Josh Newman

@Joshua_Newman

ALBANY, N.Y. -- If you are a mid-major program and you don't win your conference tournament, the rest of your resume better be near-flawless if you want to go to the NCAA Tournament.

That was the lesson Monmouth University learned last season when it fell to Iona College in the MAAC Tournament championship game, then was left out of the NCAA Tournament despite 27 wins. Too many bad losses, the selection committee said, and it was made clear that the MAAC Tournament was the surest road, maybe the only road based on last season, to the field of 68.

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Ultimately, two MAAC regular-season titles, 53 regular-season wins and status as a dangerous mid-major will yield no NCAA Tournament berths. Nico Clareth personally saw to that. A game-time decision while nursing an ankle injury, the sophomore exploded for all of his game-high 27 points in the second half. Fourth-seeded Siena shot 63.3 percent from the field after halftime, 66.7 percent from 3-point range, erased a 17-point deficit and stunned No. 1 seed Monmouth, 89-85, in a MAAC Tournament semifinal on Sunday evening.

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Unlike last season, when the Hawks, who had their 17-game winning streak halted on Sunday, were thought to be in the at-large conversation, not even that is on the table. As the MAAC's regular-season champion, the Hawks have an automatic bid to the NIT, whose field will be announced on March 12 after the NCAA Tournament field is revealed.

"It is unfair? No, that's the rules," Monmouth head coach King Rice said when asked if it seemed unfair there would be no NCAA bid after all of the success the last two years. "That's how the rules go, but no one is going to take away what we did. We fell a little bit short. That happens. We're still learning how to do this. We're still learning how to do it, and these kids were amazing. Tonight, it wasn't enough."

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"We wanted it to end with a conference championship and it stings that we didn't," said Justin Robinson, visibly fighting back tears after scoring 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting. "Although it hurts right now, I'll be able to look at my guys and say that the person to the left of me, and the person to the right of me gave everything they had all season long. We made sacrifices and we stayed together."

Clareth gave it a go on that injured left ankle, then was an ineffective three first-half minutes. Out of the locker room, the enigmatic sharpshooter lost his mind, leading a charge from 17 points down with 17:49 to play in the game. He hit open 3-pointers, contested 3-pointers and everything in between. Monmouth (27-5) absorbed all of it, though, to maintain control, but finally, Siena (17-16) wrestled this game away over the final 6:00,

"Clareth hit seven 3's, four of them were over a hand," Rice said. "You don't change anything for that. That's what we play for, to take a shot with our hand up on the shooter. On three of them, he shook loose, got open ones, and made those also."

In dire need of defensive stops down the stretch, Monmouth got enough to maintain contact. Robinson's two free throws with 1:13 to play brought the Hawks to within one at 80-79. Down the other end, along the left baseline, Clareth squared up on Robinson, turned his back to the two-time MAAC Player of the Year and hit a fallaway jumper over him for an 82-79 with 55 seconds to play.

Monmouth got back to within one, then to within two on four different occasions inside the final 41 seconds, but Siena closed the game by going 7-of-8 from the foul line to keep the Hawks at arm's length.

"Everybody is trying to beat you, and today, it caught up to us and got us," Rice said. "We played great for 20 minutes and then we had a 20 where we didn't play as well. They played great, and Clareth hit all those 3's. That's what happens. If we played again, we would play them the same way.

"Today, they hit all the shots."

Siena is annually the biggest draw in the MAAC. On Sunday, a souped-up crowd of approximately 6,000 showed and helped will the Saints to early contention. Off a 16-hour turnaround following its win over Fairfield, the Saints were not the aggressor, but played well enough to be in the game. That is, until Josh James got rolling.

The senior guard, who assisted on three Chris Brady buckets inside the first 7:00, hit a pull-up jumper, then a 3-pointer from the right wing to give Monmouth a 24-18 lead. Robinson then got out in transition for a layup off a James steal and at that point, instead of calling timeout with 4:38 on the clock, Saints head coach Jimmy Patsos opted to let his guys play through it.

That coaching decision panned out as Siena got to within five, but the final 1:43 of the first half was a blitz. Brady's jump hook with his off hand over Javion Ogunyemi was followed by Hornbeak getting into the lane, a Louie Pillari 3-pointer from the left wing and Patsos calling for time with 36 seconds left.

Out of the timeout, Marquis Wright missed a trey and after running the clock down, Hornbeak again found daylight in the lane, finishing over his defender to send the Hawks into halftime with a 39-25 lead.

Sunday marked Monmouth's first loss in 22 games when leading at halftime.

Staff writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com