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By Nick Veronica

With the conclusion of the MAAC’s regular season Sunday, all seeds for the conference tournament have been set. The above bracket shows the road to the NCAA Tournament.

Three tiebreakers were needed for seeding. Manhattan beat out Monmouth for third place by sweeping the season series; Siena took eighth from Niagara by sweeping the season series; and Fairfield edged Marist for 10th because the highest-seeded team the Stags beat (Manhattan) was better than the highest-seeded team the Red Foxes beat (Canisius).

Final MAAC standings

The tournament opens Thursday at the Times Union Center in Albany with three play-in games: Siena vs. Niagara at 5 p.m., Saint Peter’s vs. Fairfield at 7 and Quinnipiac vs. Marist at 9. Winners of those games will have Friday off before the quarterfinals begin Saturday.

Canisius opens the tournament Saturday at 2:30 p.m against Monmouth, which took both games from the Griffs this season.

Top-seeded Iona needs to win the tournament to advance to the NCAAs. The Gaels are not expected to earn an at-large bid if they falter in Albany. They open Saturday at noon against the Niagara-Siena winner.

MAAC all-star teams will be announced Monday during the league’s conference call, slated to begin at noon.

Full tournament schedule

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Play-in round
Thursday, March 5

8-Siena vs. 9-Niagara, 5 p.m.
7-Saint Peter’s vs. 10-Fairfield, 7 p.m.
6-Quinnipiac vs. 11-Marist, 9 p.m.

Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 7

1-Iona vs. 8-9 winner, noon
4-Monmouth vs. 5-Canisius, 2:30 p.m.
2-Rider vs. 7-10 winner, 5:30 p.m.
3-Manhattan vs. 6-11 winner, 8 p.m.

Semifinals
Sunday, March 8

Iona/8-9 winner vs. Monmouth/Canisius winner, 4:30 p.m.
Rider/7-10 winner vs. Manhattan/6-11 winner, 7 p.m.

Championship
Monday, March 9

Semifinal winners, 9 p.m.

Quarterfinals and beyond will be on ESPN3, with the championship either on ESPN or ESPN2.