Time for a some “Madness”… Basketball Style!

The weather outside was hovering around 50 degrees and the sum was bright and strong on this Sunday in early March. Sounds like the perfect ingredient for a little madness to happen… or maybe a little March Madness, basketball style.

With the feel of basketball madness in the air and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 2010 Basketball Tournament underway at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, it was time to jump head first into the world of college basketball and attend the Semi-Finals. The days first game paired Siena College (#1 seed) against the Rider University Broncs (#5 seed), while the second game matched Fairfield University (#2 seed) against the Niagara University Purple Eagles (#6 seed).

Siena started slowly for the second night in a row falling behind Rider just as they did the previous night in the quarter finals against Manhattan with poor shooting. The shots continued to clang off the rim for Siena allowing Rider to take advantage of the disgruntled Saints wows in building a lead that would carry them to the end of the first half with a 30 – 28 lead. Siena again came out cold in the second half missing shot after shot, until the 10 minute mark… and then their offense clicked with Clarence Jackson hitting a couple of crucial three pointers and Ronald Moore hitting a three pointer along with a few field goals that lead to a 16 – 0 run and not only closed the gap, but put the Saints up by 11 points. The play continued to be steady on both sides and eventually lead to a 72 – 62 Siena victory, advancing them to the Championship game against Fairfield University, who came away with a hard-fought, entertaining and intensely played victory over the Niagara University Purple Eagles 69 – 63.

The star of the game for Siena was the MAAC player of the year Alex Franklin who lead the Saints with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Clarence Jackson chipped in a game turning 17 points, Ronald Moore with 15 points and Ryan Rossiter with 10 points and 17 rebounds. Edwin Ubiles again was a non-factor in the game while contributing 9 points. Rider was led by Ryan Thompson with 21 points.

Watching basketball from 4:00 PM until 8:40 PM covering two complete games, I now find myself completely involved in what is called March Madness 2010.

Now it is time to watch Siena on ESPN Monday night March 8, 2010 at 7 PM as they battle Fairfield for the MAAC Championship and the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

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