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MAAC Tournament Week tipped off with the annual First Niagara Siena Basketball Celebration Monday night at the historic Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia. Family, friends and Siena Basketball supporters joined both teams in a festive setting to celebrate the regular season and gear up for this week's MAAC Tournament.

The event featured a combined program highlighting both the men's and women's basketball programs which included a sit down dinner, season highlight and senior tribute videos, an awards ceremony, and speeches from head coaches Jimmy Patsos and Ali Jaques.

The evening began with Siena College Vice President and Director of Athletics John D'Argenio addressing the crowd and presenting former longtime associate athletic director for communications and marketing Jason Rich with the Howard J. Tucker Award for his nearly two decades of service to the Siena Basketball program. Peter Cosgrove and Kelly Arnold from the event's title sponsor First Niagara then presented a check for $13,000 to the programs.

The evening concluded with the presentation of awards recognizing superlative performances from both teams' student athletes. Award recipients were as follows:

Men's Basketball Awards
Dan Cunha Defensive Player Award: Javion Ogunyemi
Billy Harrell Rebounder Award: Brett Bisping
Jim Sullivan Most Improved Player Award: Lavon Long
Rev. Benjamin Kuhn Student Athlete Award: Ryan Oliver
Newcomer Award: Nico Clareth
Doc Marcelle MVP Award: Brett Bisping and Javion Ogunyemi

Women's Basketball Awards
Vicki Aromando Academic Excellence Award: Karolina Severova
Joe Hogan Award for Desire, Dedication and Positive Attitude: Symone Kelly
Val Higgins Award for Leadership: Meghan Donohue
Most Improved Player Award: Deja Rawls
Best Defensive Player Award: Denisha Petty-Evans
Rookie of the Year Award: Jackie Benitez
MVP Award: Kollyns Scarbrough

Both teams begin their quests for MAAC Championships later this week at the Times Union Center. The men are seeded third and will open tournament play in the quarterfinal round Saturday at 7 p.m. The Saints will play the winner of Thursday's 6/11 matchup between Manhattan and Marist. The women, who are the No. 7 seed, open against 10th seeded Rider in the First Round Thursday at 11:30 a.m.