Three teams that rank at or near the top in their respective conferences pay a visit to

Western New York this week, giving area basketball fans a chance to get a look at the elite.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference kingpin Siena begins its WNY swing at 8 p.m. against

Niagara on Friday in the Gallagher Center (ESPN2). Then it's on to the Koessler Center to meet

up with Canisius at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Saints, 21-4 overall and 14-0 in conference, extended

their winning streak to 15 with a 69-67 win over visiting Fairfield Monday night and have

designs on running the table in the MAAC.

"I don't see why they couldn't do it," said Iona coach Kevin Willard said after his Gaels

were spanked by the Saints, 88-68, last Friday.

"We're going to stay sharp and play every game like it's the national championship game,"

Fran McCaffery told the Albany Times-Union. "You try to win them all."

Its conference dominance affords the Saints a chance to back off and perhaps rest some

players before the conference tournament in Albany. Plan B gives the Saints no such luxury.

Should they fail to win the MAAC Tournament, Siena's NCAA Tournament hopes would be at the

mercy of the selection committee. At No. 43 in the Ratings Percentage Index, the Saints can't

slip up.

"I'd rather keep playing," Saints point guard Ronald Moore said. "When you have a player

who's really going, you don't want him to get injured in a game that might not mean anything.

But to keep going and to stay in rhythm is definitely important, I believe."

Niagara was 13-12, 6-7 heading into Monday night's important game at Rider, also 13-12,

6-7. The bottom four teams in the conference (currently 1-13 Marist, 3-11 Manhattan, 5-9

Loyola and 6-8 Canisius) will open the MAAC Tournament on March 5. Canisius, which lost in

overtime at Saint Peter's Sunday, plays Marist at 7 p.m. Friday at the Koessler Center before

taking its shot at Siena.

In the Mid-American Conference, the University at Buffalo (12-9, 5-5) opens a three-game

homestand with the last of its divisional crossover games, at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Eastern

Michigan (12-11, 4-6). Then it's back to the East Division for the stretch run of the regular

season beginning with a noon game at Alumni Arena on Saturday against division- and

conference-leading Kent State (17-7, 8-2). The Bulls were sitting at 10-4, 2-0 before an 89-54

whipping at Kent on Jan. 20 launched a swoon that has seen UB lose five of its last seven.

Meanwhile, Saint Bonaventure will experience both ends of the Atlantic 10 spectrum in the

Reilly Center this week. The Bonnies (9-12, 2-6) face downtrodden Fordham (2-19, 0-9) at 7

p.m. Wednesday, then rebound to entertain soaring Richmond (18-6, 7-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The

Spiders knocked off No. 19 Temple over the weekend and sit in a three-way tie for third in the

A-10, a half-game behind Xavier and a game behind Charlotte.

"These guys work very, very hard and not only have worked hard this week and this season,

but they have worked hard to build the program to the point where we can be considered an

elite team in the A-10 and a national basketball program," coach Chris Mooney told the

Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In the A-10 Tournament, seeds Nos. 5-12 meet in first-round games on campus sites, with the

winners joining the top four seeds in Atlantic City. The Bonnies remain in contention to host

a first-round game but they're also in peril of being one of two teams left out altogether.

After winless Fordham, three teams have two conference wins and three have three.

Quotable

Canisius coach Tom Parrotta on a bench that's dwindled with the removal of forward

Chris Gadley, the loss of freshman guard Reggie Groves (ACL) and the temporary loss of

freshman guard Alshwan Hymes (arthroscopic surgery): "Frank [Turner] cuts me off every time I

say, "Are you guys tired?' He goes, "It's all psychological.' That's what he tells me all the

time. So it must be psychological. We're practicing with nine guys. I got a manager out there.

But who isn't?"

Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins on the MAC East versus West: "I think that the

East is still better than the West. This year I think that the gap closed a little bit.

There's a lot more competitive games. ... I still think the East has the edge in terms of

overall depth though."