# 2017–18 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2017–18 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 10. Conference play started in January and concluded on March 15, 2018. This was the 37th season of MAAC basketball.
On February 25, 2018, the last day of the MAAC regular season, both Rider and Canisius won their final game to claim a share of the MAAC Regular Season title. Rider and Canisius both split their regular season games, but Rider had a 1–0 record against third place Niagara and Canisius went 1–1, so Rider was awarded the No. 1 seed in the 2018 MAAC tournament, while Canisius secured the No. 2 seed.
The 2018 MAAC Tournament was held from March 1–5, 2018 at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. No. 4 seed Iona defeated No. 6 seed Fairfield 83–71 to win the tournament championship, their third consecutive. They joined former member La Salle University (1988–90) and Siena College (2008–10) as the only teams to ever win three consecutive tournament championships. No team has won four consecutive as of 2018. As a result, Iona received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They earned a No. 15 seed and lost to No. 2 seed Duke 67–89 in the first round. Rider, a conference champion who failed to win its conference's tournament, received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, losing 86–99 at Oregon. Canisius was invited to play in the College Basketball Invitational, and lost at home to Jacksonville State 78–80$^{OT}$ in the first round. Niagara was invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, and lost at Eastern Michigan 65–83.

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes

On March 7, 2017, head coach Tom Moore was fired. He finished at Quinnipiac with a ten-year record of 162–146. On March 27, Villanova assistant coach Baker Dunleavy was hired as the Bobcats next head coach.

### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Year at school | Overall record | MAAC record | MAAC Tournament championships |
| Canisius | Reggie Witherspoon | Chattanooga (asst.) | 2 | 18–16 | 10–10 | 0 |
| Fairfield | Sydney Johnson | Princeton | 7 | 90–109 | 53–63 | 0 |
| Iona | Tim Cluess | LIU Post | 8 | 162–78 | 101–33 | 3 |
| Manhattan | Steve Masiello | Louisville (asst.) | 7 | 102–93 | 63–53 | 2 |
| Marist | Mike Maker | Williams College | 4 | 22–72 | 14–46 | 0 |
| Monmouth | King Rice | Vanderbilt (asst.) | 7 | 106–92 | 53–27 | 0 |
| Niagara | Chris Casey | LIU Post | 5 | 32–96 | 21–59 | 0 |
| Quinnipiac | Baker Dunleavy | Villanova (asst.) | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 |
| Rider | Kevin Baggett | Rider (assoc. HC) | 6 | 85–79 | 54–44 | 0 |
| Saint Peter's | John Dunne | Seton Hall (asst.) | 12 | 139–207 | 86–120 | 1 |
| Siena | Jimmy Patsos | Loyola (MD) | 5 | 69–68 | 43–37 | 1 |
Notes:
* All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
* Year at school includes 2017–18 season.
* Overall and MAAC records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the season.
* Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

## Preseason
### Preseason Coaches Poll

| Rank | Team |
| 1. | Iona (9) |
| 2. | Manhattan (2) |
| 3. | Monmouth |
| 4. | Fairfield |
| 5. | Niagara |
| 6. | Siena |
| 7. | Rider |
| 8. | Saint Peter's |
| 9. | Canisius |
| 10. | Marist |
| 11. | Quinnipiac |
 first place votes

### Preseason All-MAAC teams

2017-18 MAAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-MAAC Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| Jermaine Crumpton – Canisius †Tyler Nelson – Fairfield Zane Waterman – Manhattan †Micha Seaborn – Monmouth Matt Scott – Niagara | Rickey McGill – Iona Deyshonee Much – Iona Rich Williams – Manhattan Kahlil Dukes – Niagara Nico Clareth – Siena | Zavier Turner – Manhattan Brian Parker – Marist Chaise Daniels – Quinnipiac Stevie Jordan – Rider Nick Griffin – Saint Peter's |
† denotes unanimous selection

### Preseason Player of the Year

| Recipient | School |
| Tyler Nelson | Fairfield |

## MAAC regular season
### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the final head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
| | Canisius | Fairfield | Iona | Manhattan | Marist | Monmouth | Niagara | Quinnipiac | Rider | Saint Peter's | Siena |
| vs. Canisius | – | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| vs. Fairfield | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Iona | 2–0 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| vs. Manhattan | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Marist | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Monmouth | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Niagara | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Quinnipiac | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Rider | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| vs. Saint Peter's | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 |
| vs. Siena | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – |
| Total | 15–3 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 15–3 | 6–12 | 4–14 |

### Player of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.
| Week | Player of the week | Rookie of the week |
| November 13, 2017 | Tyler Nelson, Fairfield | Wassef Methnani, Fairfield |
| November 20, 2017 | Isaiah Reese, Canisius | Jordan Allen, Rider |
| November 27, 2017 | Matt Scott, Niagara | Jordan Allen (2), Rider |
| December 4, 2017 | Matt Scott (2), Niagara | Jordan Allen (3), Rider |
| December 11, 2017 | Kahlil Dukes, Niagara | Rich Kelly, Quinnipiac |
| December 18, 2017 | Matt Scott (3), Niagara | Roman Penn, Siena |
| December 26, 2017 | Austin Tilghman, Monmouth | Rich Kelly (2), Quinnipiac |
| January 2, 2018 | Jermaine Crumpton, Canisius | Takal Molson, Canisius |
| January 8, 2018 | Frederick Scott, Rider | Deion Hammond, Monmouth |
| January 15, 2018 | Kahlil Dukes (2), Niagara | Takal Molson (2), Canisius |
| January 22, 2018 | Isaiah Reese (2), Canisius | Aidas Kavaliauskas, Fairfield |
| January 29, 2018 | Austin Tilghman (2), Monmouth | Deion Hammond (2), Monmouth |
| February 5, 2018 | Tyler Nelson (2), Fairfield | Takal Molson (3), Canisius |
| February 12, 2018 | Dimencio Vaughn, Rider | Jordan Allen (4), Rider |
| February 19, 2018 | Dimencio Vaughn (2), Rider | Rich Kelly (3), Quinnipiac |
| February 26, 2018 | Isaiah Reese (3), Canisius | Takal Molson (4), Canisius |

### Records against other conferences

2017–18 records against non-conference foes. Records shown for regular season only.
| Power 7 Conferences | Record |
| American | 0–4 |
| ACC | 0–4 |
| Big East | 0–6 |
| Big Ten | 1–4 |
| Big 12 | 0–1 |
| Pac-12 | 0–2 |
| SEC | 0–1 |
| Power 7 Total | 1–22 |
| Other NCAA Division I Conferences | Record |
| America East | 4–8 |
| A-10 | 3–6 |
| ASUN | 1–3 |
| Big Sky | 1–0 |
| Big South | 1–2 |
| Big West | 1–0 |
| CAA | 3–7 |
| C-USA | 0–1 |
| Horizon League | 2–2 |
| Ivy League | 8–4 |
| MAC | 1–3 |
| MEAC | 4–0 |
| MVC | 0–2 |
| Mountain West | 0–1 |
| NEC | 11–3 |
| OVC | 0–2 |
| Patriot League | 9–6 |
| Pacific West | 0–0 |
| SoCon | 1–0 |
| Southland | 1–0 |
| SWAC | 2–0 |
| The Summit | 0–0 |
| Sun Belt | 1–3 |
| WAC | 0–1 |
| WCC | 0–2 |
| Other Division I Total | 54–56 |
| NCAA Division I Total | 55–78 |

## Postseason
### MAAC Tournament

* 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament, Times Union Center, Albany, New York
| First round Thursday, March 1 ESPN3 | First round Thursday, March 1 ESPN3 | First round Thursday, March 1 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Friday/Saturday, March 2/3 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Friday/Saturday, March 2/3 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals Friday/Saturday, March 2/3 ESPN3 | Semifinals Sunday, March 4 ESPN3/ESPNU | Semifinals Sunday, March 4 ESPN3/ESPNU | Semifinals Sunday, March 4 ESPN3/ESPNU | Championship Monday, March 5 ESPN | Championship Monday, March 5 ESPN | Championship Monday, March 5 ESPN |
| | | | 1 | Rider | 55 | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Saint Peter's | 66 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Monmouth | 58 | 9 | Saint Peter's | 66 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Saint Peter's | 60 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Saint Peter's | 60 | | | | 9 | Saint Peter's | 62 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Iona | 65 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Iona | 72 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Manhattan | 60 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Iona | 83 |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | Fairfield | 71 |
| | | | 2 | Canisius | 69 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Quinnipiac | 72 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Quinnipiac | 67 | 7 | Quinnipiac | 72 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Siena | 58 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Siena | 58 | | | | 7 | Quinnipiac | 64 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Fairfield | 74 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Niagara | 77 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Fairfield | 90 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Fairfield | 71 | 6 | Fairfield | 90 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Marist | 57 | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes number of overtimes

### NCAA Tournament

| Seed | Region | School | 1st Round |
| 15 | Midwest | Iona | L 67–89 vs. (2) Duke – (Pittsburgh) |
Game summary
* CBS
* March 15, 2018 2:45 p.m.
* Recap
(2 MW) No. 9 Duke 89, (15 MW) Iona 67 :
| Scoring by half: 53–39, 36–28 |||
| Pts: Bagley III – 22 Rebs: Carter Jr. – 8 Asts: Allen – 9 Duval – 19 pts, 8 ast | Pts: Griffin – 21 Rebs: Edogi – 9 Asts: Casimir – 6 McGill – 10 pts, 5 ast |
| NCAA tournament first round |||
* PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh, PA Attendance: 18,757 Referees: Chris Rastatter, Tim Comer, Courtney Green

### National Invitation Tournament

| Seed | Bracket | School | 1st Round |
| 6 | Notre Dame | Rider | L 86–99 at No. 3 Oregon – (Eugene, OR) |
Game summary
* ESPN3
* March 13, 2018 10:00 p.m.
* Recap
(3) Oregon 99, (6) Rider 86 :
| Scoring by quarter: 15–21, 21–23, 25–21, 38–21 |||
| Pts: Pritchard & Bailey Jr. – 23 Rebs: Wooten – 10 Asts: Pritchard – 8 E. Brown – 18 pts, 4 ast | Pts: Vaughn – 25 Rebs: Marshall – 8 Asts: Jordan – 6 Scott – 16 pts, 5 reb, 2 stl |
| NIT First Round |||
* Matthew Knight Arena Eugene, OR Attendance: 2,327 Referees: Doran Gotschall, Klaus Endrissat, Nate Harris

### College Basketball Invitational

| School | 1st Round |
| Canisius | L 78–80$^{OT}$ vs. Jacksonville State – (Buffalo, NY) |
Game summary
* ESPN3
* March 14, 2018 7:00 p.m.
* BoxScore
Jacksonville State 80, Canisius 78 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 37–33, 34–38 Overtime: 9–7 |||
| Pts: Drumwright – 20 Rebs: Giga – 11 Asts: Drumwright – 6 Burnell – 16 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast | Pts: Reese – 24 Rebs: Molson & Crumpton – 5 Asts: Molson – 5 Crumpton – 16 pts, 3 stl |
| CBI First Round |||
* Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, NY Attendance: 870 Referees: Ron Tyburski, Kevin O'Connell, Joseph Palacz

### CollegeInsider.com Tournament

| School | 1st Round |
| Niagara | L 65–83 at Eastern Michigan – (Ypsilanti, MI) |
Game summary
* March 14, 2018 7:00 p.m.
* BoxScore
Niagara 65, Eastern Michigan 83 :
| Scoring by half: 27–42, 38–41 |||
| Pts: Dukes – 16 Rebs: Prochet – 11 Asts: Dukes – 4 Prochet – 12 pts, 3 ast | Pts: Minnie – 29 Rebs: Thompson IV – 16 Asts: Bond – 8 Bond – 11 pts, 12 reb |
| CIT First Round |||
* Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI Attendance: 1,138 Referees: Tim Stewart, Scott Siville, Ed Phillips

## Honors and awards
### MAAC Awards

2017-18 MAAC Men's Basketball Major Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Co-Players of the Year | Jermaine Crumpton, Sr, F, Quinnipiac Kahlil Dukes, Sr, G, Niagara |
| Coach of the Year | Kevin Baggett, Rider |
| Rookie of the Year | Takal Molson, Fr, G, Canisius |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Pauly Paulicap, So, F, Manhattan |
| Sixth Player of the Year | Frederick Scott, Fr, F, Rider |
2017-18 MAAC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team | Rookie Team |
| Jermaine Crumpton, Sr, F, Canisius Tyler Nelson, Sr, G, Fairfield Isaiah Reese, So, G, Canisius †Kahlil Dukes, Sr, G, Niagara Dimencio Vaughn, Fr, G/F, Rider | Rickey McGill, Jr, G, Iona Stevie Jordan, So, G, Rider Rich Williams, Sr, G, Manhattan Matt Scott, Sr, G, Niagara Cameron Young, Jr, G, Quinnipiac | Zane Waterman, Sr, F, Manhattan Brian Parker, Jr, G, Marist Frederick Scott, Fr, F, Rider Austin Tilghman, Sr, G, Monmouth Jordan Allen, Fr, G, Rider | Takal Molson, Fr, G, Canisius Deion Hammond, Fr, G, Monmouth Rich Kelly, Fr, G, Quinnipiac Jordan Allen, Fr, G, Rider Prince Oduro, Fr, G/F, Siena |
† denotes unanimous selection