College Basketball: MAAC Midseason Report

Last night, Rider University defeated Marist College to gain control of the first seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Led by Jason Thompson, the victory marked Rider's eighth straight. But Thompson, who averages 19.8 points and 11 rebounds, is not the sole player on this Rider team.

Jason's younger brother, Ryan, also plays a huge role. Ryan, a 6'6" guard, averages 15.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. Rider shoots 39.7 percent from beyond the arc, and is free from that range most of the time due to the attention that Jason Thompson draws down low.

Rider is a tough team to beat, but first place is not yet locked up.

Rider's next three games consist of two versus Siena, who trail Rider by half a game, and Niagara, who trail by 1.5 games. Siena is led by two former MAAC rookies of the year, Edwin Ubiles and Kenny Hasbrouck. Ubiles, a sophomore, is averaging 16.3 points per. Hasbrouck, a junior, tallies 14.8 points per contest. Siena is also a shooting team, averaging 38.7 percent from long range this season, but their weakness is the lack of a big man.

Siena's only hope against Rider is that Alex Franklin, a 6'5" sophomore, can keep Jason Thompson quiet. This seems like a long shot. Siena will also need to defend the three. 

Marist, possibly the MAAC's biggest surprise team this season, ranks third as of today. Led by Jay Gavin and Louie McCroskey, a transfer from Syracuse, Marist has been able to deal with the losses of Jared Jordan, Will Whittington, and James Smith. Marist shoots 39 percent from beyond the arc, and they have a decent presence inside with Spongy Benjamin and Ryan Stilphen.

Marist should be a tough competitor in the MAAC. 

It is ironic that Niagara and Loyola (MD) are tied for fourth place at this point in the season. Both teams are led by erratic shooters. Niagara's Charron Fischer is near the top of the scoring charts in the NCAA, yet he shoots 37.6 percent from the floor.

Loyola's Gerald Brown shoots 38 percent from the floor, and totals about 18 points per game. Both teams have similar big men. It should be interesting to see which of these teams proves to be better when they square off tomorrow night for the first time this season. 

Rider, Siena, Marist, Niagara, and Loyola (MD) are really the only contenders left for first place, as Fairfield trails Rider by 3.5 games with eight games left (two of which are against Rider). 

The top two teams in the MAAC are left with a huge advantage at the end of the season, as they are each awarded with a first round bye in the conference tourney.

As of right now, Rider and Siena have the bye. 

Here are the first-round matchups if the season were to end today:

Marist vs. Canisius

Niagara vs. St. Peters

Loyola (MD) vs. Manhattan

Fairfield vs. Iona

The MAAC is set up for a very exciting February. We shall see how things play out.