Siena captures third straight MAAC title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Albany, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edwin Ubiles recorded a game-high 27 points along with seven rebounds to help the Siena Saints past the Fairfield Stags in overtime, 72-65, to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.

Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter had double-doubles as Franklin scored 22, Rossiter scored 10, and they both grabbed 12 rebounds for the Saints (27-6), who will head into the NCAA Tournament having won their last five games.

This will mark Siena's third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and third straight MAAC Tournament title.

Derek Needham led Fairfield (22-10) with 16 points as Anthony Johnson added 14 and 13 rebounds. The Stags were looking for their fifth tournament crown.

In the extra period, Siena took a four-point lead at 64-60 after a Franklin and Rossiter bucket, with Rossiter's bucket coming with 3:44 left. Fairfield got within two at 64-62, but was unable to recapture the lead as the Saints scored six straight to extend the advantage to 70-64, including two Ubiles free throws with 30 seconds remaining to cement the win.

"What we didn't do is panic when we had our ears pinned back," said Sienna coach Frank McCaffery. "We got back into it at the end of the first half. Our goal obviously in the second half was to try and disrupt their rhythm."

Down 11 at halftime, Siena fought back to tie the game at 53 with 7:46 to go and took its first lead since early in the game on a Ronald Moore three- pointer with 2:07 remaining. Siena had a 60-58 edge at that point, but Fairfield's Colin Nickerson converted on a fastbreak layup with 55 second left to tie the game at 60-60.

"I thought we had some costly turnovers when I thought we controlled the whole first half," Fairfield coach Ed Cooley said. "I thought we had three, or four or five straight turnovers that led to runouts. Really, that was the game."

With the game tied at 11, Fairfield mounted a 21-8 run that gave the Stags a 32-19 lead with 6:30 left in the opening half. Siena then scored five straight, but couldn't get within 10 as Fairfield went into halftime leading 39-28.

Game Notes

Siena has won 38 straight games at home...Siena shot 44.1 percent over the course of the game while Fairfield made 41.5 percent of its shots.

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Betting Football

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.