NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day at the Hynes Center with a 97-81 win over Rider in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action. The Gaels (20-9, 17-3 MAAC) finished two games ahead of Manhattan in the league standings to earn the MAAC's Regular Season Championship.

Iona earned its 20th win of the season in the contest, marking the fifth straight and 18th all-time 20+ win season in the 73-year history of the program. It is the first time in program history with five straight 20+ win seasons, surpassing the four straight set in 1981-85. Head coach Tim Cluess is the only (of 12 all-time) head coach in program history to earn 20 wins in each of his first four seasons in New Rochelle. Only he and Pat Kennedy can boast four 20-win seasons as the leader of the Maroon & Gold.

Senior Sean Armand led the Gaels in his final game at the Hynes Center and was just a rebound and an assist shy of the program's third-ever triple-double. Armand recorded 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. He shot 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from deep and 4-of-5 from the line and played all but the final 56 seconds before exiting the floor with his fellow seniors to a rousing ovation by the capacity crowd. With the 21 points, Armand jumped past three players on Iona's all-time scoring list and sits in eighth place with 1,632 points. He passed former teammate Scott Machado and Gael standouts Mindaugus Timinskas and Richie Simmonds and is in striking distance of seventh place in the next game. In addition to his scoring efforts, Armand appeared in his 133rd career game, more than any other player in program history.

Five other Gaels recorded double-figures, led by sophomore A.J. English 25-point effort. He was 7-of-11 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 from the free throw line adding four assists and two rebounds. Sophomore Isaiah Williams scored 17 points and filled the stat sheet with three rebounds, three blocks, three steals and two assists. Senior Tre Bowman scored all 13 of his points in the first 11 minutes of the contest. He added seven rebounds. Senior Mike Poole had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Junior David Laury had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. He was limited to just 17 minutes due to foul trouble.

Iona scored the first 13 points of the game and led by as many as 22 in the first half after a Bowman three pointer at 8:42 and then following a conventional three-point play by Armand a minute later. Rider finished the final 7:10 on a 25-7 run and trailed by just four points entering the break.

Rider tied the score at 47-47 just 89 seconds into the second half but seven straight Iona points led to a 15-5 run and a 10 point advantage following a Poole layup with 13:39 left. After the Broncs cut it to three points with 11:56 on the clock, Iona responded with 11 straight points and never looked back.

Rider senior Anthony Myles led four double-digit scorers with 19 points. Senior Daniel Stewart had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while sophomore Shawn Valentine and rookie Jimmie Taylor had 14 points apiece.

The Gaels shot 61.1% from the field with the assistance of a 20-for-30 (66.7%) second half effort. They held Rider to 44.6% from the field and out rebounded their guests 33-32. Iona recorded 21 assists to just 12 turnovers with only one of them coming in the final 12 minutes of the contest.

In a pregame ceremony prior to the game, Armand, Bowman, Poole and fellow seniors DaShawn Gomez and Kristian Duravcevic and manager Jose Piguave were honored in their final game at the Hynes Center.

Iona moves on to the 2014 MAAC Championship next weekend at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA. The Gaels will take on the winner of the first round matchup between No. 8 seed Rider and No. 9 seed Monmouth on Saturday (Mar. 8) at 12:00 pm.