Can Siena Reclaim 2010 MAAC Tournament Title?

The MAAC Basketball Championship will be held March 4-8 at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Will Siena manage to make it three trips in a row to the NCAA Tournament after winning this championship? Let's examine the matc hups of each team and work our way to see which team will advance past this tournament and into the real show. The times are also shown with each game. All the statistics used below are provided by Yahoo Sports.

March 5, First Round

#8 Loyola vs. Manhattan

Time 7:30 p.m.

This game will be a repeat of the regular season's results with Loyola taking down Manhattan. You could say third time is the charm, but in this case it won't be as Loyola will take this from the beginning. This game will end up being more about who will face Siena then the actual opponents.

Result: Loyola over Manhattan

#7 Canisius vs. #10 Marist

Time 9:30 p.m.

This should be pretty well dominated game as the young Marist squad has only one win the entire season so far. Also Canisius dominated Marist 71-56 and 72-57 in the two games this year. Should be a confidence booster for Canisius heading into the quarterfinals.

Result: Canisius over Marist

March 6, Quarterfinals

#4 Saint Peter's vs. #5 Rider

Time 2:30 p.m.

This is going to be a tight match with the teams having split their regular season match up. Rider has Ryan Thompson a senior guard leads the team with 16.9 points per game. St. Peter's can counter with Wesley Jenkins a junior averaging 14.1 points per game. The experience of each team is pretty much equal with neither team having a veteran squad. The final outcome will be decided by the team with the deeper depth, which is Rider with four players averaging more than 10 points per game. Rider will serve up the first game that can even be considered an upset.

Result: Rider over St. Peters

#1 Siena vs. #8 Loyola

Time 4:30 p.m.

Loyola doesn't have the firepower to match up with Siena in this game and that's the bottom line. Siena has four players that average more points per game than the Greyhounds leading scorer Brett Harvey who averages 12.6 points per game. The final result of this game won't be close as the Saints make a statement to the rest of the teams in the league.

Result: Siena over Loyola

#2 Fairfield vs. #7 Canisius

Time 7:30 p.m.

These teams had two close games in the regular season that ended with Fairfield wins. Canisius will hang around in this game with their combination of guards in Frank Turner and Julius Coles leading the scoring. Turner and Coles, a senior and junior respectively, will keep their team in the hunt right to the end. Fairfield can put up points, but their leading scorer and point guard Derek Needham will falter down the stretch. The veterans of Canisius will pull the upset as Fairfield's rookie crumbles under the pressure and delivers us a real upset.

Result: Canisius over Fairfield

#3 Iona vs. #6 Niagara

Time 10 p.m.

Iona took both regular season games keeping them low scoring affairs which is their strength and plays against the high powered offense that Niagara has sported down the stretch. While, Niagara is coming in hot Iona is more limping in. Iona is the younger team which sets them up to be upset. But, they have a killer defense that keeps the pressure off their young offense to produce. Niagara though finally gets through the defense and rides their good feelings to a win.

Result: Niagara over Iona

March 7, Semifinals

#1 Siena vs. #5 Rider

Time 4 p.m.

Rider's dream of making the NCAA Tournament ends quickly as Siena marches out to a dominant lead. Siena never looks back and the game looks very much like the games that Siena dominated in the regular season. Clarence Jackson will pour in a bunch of points as the Saints kill Rider.

Result: Siena over Rider

#6 Niagara vs. #7 Canisius

Time 6:30 p.m.

Two teams that shouldn't have made it look to make the final leap to fight it out with Siena. Niagara comes in as the real hope to end Siena's season as they are the only team to beat them during the regular season. Canisius fights them tooth and nail all the way. Unfortunately for Canisius, destiny calls and Niagara gets its date against Siena.

Result: Niagara over Canisius

March 8, Final

#1 Siena vs. #6 Niagara

For Siena it seemed assured they reached this point. Their opponent on the other hand has surprised many and fought their way into the championship to decide which team will end up winning the split they had in the regular season. Tyrone Lewis of the Niagara will pour in 20 points, but in the end the Saints will get them as Ryan Rossiter grabs every rebound in reach and puts up major points to go along with cleaning up the glass. In the end Siena will complete their mission to reach their third straight NCAA Tournament.

Result: Siena over Niagara

Champion : Siena

All the statistics used above are provided by Yahoo Sports.