2021 MAAC men's basketball tournament
The 2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The tournament was played from March 8–13, 2021 at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the second year in a row.[ 3] Since 2020's tournament was never fully completed, the defending champions were the 2018–19 Iona Gaels .
No. 9 seeded Iona won the 2021 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament, defeating No. 7 seed Fairfield 60–51 in the championship game for their MAAC leading 13th championship. Their tournament run included knocking off top-seeded Siena in the quarterfinals, improving their record against the Saints in the MAAC Tournament to 11–0. This made it five consecutive MAAC Tournament championships for Iona, and the first time that a No. 9 seed reached and won the championship game. Iona received the MAAC's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament and were given a No. 15 seed.
Seeds
All 11 teams in the conference participated in the tournament. The top five teams received byes to the quarterfinals. New procedures took effect for this season, as it was official that not all MAAC teams reached the originally scheduled 20 conference game mark. Team seeding was based on overall conference regular season wins – not including any third games scheduled between teams in lieu of non-conference opponents. A tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records was also used.[ 4]
Seed
School
Conference
Tiebreaker 1
Tiebreaker 2
Tiebreaker 3
1
Siena
12–3
2 wins vs MON (1)
2
Monmouth
12–6
0 wins vs SIE (2)
3
Saint Peter's
10–8
1 win vs MAR [3]
2 wins vs SIE & MON (3)
4
Marist
10–8
1 win vs SPC [3]
1 win vs SIE & MON (4)
5
Niagara
7–9
3 wins vs CAN, FF, QUINN [5]
0 wins vs CAN [5]
2 wins vs SIE & MON (5)
6
Canisius
7–5
3 wins vs NIA, FF, QUINN [5]
0 wins vs NIA [5]
1 win vs SIE & MON (6)
7
Fairfield
7–11
2 wins vs NIA, CAN, QUINN [7]
1 win vs QUINN [7]
2 wins vs SPC & MAR (7)
8
Quinnipiac
7–10
2 wins vs NIA, CAN, FF [7]
1 win vs FF [7]
1 win vs SPC & MAR (8)
9
Iona
6–3
1 win vs MAN [9]
2 wins vs SIE & MON (9)
10
Manhattan
6–12
1 win vs IONA [9]
0 wins vs SIE & MON (10)
11
Rider
5–13
Schedule
[ 5]
Session
Game
Time*
Matchup
Score
Attendance
Television
First Round – Monday, March 8
1
1
7:00 pm
No. 6 Canisius vs No. 11 Rider
76–78
ESPN+
First Round– Tuesday, March 9
2
2
5:00 pm
No. 8 Quinnipiac vs No. 9 Iona
48–72
ESPN+
3
7:30 pm
No. 7 Fairfield vs No. 10 Manhattan
59–58OT
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 10
3
4
5:00 pm
No. 1 Siena vs No. 9 Iona
52–55
ESPN+
5
7:30 pm
No. 2 Monmouth vs No. 7 Fairfield
60–79
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11
4
6
5:00 pm
No. 3 Saint Peter's vs No. 11 Rider
75–60
ESPN+
7
7:30 pm
No. 4 Marist vs No. 5 Niagara
62–67
Semifinals – Friday, March 12
5
8
5:30 pm
No. 5 Niagara vs No. 9 Iona
64–70
ESPNews
9
8:00 pm
No. 3 Saint Peter's vs No. 7 Fairfield
47–52
ESPNU
Championship – Saturday, March 13
6
10
4:00 pm
No. 7 Fairfield vs No. 9 Iona
51–60
ESPNU
*Game times in ET . ( )-Rankings denote tournament seeding.
*Attendance is restricted to family and special guests due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Bracket
First round Monday/Tuesday, March 8/9
Quarterfinals Wednesday/Thursday, March 10/11
Semifinals Friday, March 12
Championship Saturday, March 13
1
Siena
52
9
Iona
55
8
Quinnipiac
48
9
Iona
72
9
Iona
70
5
Niagara
64
4
Marist
62
5
Niagara
67
9
Iona
60
7
Fairfield
51
2
Monmouth
60
7
Fairfield
79
7
Fairfield
59
10
Manhattan
58OT
7
Fairfield
52
3
Saint Peter's
47
3
Saint Peter's
75
11
Rider
58
6
Canisius
76
11
Rider
78
* denotes number of overtimes
Game summaries
First round
No. 6 Canisius 76, No. 11 Rider 78
Scoring by half: 42–36, 34–42
Pts : Henderson – 16Rebs : Harried – 8Asts : Fofana – 3 M. Green – 13 pts, 6 reb, 2 blk
Pts: Murray, Jr. – 22Rebs: McQuarter – 11Asts: Murray, Jr. – 5 Powell – 19 pts, 2 stl
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Ron Tyburski, Adam Vandenburgh, Matt Palumb
No. 8 Quinnipiac 48, No. 9 Iona 72
Scoring by half: 20–25, 28–47
Pts : Kortright – 7Rebs : Rigoni – 6Asts : Lewis – 8 Kortright 4 reb, 1 stl
Pts: Ross – 15Rebs: JeanLouis – 11Asts: 4 tied – 2 van Eyck – 10 reb. Shema – 9 pts, 10 reb
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Adam Vandenburgh, Ryan Corbett, Mike Kitts, Jr.
No. 7 Fairfield 59 , No. 10 Manhattan 58 (OT)
Scoring by half: 16–25, 34–25 Overtime : 9–8
Pts : Cruz – 16Rebs : Benning – 8Asts : Green & Benning – 2 Wojcik – 15 pts, 5 reb. Benning – 9 pts, 3 stl
Pts: Nelson – 16Rebs: Diallo & Nelson – 11Asts: Stewart – 5 Buchanan – 9 pts, 6 reb, 3 blk
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Ron Tyburski, Tony Meeks, Andy O'Brien
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Siena 52, No. 9 Iona 55
Scoring by half: 24–21, 28–34
Pts : Stormo – 14Rebs : Pickett – 8Asts : Pickett – 5 Pickett – 13 pts
Pts: Gist – 16Rebs: Jr. Joseph & van Eyck – 8Asts: Gist & Jr. Joseph – 3 Ross – 14pts, 7 reb. JeanLouis – 13 pts, 5 stl
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Matt Palumb, Ryan Corbett, Mike Kitts, Jr.
No. 2 Monmouth 60, No. 7 Fairfield 79
Scoring by half: 34–41, 26–38
Pts : M. Martin – 12Rebs : McClary – 5Asts : D. Hammond – 3 Papas – 9 pts, 3 stl, 3 reb
Pts: Benning – 24Rebs: Cook – 14Asts: C. Green – 4 Benning – 12 reb, 2 blk. Cook – 11 pts
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Kal Sabie, Andy O'Brien, Adam Vandenburgh
No. 3 Saint Peter's 75 , No. 11 Rider 60
Scoring by half: 33–36, 42–24
Pts : Banks III – 20Rebs : Ndefo – 7Asts : Ndefo & Lee – 4 Ndefo – 18 pts, 1 blk, 1 stl
Pts: Murray, Jr. & Henderson, Jr. – 15Rebs: Murray, Jr. – 5Asts: Murray, Jr. – 5 Henderson, Jr. – 3 stl
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Ron Tyburski, Tony Meeks, Matt Palumb
No. 4 Marist 62, No. 5 Niagara 67
Scoring by half: 20–28, 42–39
Pts : Jones – 14Rebs : Jones – 10Asts : Wright & Sullivan – 2 Herasme – 11 pts, 7 reb
Pts: Solomon – 17Rebs: M. Hammond – 9Asts: Solomon – 4 Nwandu – 15 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Andy O'Brien, Michael Kitts, Ryan Corbett
Semifinals
No. 9 Iona 70 , No. 5 Niagara 64
Scoring by half: 43–25, 27–39
Pts : Gist – 19Rebs : Jr. Joseph – 9Asts : Gist – 5 van Eyck – 14 pts, 5 reb
Pts: Solomon – 21Rebs: Solomon – 8Asts: M. Hammond – 5 Nwandu – 16 pts, 3 reb, 2 stl
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Andy O'Brien, Adam Vandenburgh, Mike Kitts, Jr.
No. 7 Fairfield 52 , No. 3 Saint Peter's 47
Scoring by half: 22–24, 23–30
Pts : Green – 14Rebs : Wojcik – 7Asts : Cruz & Crisler – 2 Cruz – 12 pts, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk
Pts: Edert & Ndefo – 11Rebs: Ndefo – 12Asts: Lee – 5 Ndefo – 5 blk
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Ron Tyburski, Brandon Cruz, Ryan Corbett
Championship
No. 9 Iona 60 , No. 7 Fairfield 51
Scoring by half: 30–18, 30–33
Pts : Gist – 18Rebs : Jr. Joseph – 11Asts : JeanLouis – 4 Jr. Joseph – 12 pts, 1 stl, 3 blk
Pts: Wojcik – 13Rebs: Wojcik – 8Asts: Green – 3 Benning – 11 pts, 4 reb. Wojcik – 3 stl
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJAttendance: 0Referees: Brandon Cruz, Andy O'Brien, Adam Vandenburgh
Team and tournament leaders
Team leaders
Team
Points
Rebounds
Assists
Steals
Blocks
Minutes
W – L
Canisius
J. Henderson
16
Harried
8
Fofana
3
Fritz
2
Green
2
J. Henderson
36
0–1
Fairfield
Wojcik
51
Benning
30
Green
10
Benning
5
Benning & Cruz
4
Wojcik
153
3–1
Iona
Gist
65
Jr. Joseph
37
Gist
11
JeanLouis
9
Jr. Joseph
3
Ross
149
4–0
Manhattan
Nelson
16
Nelson & Diallo
11
Stewart
5
Nelson & Ebube
2
Buchanan
3
Stewart
40
0–1
Marist
Jones
14
Jones
10
Wright & Sullivan
2
3 tied
1
Bell
2
Herasme
33
0–1
Monmouth
Martin
13
McClary
5
D. Hammond
3
3 tied
3
Ruth
2
Papas
35
0–1
Niagara
Solomon
38
M. Hammond
14
M. Hammond
7
MacDonald
5
Nwandu
3
M. Hammond
76
1–1
Quinnipiac
Kortright
7
Rigoni
6
Lewis
8
5 tied
1
Pinkney & Chenery
1
Rigoni
29
0–1
Rider
Murray Jr.
37
McQuarter
12
Murray Jr.
10
McQuarter & Henderson Jr.
3
Henderson Jr.
2
Murray Jr.
74
1–1
Saint Peter's
Ndefo
29
Ndefo
19
Lee
9
Lee
4
Ndefo
6
Edert
72
1–1
Siena
Stormo
14
Pickett
8
Pickett
5
Camper
3
Stormo
3
Camper
40
0–1
All-championship team
2021 MAAC Men's Basketball All-Championship Team [ 6]
Raheem Solomon, Niagara – 19 ppg, 6.5 rpg
KC Ndefo, Saint Peter's – 14.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3 bpg
Jake Wojcik, Fairfield – 12.8 ppg, 6 rpg, 38.3 mpg
Taj Benning, Fairfield – 11.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 37 mpg
Berrick Jeanlouis, Iona – 8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 36.8 mpg
Isaiah Ross, Iona – 11.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 37.3 mpg
MVP Asante Gist, Iona – 16.3 ppg, 2.8 apg, 32.8 mpg
See also
References
Information related to 2021 MAAC men's basketball tournament