Feb. 4, 2010

Manhattan was picked to win the Metro Atlantic title, in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.

The Jaspers garnered 79 points to finish ahead of second-place Marist, which had 71 points. Canisius came in third with 65 points, followed by Rider, Siena, Fairfield, Niagara, Saint Peter’s and Iona.

Manhattan posted a school-record 35 victories this past season under 2009 MAAC Coach of the Year Kevin Leighton. The Jaspers were fifth in the nation with a .349 batting average and 12th in the country with 9.1 runs per contest.

2010 Predicted Order of Finish

(2009 MAAC/overall records, points)

1 Manhattan (18-6, 35-18) 79

2 Marist (15-9, 31-28) 71

3 Canisius (16-8, 36-22) 65

4 Rider (14-10, 26-23) 43

5 Siena (9-15, 15-35) 42

6 Fairfield (10-14, 20-27) 40

7 Niagara (14-10, 20-35) 29

8 Saint Peter’s (7-17, 17-37) 20

9 Iona (5-19, 6-40-1) 16