It's been a looooooooooooong day and now that Cincinnati appears just about done in the Orange Bowl, I'm about to head to bed. The Trentonian has new deadlines, which prevent us from getting a lot of late games (the one I'm watching included) in the paper, but which allow me to leave at a slightly more reasonable hour. Since I'll be getting out before midnight most of the time, I'm hoping to have a bit more time for the Blog.

So while I have a minute and before I fall asleep, a few thoughts on today's games:

It may be tough to overstate the significane of today's win for Rider.

I don't think it'd be a stretch to say that this could be the start of a significant turnaround. The Broncs host Marist Sunday at Alumni Gym, so we'll see fairly quickly if they can continue to do the good things they did today. If they do, they'll be 3-0 in the MAAC, which, after the way they looked in their last four games, is something with which Rider fans should be extremely pleased.

There's a lot of basketball left to be played, but a loss today may have been tough to overcome in terms of contending for a conference title. Had they lost, they'd be riding a three-game skid into Sunday's game and already have a MAAC loss before playing any games against Siena, Niagara and Fairfield. They also would have absolutely no reason to be confident with 16 MAAC games still ahead of them.

But they beat an Iona team that included Gary Springer, they did it on the road, and they did it convincingly.

Harris Mansell played wearing a sleave on his right elbow. He said he took a substance similar to IcyHot before the game, though he wasn't sure exactly what it was, and that his elbow felt "pretty good" while attempting 11 shots, 10 from 3-point range.

A whole lot is going to depend on how that elbow holds up. If it holds up well enough for Mansell to be a 35 percent 3-point shooter and a reliable scorer, there could be more good things to come.

No one in Iona's backcourt stepped up

Springer played well today, scoring 13 points in 17 minutes off the bench, and proving difficult as ever for Rider to slow down in the low post. He took six shots, all of them layups or dunks, and made them all. But he and Milan Prodanovic (12 points) were the only Gaels in double figures. Rider, by contrast, had four players in double figures.

I'm sure Kevin Willard would have liked more from Devon Clarke, who scored only three points in 22 minutes. Prodanovic, who has one of the sweetest strokes in the MAAC, scored 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting. But Trinity Fields and Scott Machado were a combined 3-for-13 from the floor, and that was a major reason the Gaels didn't do much offensively.

Fairfield needs help in the backcourt

The glass-half-full view of the way Ed Cooley divied out minutes today is that 11 players played. The glass-half-empty approach is that neither Jamal Turner (1o minutes) nor Lyndon Jordan (5) nor Sean Crawford (2) has emerged as the kind of reliable reserve who can play 20-25 minutes and help the offense run. Jon Han was a pre-season first-team all-MAAC pick for a reason, but he can't carry the entire backcourt load by himself, and Warren Edney's injury further necesitates somebody else stepping up.

Edney, by the way, had been one of the biggest reasons for Fairfield's improvement. It'd be a shame if the tendonitis that's been plaguing him keeps him from being a major factor in January and February.

As for what losing to Siena means, here's my take: I think Fairfield fans should be extremely disappointed the Stags didn't bring home a statement victory, and here's why: in years past, it would have been perfectly reasonable to consider a six-point loss on the road a good showing -- a showing that proved Fairfield belongs on the same court with Siena. But in years past, merely putting up a respectable showing was often (though there were a few exceptions) all the Stags were capable of and all they ever did.

Regardless of Siena's standing as a dominant power, this is Fairfield's best chance to win the league in at least four years. Han will be gone next year, and there's no telling what his absence could mean, especially with the lack of a clear heir apparent waiting in the wings. So there can't be a 'wait til next year' approach.

This is not to say that it's doom and gloom at 1073 North Benson. The Stags will get another shot at Siena during the regular season (Jan. 17 in Bridgeport) and potentially yet another during the MAAC tournament.

It's simply to say that it isn't enough to say 'Oh well, it's Siena on the road. What more could they do?'

The bottom line is somebody is going to have to beat Siena on the road, or the Saints will march right on back to the NCAA tournament. Had Fairfield done that today, it would have sent a statement that it's more than capable of being that team. That the Stags didn't do that should be -- and I suspect is -- a source of great frustration among players, coaches and fans.