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VanDelay's 2008 MAC Tournament Awards

The 2008 MAC Basketball Tournament proved to be another thriller. The Mid-American Conference and Quicken Loans Arena once again did a great job of putting on this first-class event.

Thanks to this enjoyable week in Cleveland, VanDelay Sports has decided to put together a "best of the MAC Tournament" 2008 edition.

First, for best game(s) of the 2008 MAC Tournament, the award goes to "any game that involves Miami." The RedHawks were involved in some thrillers this week as the #5-seeded RedHawks topped #12 Buffalo 69-68 on Wednesday, defeated Ohio 74-61 on Thursday in a game that was close until the final minutes, then fell to Kent State on Al Fisher's game winner with three seconds remining in their semifinal match-up.

Next we have the best clutch performer award, and who better to receive this award than "Big Shot Al" Fisher of Kent State. Named the MAC Player of the Year by the media earlier in the week, Fisher lived up to his nickname with the game winner over Miami in the semifinals.

No series of awards would be complete without mentioning the oft-overlooked fans, bands and dance teams. The best fan support awards were not difficult to choose. Considering the location of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland each year, Akron & Kent State should logically have the best fan support. With both teams advancing to the MAC Championship game, the fan support for both teams proved to be strong as Akron & Kent State are the winners.

Bands and dance teams are more difficult for sports fans to recognize, so we made sure to ask the opinions of others in the media and pay close attention to all of the groups that made the trip to Cleveland. Clearly, the two best bands in Cleveland were Ohio and Western Michigan's pep bands. Both had a strong sound and both did a very good job of supporting their teams and adding to the game atmosphere. As for the dance teams, the P.A. announcer introduced the Miami dance team as the #5-ranked dance team in the nation. They were certainly very impressive, but we also like Ohio's dance team, so Miami & Ohio are the two we chose for the best dance teams.

Back to the basketball court, it's time for the VanDelay Sports 2008 All-MAC Tournament team. This was EXTREMELY difficult to pick as statistically, few players really stood out. There are probably 6-10 players who could be named to this top five without much difference, but here are the five we came up with.

• Tyler Dierkers, Miami

• Al Fisher, Kent State

• Haminn Quaintance, Kent State

• Joe Reitz, Western Michigan

• Jeremiah Wood, Akron

And the MAC Player of the Tournament award goes to...

Al Fisher, Kent State - His numbers throughout the MAC Tournament were not fantastic, but neither were his regular season numbers. When it came down to crunch time, Fisher stepped up big and hit the shot Kent needed to top Miami. He then followed that with 9 points in the first half against Akron as the Golden Flashes built their lead in the Championship game. While Fisher finished with 12 points in the MAC Championship, he proved to be a solid leaded on a well-balanced team throughout the season and the tournament.