-- Welcome to the final regular-season edition of MAAC Monday. One weekend left and the standings couldn't be tighter. Four teams are separated by two games and positions 5-7 have just one game between them. Tiebreaker scenarios can get completed and we'll run through them after the jump. One game tonight as Fairfield visits Marist in the contest that was postponed after the off-campus fire that killed Marist students last month. The Stags can pull within one game of first-place Iona with a victory. Those two still face each other Friday. Now, let us get on with it:



Standings:

1. Iona (22-6, 13-3): Last week -- def. Rider, 75-62; def. Nevada, 90-84. This week -- Feb. 24 vs. Fairfield; Feb. 26 vs. Saint Peter's

2. Loyola (20-7, 12-4): Last week -- lost to Marist, 72-54; def. Boston University, 69-56. This week -- Feb. 24 at Rider; Feb. 26 at Manhattan.

3. Fairfield (16-11, 11-4): Last week -- def. St. Peter's, 61-38; lost to Milwaukee, 67-63. This week -- Feb. 20 at Marist; Feb. 24 at Iona; Feb. 26 at Rider.

4. Manhattan (19-10, 11-5): Last week -- lost to Siena, 70-64; def. UNC-Wilmington, 79-64. This week -- Feb. 24 vs. Canisius; Feb. 26 vs. Loyola.

5. Rider (11-18, 8-8): Last week -- lost to Iona, 75-62; lost to Albany, 70-61. This week -- Feb. 24 vs. Loyola; Feb. 26 vs. Fairfield.

6. Siena (12-15, 7-9): Last week -- def. Manhattan, 70-64; lost to Hofstra, 81-69. This week -- Feb. 23 at Marist; Feb. 26 vs. Canisius.

6. Niagara (12-17, 7-9): Last week -- def. Canisius, 60-57 (OT); lost to Vermont, 92-70. This week -- Feb. 24 at St. Peter's; Feb. 26 at Marist.

8. Marist (11-16, 5-10): Last week -- def. Loyola, 72-54; def. Maine, 77-71. This week -- Feb. 20 vs. Fairfield; Feb. 23 vs. Siena; Feb. 26 vs. Niagara.

9. St. Peter's (5-23, 4-12): Last week -- lost to Fairfield, 61-38; lost to Hartford, 67-51. This week -- Feb. 24 vs. Niagara; Feb. 26 at Iona.

10. Canisius (5-22, 1-15): Last week -- lost to Niagara, 60-57 (OT); def. UMBC, 73-66. This week -- Feb. 24 at Manhattan; Feb. 26 at Siena.

Tiebreaker scenario:

• The scenario -- Rider, Siena and Niagara all finish tied for fifth place with an 8-10 conference record.
• Since all three split the season series against each other, the tiebreaker is record against highest finishing team (the league champ) working in descending order until an advantage is gained.
• If Iona was to win the regular season, Siena, by virtue of its win over the Gaels would finish fifth. 
• If Loyola finished second, Niagara, by virtue of its win over the Greyhounds would finish sixth.
• Rider's best win in over Manhattan (currently fourth).
• If all finish 9-9, Rider would then have a win over Loyola or Fairfield, making the league position of those two teams important.

News and Notes:

• The MAAC went 5-4 in BracketBusters. Not as good as last season's 9-1 but still respectable.
• Iona picked up a nice win over Nevada, improving to 22-6 overall. According to CBSsports.com, they have an RPI of 44 and an SOS of 139. Iona also has an impressive 14 road/neutral wins. They are 6-3 against the RPI top-100 but have two losses against teams with an RPI over 200. Iona is still on the outside of an at-large bid but if it can win its final two regular season games and reach the conference tournament final that would give it a 26-6 overall record before that game is played. Would that be enough to get the Gaels in? It would be tough to leave out a team with the star-power the Gaels have, but the reality is the best route is still capturing the conference tournament title.
• Job well done Jimmy Patsos. Loyola bounced back after a dreadful loss to Marist to beat Boston University in its BracketBuster, securing the school's first 20-win season as a Division I school.
• Didn't include Marist in the tiebreaker scenario, but Red Foxes could still finish fifth if they win out and get some help.
• Rider needs to win at least one of these two games against Loyola and Fairfield. The Broncs could have secured a top-six place by beating Niagara, but the officiating/clock blunder, is looming large. Tommy Dempsey will have a legit gripe if his team finishes seventh, though, all the blame can't fall on that game. There are some woeful performances (at Marist, at Siena, at Loyola) hanging on this team's head.
• Still don't know who to vote for when it comes to Rookie of the Year. Both Juan'ya Green and Evan Hymes have been outstanding. At midseason, Green was the pick, but Hymes has played brilliantly for an undermanned Saints team. Have to see how both finish this weekend.
• Hey, here comes Fairfield. If the Stags can get past Marist tonight, the Red Foxes are playing better having won twice last week, they would be one game back with league-leaders Iona on tap Friday. Sydney Johnson's had to hear about his underachieving team for most of the year, but they could steal the regular-season title in the final weekend.