# 2020 MAAC men's basketball tournament

The 2020 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, played at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the first time in MAAC history. The tournament was cancelled on March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Already underway at the time of the announcement, the tournament was stalled in the midst of the quarterfinals, with Siena and St. Peter's having already qualified for the semifinals. This would have given the Saints their first NCAA Tournament Bid since 2010, when they won three straight MAAC Tournaments. However, the NCAA cancelled the tournament later in the day.
The defending champions were the Iona Gaels.

## Seeds

All 11 teams in the conference participate in the Tournament. The top five teams received byes to the quarterfinals. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 |
| 1 | Siena | 15–5 | | |
| 2 | Saint Peter's | 14–6 | | |
| 3 | Rider | 12–8 | 1–1 vs. Monmouth | 1–1 vs. Siena |
| 4 | Monmouth | 12–8 | 1–1 vs. Rider | 0–2 vs. Siena |
| 5 | Quinnipiac | 10–10 | | |
| 6 | Niagara | 9–11 | 2–0 vs. Iona | |
| 7 | Iona | 9–11 | 0–2 vs. Niagara | |
| 8 | Fairfield | 8–12 | 2–0 vs. Manhattan | |
| 9 | Manhattan | 8–12 | 0–2 vs. Fairfield | |
| 10 | Canisius | 7–13 | | |
| 11 | Marist | 6–14 | | |

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television |
| First Round – Tuesday, March 10 |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 pm | No. 8 Fairfield vs. No. 9 Manhattan | 43–61 | 878 | ESPN3 |
| 1 | 2 | 7:00 pm | No. 7 Iona vs. No. 10 Canisius | 70–60 | 878 | ESPN3 |
| 1 | 3 | 9:00 pm | No. 6 Niagara vs. No. 11 Marist | 56–54 | 878 | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 11 |||||||
| 2 | 4 | 7:00 pm | No. 1 Siena vs. No. 9 Manhattan | 63–49 | | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 5 | 9:30 pm | No. 2 Saint Peter's vs. No. 7 Iona | 56–54 | | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 |||||||
| 3 | 6 | 7:00 pm | No. 3 Rider vs. No. 6 Niagara | | | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 7 | 9:30 pm | No. 4 Monmouth vs. No. 5 Quinnipiac | | | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 |||||||
| 4 | 8 | 6:00 pm | No. 1 Siena vs. Game 7 Winner | | | ESPNews |
| 4 | 9 | 8:30 pm | No. 2 Saint Peter's vs. Game 6 Winner | | | ESPNews |
| Championship – Saturday, March 14 |||||||
| 5 | 10 | 4:00 pm | Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner | | | ESPNU |
| *Game times in ET.-Rankings denote tournament seeding. |||||||

## Bracket

| First round Tuesday, March 10 ESPN3 | First round Tuesday, March 10 ESPN3 | First round Tuesday, March 10 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Wednesday/Thursday, March 11/12 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Wednesday/Thursday, March 11/12 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Wednesday/Thursday, March 11/12 ESPN3 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPNews | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPNews |
| | | | 1 | Siena | 63 | | |
| | | | 9 | Manhattan | 49 | | |
| 8 | Fairfield | 43 | 9 | Manhattan | 49 | | |
| 9 | Manhattan | 61 | | | | | |
| 9 | Manhattan | 61 | | | | 1 | Siena |
| | | | 4 | Monmouth | | | |
| | | | 5 | Quinnipiac | | | |
| | | | 2 | Saint Peter’s | 56 | | |
| | | | 7 | Iona | 54 | | |
| 7 | Iona | 70 | 7 | Iona | 54 | | |
| 10 | Canisius | 60 | | | | | |
| 10 | Canisius | 60 | | | | 2 | Saint Peter's |
| | | | 3 | Rider | | | |
| | | | 6 | Niagara | | | |
| 6 | Niagara | 56 | 6 | Niagara | | | |
| 11 | Marist | 54 | | | | | |
* denotes number of overtimes

## Game summaries
### First round

* ESPN3
* March 10, 2020 5:00 pm
* Recap
No. 8 Fairfield 43, No. 9 Manhattan 61 :
| Scoring by half: 19–19, 24–42 |||
| Pts: Benning – 10 Rebs: Methnani – 6 Asts: Maidoh & Benning – 2 Benning – 5 reb | Pts: Paulicap – 18 Rebs: Paulicap – 12 Asts: Stewart – 6 Stewart – 11 pts |
* Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ Attendance: 878 Referees: Ron Tyburski, Andy O'Brien, Matt Palumb
* ESPN3
* March 10, 2020 7:30 pm
* Recap
No. 7 Iona 70, No. 10 Canisius 60 :
| Scoring by half: 36–32, 34–28 |||
| Pts: Crawford – 25 Rebs: Crawford & Agee – 7 Asts: Washington – 3 Washington – 24 pts, 6 reb | Pts: Brown – 16 Rebs: Brown – 9 Asts: Johnson – 6 Johnson – 13 pts, 4 reb |
* Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ Attendance: 878 Referees: Mike Kitts, John Floyd, Adam Vandenburgh
* ESPN3
* March 10, 2020 10:15 pm
* Recap
No. 6 Niagara 56, No. 11 Marist 54 :
| Scoring by half: 31–30, 25–24 |||
| Pts: Hammond – 20 Rebs: Brown – 7 Asts: Brown – 4 Solomon – 14 pts, 3 stl | Pts: Jones & Saint-Furcy – 11 Rebs: Cubbage – 9 Asts: Cubbage – 6 Cubbaged – 10 pts |
* Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ Attendance: 878 Referees: Kevin O'Connell, Kevin Ferguson, King Whetstone

### Quarterfinals

* ESPN3
* March 11, 2020 7:00 pm
* Recap
No. 1 Siena 63, No. 9 Manhattan 49 :
| Scoring by half: 34–25, 29–24 |||
| Pts: Camper – 15 Rebs: Camper – 9 Asts: Pickett – 7 Friday IV – 12 pts, 6 reb | Pts: Paulicap – 12 Rebs: Paulicap – 12 Asts: Buchanan – 3 Hinckson – 9 pts, 6 reb |
* Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ Attendance: 1,234 Referees: Andy O'Brien, Michael Palau, Mike Kitts, Jr.
* ESPN3
* March 11, 2020 9:30 pm
* Recap
No. 2 Saint Peter's 56, No. 7 Iona 54 :
| Scoring by half: 22–18, 34–36 |||
| Pts: Taylor – 13 Rebs: Taylor – 11 Asts: Ndefo – 2 Estrada – 11 pts, 2 stl | Pts: Agee – 20 Rebs: Washington – 10 Asts: Perez – 3 Washington – 16 pts, 3 stl |
* Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ Referees: Ron Tyburski, Edwin Young, Jason Mirabito