Thursday, March 17, 2011

Three MAAC Men's Teams Remain Active

Time to check in on how MAAC men's teams have done so far in national post-season play, while anxiously awaiting Friday night's Saint Peter's-Purdue NCAA first-round contest.

- Fairfield got a 62-60 victory over homestanding Colorado State in a first-round National Invitation Tournament contest.

It was the Stags' second NIT game in program history with the last coming in 1973.

Fairfield is scheduled to host a second-round game against Kent State, Sunday at 12:30 p.m., but at a site to be determined.

The Stags' homecort facility at the Arena at Harbor Yard is occupied that day. School officials initially announced the game would be played in the on-campus Alumni Hall, which Fairfield hasn't used for men's games in several years.

Fairfield's first-round NIT victory gave it 25 wins on the season, the program's all-time best for a single season.

In other Fairfield news, school officials confirmed they had granted their current head coach Ed Cooley permission to interview for the vacancy at Providence. No interview, though, is expected to take place until Fairfield's season is over.

- A short-handed Rider team had its otherwise strong season end with an 84-50 loss to Northern Iowa in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

UNI jumped out to a 15-0 lead and was never truly threatened by the Broncs, who had just eight players available for the contest.

Rider's second-leading scorer and rebounder junior forward Novar Gadson missed the game after having knee surgery last week. And senior forward Mike Ringold was still hindered by a badly sprained ankle suffered during the MAAC tournament.

Senior guard Justin Robinson finishes his Rider career with 1,480 points, the 10th highest total ever in the program; and with 394 assists, sixth most-ever at the school.

Ringold finishes with 1,386 career points (14th on the career list) and 789 rebounds (5th all time).

Rider's senior class set a four-year program record of 82 victories.

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