Campus Watch

MAAC Semifinals
Iona 79, Niagara 72

How Iona Won: The Gaels dominated the inside, making it imperative for Niagara to shoot it well from the outside. That didn't happen. The Purple Eagles launched 33 shots from behind the arc and made just seven. They were 21 of 36 on two-pointers. What's more, Niagara scored just 12 points off 14 Iona turnovers.

Player of the Game: David Laury, Iona's 6-8 sophomore forward, was sensational. He had 20 points and 17 rebounds, giving him 44 points and 33 rebounds in two games against the Purple Eagles.

Best Supporting Role: Taaj Ridley, Laury's front-court mate, is benefiting from the room that opens because of Laury's presence. His 16 points were two off his season high.

Best Player (Losing Effort): With Tahjere McCall out injured, Marvin Jordan played all but a few seconds, scored 11 points and handed out six assists. And no turnovers.

Ellis Island: The Gaels don't develop freshman. They scour the country for players looking to transfer. Momo Jones came from Arizona. Tavon Sledge from Iowa State. Ridley, Laury and Tre Bowman were juco players. The only Gaels who came straight from high school: freshman A.J. English and junior Sean Armand.

Stat Check: Iona shot just five second-half threes to Niagara's 15. They both made two.

What It Means: Iona, an NCAA at-large team last year, looks to secure a second straight trip to The Dance with a win in Monday night's MAAC title game against Manhattan. The Jaspers are only the second No. 6 seed to tourney history to make the final. Niagara will play in the NIT, its prize for winning the conference regular-season crown.

They Said It

Niagara's Antoine Mason picked up his third foul when Momo Jones drew a charge with 6:17 remaining. Here's Jones:

"I've known him since I was a young kid. He's a power player. I knew he wanted to go right and I kept telling coach, 'Coach, all he wants to do is go right. All he wants to do is go right.' That was just the mindset. Make him go right. Take a charge. I think he had maybe two or three at that time and I knew if I could get that charge he would slow down and not be as aggressive as he was. I think that charge really set him back and he wasn't as aggressive as he was early on."

Iona coach Tim Cluess: "When we have four of five guys giving us good contributions and other guys coming off our bench and helping us in different roles then we're a pretty good basketball team. And right now we're a pretty good team."

Niagara coach Joe Mihalich: "Our hearts our broken. At the same time, as I said to the guys, at the same time there's a lot of guys whose hearts are broken and they've turned their uniforms in. We're not doing that."

Mason on Niagara's second-half shooting woes: "We just didn't hit them in the second half. The first half everything was going in. We got to make sure if it's not going in we got to mix it up."

-- Bob DiCesare

MAAC Quarterfinals
Niagara 59, Rider 54

How Niagara Won: The Purple Eagles led by 17 early in the second half then held on for dear life down the stretch as Rider's press did its job. Free throw shooting was huge. Niagara went 17 of 19 for the game and 15 of 16 in the second half.

Player of the Game: Sophomore Meghan McGuinness scored 15 points, grabbed nine rebounds (both team highs) and went 6 of 6 from the line over the final 2:10.

Best Supporting Role: All-conference selection Lauren Gatto was limited to just 24 minutes because of fouls but scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Best Performance (Losing Effort): Rider's MyNeshia McKenzie is relentless. She scored 22 points and brought down 13 rebounds.

Stat Check: Niagara got just eight points from its bench but it made a difference. Rider managed a scant two.

Stat Check II: Only once in the last 10 games has Niagara's second-half free throw percentage dipped below 75.

In the House: Attendance for the session totaled 1,855.

Next Up: A semifinal meeting with Marist, which hasn't lost a MAAC tournament game since 2005.

They Said It

Niagara assistant coach Corinne Jones on leading at the half with Gatto playing just 7 minutes: "I think that's a tribute to our team. Players step up. They did their job. They were ready to go. We had some bench players, Jessica Flamm and San Lapszynski, who just did what they were supposed to do. They were solid."

-- Bob DiCesare

Iona 76, Canisius 58

How Iona Won: When the conference Player of the Year goes off for a career-high 36 . . .

Damika Martinez, just a sophomore, made 14 of 23 shots from the field, including 6 of 9 from three-point land, in dismantling an injury-depleted Canisius defense. Toss in 15 points and a game-high (by 11) 18 rebounds from Rookie of the Year Joy Adams and the rout is on.

It Was Over When . . . : Martinez went wild early in the second half, scoring eight of Iona's first 10 points.

Player of the Game: Did we mention Martinez also had seven rebounds, a block and a steal?

Best Supporting Role: Adams was Sherwin-Williams, Behr and Benjamin Moore rolled into one She owned the paint.

Best Player (Losing Effort): Junior forward Jamie Ruttle got off to a hot start and finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

Stat Check: Canisius managed just 13 points off 18 Iona turnovers.

Hurting: Canisius had its upset bid undermined by ankle injuries to Kayla Hoohuli and Tiahana Mills. They played a combined 15 minutes.

In the House: There might have been a couple hundred on hand for a 9:30 start on a snowy New England morning.

They Said It

Griffs coach Terry Zeh on the ankle sprain suffered by Kayla Hoohuli: "She said to me, 'I can go straight and forward, I can't go sideways, which is a problem defensively."

Zeh on trying to defend Martinez with Hoohuli: "She had it going and we didn't have any answers to try and stop her."

-- Bob DiCesare

Game analysis: D.J. Cooper has broken the hearts of several teams over the years and he did it again against UB on Tuesday. The Bulls cut off Cooper's drive to the basket so he sank a deep 3-pointer with 1:34 left in the game that proved to be the game winner as the Bulls fell to the Bobcats, 72-69.

How UB lost: The Bulls committed 19 turnovers and several came at critical times in the contest. They also failed to convert a field goal after Javon McCrea's basket with 3:51 left in the game.

Turning Point: After McCrea's final basket, UB went 0-4 from the floor with four turnovers.

Player of the Game: Cooper scored a game-high 24 points and was 5 of 10 from downtown.

Mr. 2,000: Cooper went over the 2,000-point mark for his career with his first basket of the night, a 3-pointer which stopped a 14-4 Bulls run.

Nice stat line: in his final game at Alumni Arena, senior guard Tony Watson had 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and no turnovers in 40 minutes. He was also 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Key stat: The Bulls outrebounded the Bulls, 43-22.

What It Means: With a game remaining at Bowling Green, the Bulls are locked in a three-way tie for the No. 4 seed in next week's MAC Tournament with Kent State and Eastern Michigan at 7-7.

In the House: 3,132 at Alumni Arena.

He said it: "We know we're getting better and we know we have the ability to beat every team in this conference. We have to take the mindset everyday that we have a challenge in front of us one game at a time and take our opponents seriously.'' - UB forward Will Regan.

Up next: at Bowling Green at 6 p.m. Friday.

---Rodney McKissic

Here's how the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament shapes up this week in Springfield, Mass.:

On the women's side, No. 7 Canisius plays No. 10 Saint Peter's at noon on Thursday. If the Griffs win they'll face No. 2 Iona in the quarters at 9:30 Friday morning. No. 5 Niagara faces No. 4 Rider in the quarters at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

On the men's side, No. 1 Niagara plays the winner of Friday's 8-9 game between Marist and Siena at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. No. 5 Canisius meet No. 4 Iona at 4:30 Saturday. If the Griffs and Purple Eagles both will they'll meet in Sunday 2 p.m. semifinal.

-- Bob DiCesare

The NCAA has granted St. Bonaventure forward Marquise Simmons, a fifth-year senior from Washington, D.C., a sixth-year of eligibility according to a source.

The return of the 6-foot-8 Simmons will help ease the blow of losing Demitrius Conger, Michael Davenport, Chris Johnson, and Eric Mosley who are all seniors.

Simmons appeared in just one game last season after tearing his Achilles and made two free throws before leaving the contest. He's appeared in 27 games this season and is averaging 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds as a reserve.

On Saturday, Simmons played 12 minutes and scored two points with five rebounds before fouling out. A few fans in the student section chanted, "One more year'' as Simmons walked to the bench. Motion granted.

---Rodney McKissic

UB 81, Akron 67

How UB Won: The Bulls shot it up from three in the first half (7 of 14) and then worked inside for 18 points in the paint in the second half. They were unfazed by the Akron's switch to zone, unlike when they squandered a 20-point lead in the first meeting. They made it to the free throw line 23 times, compared to just 12 for the Zips. And they turned it over a scant 10 times -- just four in the second half. Plus UB's starting backcourt of Tony Watson and Jarryn Skeete outscored Akron's backcourt starters, 31-20.

National Alert: Akron's national-best 19-game winning streak comes to and end. The Zips hadn't lost since Dec. 15 at Detroit.

Player of the Game: Akron's impressive season and its 19-game winning streak that ended Saturday are bound to give Zips like Zeke Marshall and Demetrius Treadwell support in the Player of the Year vote. But how can it really be anyone but Javon McCrea? He had 26 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two assists against the conference's most imposing front line. He went 13 of 18 from the field. He carried UB with 18 second-half points. And he's at or near the top in all the big statistical categories. Look at the numbers and it's a no-brainer.

Best Supporting Role: It would be criminal not to wrap UB's other starters into one package. Watson and Skeete both played 40 minutes. Will Regan went for 36 and Auraum Nuiriankh 32. The starting five went 27 of 47 from the field and only turned it over eight times.

Best Player (Losing Team): Zips 7-foot senior Zeke Marshall has come such a long way since those early days. He had 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and blocked five shots. He should be the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year. And he's a class act.

Major Bit Player: UB siwngman Raphell Thomas-Edwards, who's been out with back problems, played the final 4-plus minutes after Nuiriankh was ejected along with Akron's Deji Ibitayo. He came up big in that short time, making 3 of 4 free throws and snaring two rebounds.

Stat Check I: Akron went just 4 of 21 from three. They came in tied for second in the MAC in shooting percentage from behind the arc.

Stat Check II: The Bulls shot 60 percent in the second half (15 of 25) and outscored Akron by nine despite managing 12 fewer field goal attempts.

What It Means: Akron (23-5, 13-1) maintains a firm grasp on the MAC lead despite the defeat. UB (12-17, 7-7) remains tied for fourth with Kent State and Eastern Michigan but loses the tiebreaker to both. The top five teams avoid a first-round campus game in the MAC Tournament. Two games remain.

In the House: The crowd of 4,204 included former UB great Sam Pellom, who was honored in a pregame ceremony.

Next Up: UB entertains Ohio and star guard D.J. Cooper on Tuesday night. Akron's home to Miami.

They Said It

UB Coach Reggie Witherspoon: "Obviously our guys had to play well to beat this team. They're a great team. I said this before the game and I'll say it now, that we shouldn't be in the position where we're talking about whether they get an at=large. We should discontinue that talk and talk about their seeding, like we do some other teams around the country,

"Having said that, I think our guys have pesevered all year and made a great effort to just take it a day at a time in an attempt to just get better every single day and block out all the rest of the things. And I think today we put together a pretty good 40 minutes."

Akron center Zeke Marshall: "Their whole team was energized. . . . That number right beside our name (24th ranked), everyone wants to come and beat you. Everyone's going to come in energized against us because we've been on that huge winning streak. Sure enough they did tonight."

Akron Coach Keith Dambrot on 19 straight wins in an age of great parity: "It's incredible. The only time I've ever been involved in that is one time at Ashland College we won our first 15 games. And then obviously when I had LeBron (at St. Vincent-St. Mary's). Your margin of error's pretty good when you got LeBron. When you got better guys and you're noticably better than most of the teams you play you're going to win 53 out of 54 games.

"I felt like we might have felt it a little bit. We just didn't play relaxed, just never relaxed."

Dambrot on McCrea: "He was 11 points at our place. He was really good tonight. He kicked out guys asses really. But that's tonight. We'll see the next time. He's good. I mean he's one of the best players in the league obviously. He's been good as a freshman."

-- Bob DiCesare

Game analysis: Just like last year, when it captured its first Atlantic 10 Tournament championship, St. Bonaventure is playing its best basketball in March. The Bonnies led by as many as 29 points against Charlotte and after the 49ers made a few token runs in the second half, they managed to put them away, 104-83. It is the Bonnies first three-game win streak of the season.

How St. Bonaventure won: Early 3-point shooting helped Bona to an early 22-5 lead which expanded by 29 by halftime. The second half is when Charlotte stopped sleep-walking and cut into the lead with defense, but the Bonnies never allowed the lead to dip under 16.

Turning Point: The Bonnies led 6-5 with 14:48 left in the first when Demitrius Conger jumped started a run that saw the lead grow to 17 points in a matter of minutes.

Player of the Game: Eric Mosely led the Bonnies with 23 points.

Unsung player of the game: You know when baseball teams make a trade for a left-handed pitcher in the heat of a playoff chase? Well, Mark Schmidt is bringing in Dion Wright off the bench for a late-season push and the freshman responded against Charlotte with a career-high 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting. Wright's point total prior to Saturday was 17.

No sleep 'til Brooklyn. No, really: Conger stuffed the stat sheet again with 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists but lately he's played 444 out of a possible 450 minutes.

Key stat: The Bonnies had 22 assists and 22 turnovers.

What It Means: With two games remaining against Dayton and Fordham in the regular season the Bonnies are currently in a three-way tie for eighth place along with Richmond and Saint Joseph's and hold the ninth seed. Richmond lost at Dayton on Saturday while Saint Joseph's won at home against Fordham.

In the House: 3,760 at the Reilly Center.

He said it: "We talk about curbing and it's an (Irish Republican Army) term about knocking a guy down, open his mouth, step on his throat and knock his teeth out. That what you try to do when you have someone down and we didn't curb 'em. We gave them life." - St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt.

Up next: at Dayton at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

---Rodney McKissic