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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Three try to be MAAC daddies
It's Patriot vs. MAAC across the board tonight, with American at Loyola (Md.), Holy Cross at Fairfield and Colgate at Canisius.

SCOUTING LOYOLA: Picked as co-favorites in the MAAC, the Greyhounds come in 1-1, with an 89-68 home win over Penn their last time out. Coach Jimmy Patsos shuffled his starting lineup after Loyola dropped its opener at Towson, 83-69, inserting 6-1 sophomore Brett Harvey, last season's starter at the point, along with 5-11 freshman Brian Rudolph and 6-7 forward Michael Tuck, last season's MAAC sixth man of the year.

Rudolph responded by dishing out 9 assists and Tuck put up 18 points against Penn. Marquis Sullivan, a 6-1 junior guard who went to the bench, scored 13 points off the bench. Joe Miles, a 6-0 transfer from Marshall, also moved to the bench. Miles played the same 25 minutes he did in the opener, scoring 9 points off the bench after posting 11 as a starter against Towson. The biggest difference was the diminished role of 6-10 senior center Hassan Fofana, who played just 2 minutes against Penn after starting and playing 14 against Towson.

The Greyhounds will look to play a style fitting their name, pressing full court and running. THe roster is full of athletic guys, including a bunch of transfers from high major programs.

Leading scorer Gerald Brown (22 ppg), last year's MAAC leading scorer, came from Providence. Fofana played at Maryland. Omari Isreal, a 6-8 senior who, along with Brown, has started both games, began his career at Notre Dame.

Sullivan played his high school ball at Archbishop Spalding, the Maryland school that produced Bucknell's Justin Castleberry and Holy Cross' Lawrence Dixon. Associate coach Brian Blaney is the son of former Holy Cross head coach and current UConn assistant George Blaney.
BONUS LINKS:
  • Loyola preview from The Examiner
  • Loyola stats
  • Gametracker


    SCOUTING FAIRFIELD: Four players who started for Fairfield in an overtime loss to Holy Cross last season are back in the starting lineup for the Stags this season. Sophomore forward Greg Nero scored a career-high 23 for the Stags in that game, part of a six-game stretch to start the season that Nero led Fairfield in scoring and one of his 16 double figures games last year. Point guard Jonathan Han, who averaged 4.5 assists per game as a sophomore, had a career-high 8 assists against the Crusaders. Forward Anthony Johnson, a 6-8 sophomore and 6-4 sophomore swingman Devin Johnson are also back for the Stags, who start two juniors and three sophomores.

    None of the starters reached double figures in Fairfield's season-opening 85-60 loss at Wake Forest. The only Stag to do so in the opener was 6-9 junior Mike Evanovich, who was 6-7 from the field, including 5-5 from the arc in his first game for Fairfield after sitting out a season following his transfer from Iowa State.

    Fairfield shot 19 of 49 from the floor against Wake, but were 10 for 16 from 3-point range. Twenty-three turnovers undid any edge the Stags might have gained by outrebounding the DemonDeacons (36-30).

    The Stags were picked a tie for sixth in the 10-team MAAC in the league's preseason poll.
    BONUS LINKS:
  • Han ignites Fairfield men (Conn. Post)
  • Livestats

    SCOUTING CANISUS:
    In a word, the Griffs are young. Second-year coach Tom Parrotta's roster includes seven true freshmen and just one senior. Add a juco tranfer to the mix, and the fact that its Canisius' first game, and it is tough to get a read on the team, which is picked ninth in the MAAC preseason poll.

    Pawel Malesa, the team's lone senior, is a 6-6 guard who averaged 13.2 minutes and 6.3 points per game last season. The native of Poland dropped 40 pounds in the offseason while improving his conditioning and quickness. Malesa is a 3-point shooter. He hit 34.7 percent from the arc last year, which is damned near the only place he shoots from. Of 61 made shots, 52 were treys.

    Canisius has a pair of juniors. Shaun James, a 6-8 London, England native by way of Barton Junior College in Kansas. He played in 29 games, starting eight for the Griffs last season. Willie Hassell is a 5-8 shooter recruited from Mineral Area Junior College to be a scorer for the Griffs. Hassell was a third team NJCAA All-American pick last season.

    Three sophomores started at least 13 games last season: Menghe a'Nyam, Jovan Robinson and Frank Turner. Turner averaged 36.1 minutes, tops on the team, and 11.9 points per game, earning co-rookie of the year honors in the MAAC.

    Among the freshmen, Elton Frazier, a 6-5 forward, is The Sporting News' pick as the MAAC's top newcomer.
    BONUS LINKS:
  • Canisus season preview (GgGriffs.com)

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