MAAC Tournament 2012: Loyola Wins Championship Over Fairfield, 48-44

The Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds earned an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament, defeating the Fairfield Stags 48-44 during Monday night's MAAC Tournament Championship Game.

The Greyhounds were down 30-26 at halftime, but scored nine straight points out of the locker room to take the lead for good over the Stags. Fairfield made just five field goals after halftime, scoring 14 points and finishing with a 28.8 shooting percentage. The Greyhounds shot just 33.3 percent themselves, but played smothering defense to usher on the victory.

Rakim Sanders and Ryan Olander both missed potential game-tying 3-pointers late in the game, and combined went 1-for-10 from beyond the arc. Maurice Barrow was dominant on the boards, hauling in 13 rebounds. He went just 5-for-16 shooting from the field, however, scoring 10 points.

Loyola will be making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994, snapping an 18-year drought. Erik Etherly scored 10 points to lead the way, in addition to his seven rebounds and three blocks. The Greyhounds went much deeper down their bench than the Stags. Justin Drummond scored eight points in 20 minutes on the court.

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MAAC Tournament 2012: Loyola (MD) Defeats Siena, 70-60, To Advance To Final

The Loyola (MD) Greyhounds defeated the Siena Saints, 70-60, in the 2012 MAAC Tournament semifinal on Sunday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.

Erik Etherly led the Greyhounds with a game-high 21 points. Shane Walker and Robert Olson each picked up 12 points for Loyola. Siena got 17 points from Kyle Downey, 16 points from Owen Wignot and 13 points from O.D. Anosike.

After a low-scoring first half, the teams picked up it up in the second half and both scored at least 37 points. Loyola led, 28-23, at the half but trailed Siena 16-9 with 10:49 to play. Once the Greyhounds took the lead with six minutes to play in the first half, they never trailed again in the game.

The Greyhounds will face the Fairfield Stags in the final of the MAAC Tournament on Monday at 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN3). Fairfield upset the No. 1 seeded Iona Gaels, 85-75, in the other semifinal game on Sunday. The winner of the game Loyola (MD)-Fairfield will claim the conference's autobid into the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

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MAAC Tournament 2012: Fairfield Upsets Top-Seeded Iona, 85-75, In Semifinal

The top-seeded Iona Gaels were upset by 4-seed Fairfield, 85-75, in the 2012 MAAC Tournament semifinals on Sunday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.

Rakim Sanders led the way for Fairfield in the upset with a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Colin Nickerson and Keith Matthews each pitched in 14 points for the Stags. Iona got 24 points from MAAC Player of the Year Scott Machado. Iona also got 19 points from Mike Glover and 16 points from Lamont Jones.

After Iona held a slim lead at the half and a two-possession lead in the second half, Fairfield used a 16-1 run to erase the deficit and build a lead that the Gaels could not cut into down the stretch.

Fairfield punched their ticket to the MAAC Tournament final for the second time in three years while Iona likely played themselves out of the NCAA Tournament with the loss. Fairfield will play the winner of Siena vs. Loyola (Md.) in the final on Monday at 7 p.m. (ESPN3).

Jamel Fields scored five points in nine minutes for the Stags but could be in danger of not playing on Monday.

He crashed into the Iona bench in the second half and sat out the closing minutes with a large ice pack on his right shoulder and his right arm in a sling. (via Times Union)

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MAAC Tournament 2012: Saturday Results

Sunday's semifinals are set for the 2012 MAAC Tournament, and top-seed Iona looks ready to keep on rolling.

The Gaels got 29 points from senior forward Mike Glover on Saturday, and sprinted past Marist 87-63 behind a big second half.

They'll go on to play Fairfield, who nipped Rider 65-53 in a matchup of the four and five seeds.

Over on the other half of the bracket, Loyola (MD) used a big night form the duo of Dylon Cormier and Erik Etherly, who finished with a combined 44 points in an 86-73 win over Niagra.

The win sets up a Loyola (MD) vs. Siena semifinal, after Siena defeated Manhattan in the final quarterfinal game Saturday, 84-82.

The semifinals will be played Sunday afternoon, starting with Iona and Fairfield at 2:00 p.m. EST and followed by Loyola (MD) and Siena. Both games will be played in Springfield, MA -- the host site for the tournament -- and can be seen on ESPN3.

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MAAC Basketball Tournament 2012: Schedule And Bracket For Day Two

The 2012 MAAC Tournament kicked off on Friday, March 3, with two games – No. 8 Marist vs. No. 9 Saint Peter's and No. 7 Niagara vs. No. 10 Canisius. Both home teams – Marist and Niagara – won and moved on to the Quarterfinals.

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

Saturday, March 3 - Men's Quarterfinals

Game 3: No. 4 Fairfield vs. No. 5 Rider, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Game 4: No. 8 Marist vs. No. 1 Iona, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Game 5: No. 7 Niagara vs. No. 2 Loyola, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Game 6: No. 3 Manhattan vs. No. 6 Siena, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Sunday, March 4 - Men's Semifinals

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 2 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Monday, March 5 - Men's Championship Game

Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN 3)

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MAAC Tournament 2012: Bracket And Schedule

The full bracket and schedule for the 2012 MAAC men's basketball Tournament.