ALBANY, NY – For the eighth straight year, the Iona College men's basketball has advanced to the MAAC Championship semifinal round behind a 72-60 victory against Manhattan this evening at the Times Union Center.
Zach Lewis tallied 23 points to lead all scorers on the evening while adding nine rebounds. Lewis becomes the eighth Gael (18-13) this season to post a 20-point game. Additionally, the senior finished 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
Schadrac Casimir knocked down all eight of his free throw attempts towards 18 points.
E.J. Crawford joined the duo in double-figures with 14 points, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Despite not scoring,
Rickey McGill made an impact with six assists and five of the team's 10 steals.
A 9-0 run with under 10 minutes to play in the first half helped the Maroon & Gold build an 11-point margin at 29-18 with 5:47 remaining until halftime on a
TK Edogi layup. Iona went into the break with a 35-29 lead as Casimir led the group with 12 points.
In the second half, the Gaels kept the lead above six points for the entire 20 minutes by going 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) from the charity stripe compared to 15-of-22 for Manhattan (14-17). The lead was stretched out to as many as 14 points on two occasions in the final half, with the game being wrapped up at the free throw line as
Deyshonee Much and Lewis combined to go perfect on four attempts with less than 30 seconds remaining.
With seven points this evening, Much became the 40
th member of the 1,000 point club in program history. Furthermore, the eighth straight trip to the semifinal round for Iona ties a MAAC record for most consecutive trips.
Pauly Paulicap notched a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Jaspers. Zane Waterman added 14 points and six rebounds.
Iona advances to Sunday's first semifinal game at 7 pm against Saint Peter's. It is the second straight year the two programs will meet in the MAAC Championships semifinal round. The second semifinal of the evening will feature Connecticut rivals Quinnipiac and Fairfield.
