Jaspers hope to pull off 'Three-Peat'

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is celebrating its 35th anniversary this season and Manhattan College’s men’s basketball team is hoping to add to the celebration by carving out its own little piece of conference history this weekend in Albany.

The Jaspers will be looking to do something done only twice in the history of the conference, win three straight MAAC Tournament championships. The only two programs to ever accomplish the rare “Three-Peat” were LaSalle University in 1988, ’89 and ’90 and, more recently, Siena College, which pulled off the trick in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The odds may be longer this season for the Jaspers. After Manhattan knocked off archrival Iona in each of the past two tournament title games as one of the more formidable programs in the MAAC, the Jaspers enter this year’s tournament as the sixth seed and will need to win four games this weekend in order to pull off the Three-Peat.

The Jaspers are not shrinking from the challenge.

“We’ll be discussing the Three-Peat with them before the tournament,” Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello said. “I say this humbly: we are the back-to-back MAAC champions. That’s who we are. I just think there’s a certain value when you look at the other team across from you and you look at that coach and those players and you know there’s no tomorrow. There’s no ranking there’s no poll, there’s no record, none of that matters. It’s a little different element. I know my guys are good then. I’m not saying the other guys aren’t but I know my guys are good in that element.”

The Jaspers, who lost their final three games of the regular season, will open the tournament Thursday, March 3 at around 9:30 p.m. against the No. 11 seed Marist. Manhattan defeated Marist twice during the regular season. If the Jaspers get by the Red Foxes Thursday, there is a quarterfinal-round date with No. 3 seed Siena, which will be playing the tournament on its home court. Manhattan lost by 35 points to the Saints early in the season before registering a 92-87 victory at Draddy Gym on Jan. 4.