg Gordon, Iona
Mervin James, Rider
Dakota Leffew, Mount St. Mary’s
Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac
Second Team All-MAAC (in alphabetical order)
Caleb Fields, Fairfield
Jalen Leach, Fairfield
Frank Mitchell, Canisius
Paul Otieno, Quinnipiac
Corey Washington, Saint Peter’s
Third Team All-MAAC (in alphabetical order)
Tre Dinkins, Canisius
Sean Durugordon, Siena
Ahmad Henderson, Niagara
Latrell Reid, Saint Peter’s
Idan Tretout, Iona
MAAC All-Rookie Team (in alphabetical order)
Ahmad Henderson, Niagara
De’Shayne Montgomery, Mount St. Mary’s
Josh Pascarelli, Marist
Jeremiah Quigley, Iona
Seydou Traore, Manhattan
Player of the Year: Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac
Rookie of the Year: Ahmad Henderson, Niagara
Sixth Man of the Year: Brycen Goodine, Fairfield
Defensive Player of the Year: Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac
Coach of the Year: Tom Pecora, Quinnipiac
Quick Hits Around the MAAC
“We’re not a self-starting group. It’s like I’ve done too much yelling and I have to get on them and light a fire and motivate them. It’s just too much, and I told them that. It’s ridiculous for us to start a game down 16-2. That’s a big hill to climb. Then we started playing, and we played well. For us to score and play without Idan (Tretout) is a good sign.”
— Tobin Anderson on Iona’s comeback against Fairfield
“We fight for it, and I’ll always be proud of that with these guys, win or lose.”
— Chris Casey on what encourages him most after Fairfield lost at Iona Friday
“That’s what our team is. If we’re gonna be known for anything, we’re gonna be known as the team that will press and try to drive teams out and run them out of the gym.”
— Greg Gordon on Iona improving its press defense
“That’s one of the things we’ve tried to preach in our guys. We’ve had a rough stretch here and we keep fighting, and Dakota was at the forefront of that.”
— Dan Engelstad after Dakota Leffew’s 34 points helped Mount St. Mary’s secure a season sweep of Marist
“I said to John (Gallagher), (Manhattan) deserved to win that game. They played much harder than we did, but the turnovers helped us create some separation and then we were able to hold on. We have a sign in our locker room that says, ‘the work defines the man.’”
— Tom Pecora on Quinnipiac’s gritty win at Manhattan
“We just had that bad taste in our mouth. We gave them an opportunity to beat us at Siena. The whole thing this week was to dominate the matchup.”
— Mervin James on Rider exacting revenge against Siena for the Saints’ win over the Broncs on December 1
“It’s unacceptable. Getting 40-pieced on the road in conference play is unacceptable. It should never happen.”
— Sean Durugordon after Siena’s 91-50 loss at Rider
“We didn’t have any edge defensively. I didn’t see any fire. Did guys think we were just gonna show up? I hope not. You’re not winning on the road if you can’t defend.”
— Carmen Maciariello after Siena’s loss at Rider
“I think we could have executed a little bit better. Toward the end of the game, we really didn’t execute the way we wanted to.”
— Michael Eley after Siena’s loss to Mount St. Mary’s
“Our guys stepped up and made plays down the stretch. We haven’t won the close games this year, so it’s a step to get on the road and get in a game like that where you’ve gotta execute.”
— Engelstad on Mount St. Mary’s win at Siena
“We didn’t put our best foot forward on Friday night and I knew we were pretty down about the loss. We’ve been resilient on Sundays, and win or lose, I thought we had the right competitive spirit, I thought we had the right mentality. We shared the ball, we played the game the right way, and when you play the game the right way, usually the score will take care of itself, so I’m just proud of the guys and the way we bounced back.”
— John Dunne on Marist’s win over Saint Peter’s
“This one was personal. We knew after our Friday game that Sunday would be tough. That was our only loss. We were just ready, and it showed.”
— Amarri Tice on Quinnipiac avenging its lone MAAC defeat against Canisius
“It’s gonna be a wild MAAC tournament. We’re on the back nine, we made the turn, and now we’ve gotta continue to get better.”
— Pecora on the second half of conference play
“This year, I think, is about us being together. We don’t care (about) whose night it is. We’ve got really good players and we get after each other in practice. That’s where it starts.”
— Jasper Floyd on Fairfield’s backcourt cohesiveness
“Where we’ve come from since Brett (Rumpel)’s injury to now is unbelievable. We haven’t had the wins to show for it, but the growth’s here, the young players are here. With that being said, we are so, so close. In the Quinnipiac game and this game, we were right there. The next 38 days are really important for this program.”
— John Gallagher on Manhattan’s progress
“That was on us. That’s not what we wanted to do. We got out of kilter a little bit and we got ourselves back, but that was climbing an uphill battle.”
— Kevin Baggett on Rider’s second-half struggles at Iona
“It just took concentration and focusing on what the objective was, to close the game out. It doesn’t matter how we do it, we just know that we need to do it. We’ve gotta stay strong and just stay locked in.”
— Gordon on Iona closing out against Rider
“We’re still very much a work in progress, but to not have Idan all weekend and play like we played is a good sign going forward that we’re definitely getting better.”
— Anderson on Iona’s weekend sweep
Scoring Leaders
1) Mervin James, Rider (19.2 PPG)
2) Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac (18.7)
3) Dakota Leffew, Mount St. Mary’s (18.1)
4) Jalen Leach, Fairfield (15.6)
5) Caleb Fields, Fairfield (15.4)
6) Tre Dinkins, Canisius (15.0)
7) Greg Gordon, Iona (15.0)
8) Corey Washington, Saint Peter’s (14.5)
9) Idan Tretout, Iona (14.3)
10) Brycen Goodine, Fairfield (13.8)
Rebounding Leaders
1) Frank Mitchell, Canisius (11.4 RPG)
2) Seydou Traore, Manhattan (8.7)
3) Harlan Obioha, Niagara (7.8)
4) Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac (7.1)
5) Paul Otieno, Quinnipiac (7.0)
6) Greg Gordon, Iona (6.8)
7) Tariq Ingraham, Rider (6.6)
T-8) Mervin James, Rider (6.5)
T-8) T.J. Weeks, Rider (6.5)
10) Giovanni Emejuru, Siena (6.3)
Assist Leaders
1) Savion Lewis, Quinnipiac (7.5 APG)
2) Jasper Floyd, Fairfield (4.9)
3) Jaden Winston, Manhattan (4.5)
4) Latrell Reid, Saint Peter’s (4.2)
5) Dakota Leffew, Mount St. Mary's (4.0)
6) Tre Dinkins, Canisius (4.0)
7) Joel Brown, Iona (3.5)
8) Corey McKeithan, Rider (3.5)
9) Zek Tekin, Siena (3.5)
10) Jeremiah Quigley, Iona (3.1)
Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Paul Otieno, Quinnipiac (.604)
2) Harlan Obioha, Niagara (.576)
3) Frank Mitchell, Canisius (.568)
4) Giovanni Emejuru, Siena (.566)
5) Greg Gordon, Iona (.548)
6) Max Allen, Marist (.547)
7) Daniel Rouzan, Manhattan (.544)
8) Braxton Bayless, Niagara (.528)
9) Mervin James, Rider (.514)
10) Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac (.511)
Free Throw Percentage Leaders
1) Jalen Leach, Fairfield (.909)
2) Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac (.906)
3) Braxton Bayless, Niagara (.875)
4) Roy Clarke, Saint Peter’s (.863)
5) Ahmad Henderson, Niagara (.855)
6) Tre Dinkins, Canisius (.839)
7) Siem Uijtendaal, Canisius (.833)
8) Jeremiah Quigley, Iona (.829)
9) Caleb Fields, Fairfield (.828)
10) Jasper Floyd, Fairfield (.825)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Jean Aranguren, Iona (.500)
2) Brycen Goodine, Fairfield (.450)
3) Javon Cooley, Marist (.426)
4) Luke Bumbalough, Niagara (.405)
5) Caleb Fields, Fairfield (.392)
6) Noah Harris, Marist (.375)
7) Siem Uijtendaal, Canisius (.374)
8) T.J. Weeks, Rider (.373)
9) Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac (.368)
10) Tre Dinkins, Canisius (.365)
Steal Leaders
1) Jasper Floyd, Fairfield (2.4 SPG)
2) Jaden Winston, Manhattan (2.3)
3) Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac (2.1)
4) Joel Brown, Iona (2.1)
5) De’Shayne Montgomery, Mount St. Mary’s (2.0)
Blocked Shot Leaders
1) Seydou Traore, Manhattan (1.4 BPG)
2) Killian Gribben, Siena (1.3)
3) Paul Otieno, Quinnipiac (1.2)
4) Amarri Tice, Quinnipiac (1.1)
5) Jaden Daughtry, Marist (1.1)
1) Quinnipiac (18-4, 10-1 MAAC)
Last Week: 1
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 vs. Canisius (W 88-63)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 vs. Saint Peter’s, 7 p.m.
2) Niagara (12-10, 7-4 MAAC)
Last Week: 4
Last Game: Friday 2/2 at Saint Peter’s (W 68-59)
Next Game: Tuesday 2/6 vs. Canisius, 7 p.m.
3) Fairfield (13-9, 7-4) MAAC)
Last Week: 3
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 vs. Manhattan (W 77-68)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 vs. Rider, 7 p.m.
4) Saint Peter’s (11-9, 7-4 MAAC)
Last Week: 2
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 at Marist (L 63-52)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 at Quinnipiac, 7 p.m.
5) Iona (11-10, 6-4 MAAC)
Last Week: 6
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 vs. Rider (W 94-93)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 at Niagara, 7 p.m.
6) Marist (11-9, 6-5 MAAC)
Last Week: 5
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 vs. Saint Peter’s (W 63-52)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 at Siena, 7 p.m.
7) Rider (8-14, 5-6 MAAC)
Last Week: 7
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 at Iona (L 94-93)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 at Fairfield, 7 p.m.
8) Mount St. Mary’s (9-13, 5-6 MAAC)
Last Week: 8
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 at Siena (W 68-61)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 vs. Manhattan, 7 p.m.
9) Canisius (8-12, 3-8 MAAC)
Last Week: 9
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 at Quinnipiac (L 88-63)
Next Game: Tuesday 2/6 at Niagara, 7 p.m.
10) Manhattan (5-15, 2-9 MAAC)
Last Week: 10
Last Game: Sunday 2/4 at Fairfield (L 77-68)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 at Mount St. Mary’s, 7 p.m.
11) Siena (3-19, 2-9 MAAC)
Last Week: 11
Last Game: Sunday 1/28 vs. Mount St. Mary’s (L 68-61)
Next Game: Thursday 2/8 vs. Marist, 7 p.m.
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