NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Iona College men's basketball head coach
Rick Pitino earned his 800th win as a college coach in the Gaels' hard-fought win over Saint Peter's, 85-77, Sunday at the Hynes Center. A raucous, near capacity crowd witnessed history, not just the milestone victory, but also a 10-0 start to MAAC play, and 9-0 at the Hynes Center for the Maroon & Gold. Six players scored at least nine points in the Game as Iona used a strong second half effort in the win.
THE MILESTONE
Unofficially, Coach Pitino becomes the 15th NCAA Division I coach to be on the sidelines for 800 victories. He joined his friend, University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari who reached the mark last week. Another longtime head coach, Cliff Ellis from Coastal Carolina University hit 800 earlier this season.
THE RUNDOWN
The first half was a slugfest between the two top teams in the MAAC as the advantage for either team remained within two possessions for the entire frame and within one possession for all but 98 seconds. Saint Peter's largest lead was 12-7, following an Oumar Diahame layup at the 13:38 mark. The Gaels led by four (23-19) following two free throws by sophomore
Ryan Myers with 4:15 to play. With the Iona ahead by two on the Peacocks' final possession of the half, Jaylen Murray banked home a desperation three from the wing to put Saint Peter's ahead 30-29 at the half.
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The Peacocks took an early advantage in the second half that was quickly erased by a 15-2 run by the Gaels over a span of nearly four minutes. Down 36-32 just under two and a half minutes into the frame, Iona ripped off nine straight points. Three pointers by graduate
Tyson Jolly and Myers sandwiched an #SCTop10 highlight reel steel and breakaway dunk by graduate
Dylan van Eyck. Junior
Osborn Shema capped the 9-0 run with a free throw to give the Maroon & Gold a 41-36 lead at 15:14.Â
Following a Saint Peter's field goal, Iona added six more on a Myers three, a van Eyck free throw and a Shema jumper from the free throw line. The decisive run put Iona ahead 47-38 with just over 13 minutes to play. Van Eyck gave the Gaels their first double-digit advantage of the game with a long three-pointer at 12:10. Iona's largest lead of the half came on Jolly free throws with under five minutes to play that made the score 67-52. A furious comeback effort by Saint Peter's in the final 90 seconds, saw the Gaels spend their entire time at the free throw line. Graduate
Elijah Joiner connected on all eight attempts while van Eyck made 3-of-4 to seal the win.
IONA PERFORMERS
- Sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph led Iona with 17 points in just 15 minutes of play. He was 7-for-9 from the field, and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe and grabbed six rebounds.
- Myers posted 15 points, three rebounds and two assists. He was 5-for-9 from the field and hit all three three-point attempts.
- Joiner added 13 points, three assists and two boards. He did most of his damage from the free-throw line converting 11-of-13 attempts.
- Jolly had 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds. He stuffed the stat sheet with three assists, a steal and a block.
- van Eyck also added 11 points with three rebounds, four blocks, an assist and a steal. He converted all three shot attempts and has made nine of his last 10 dating back to last Sunday at Quinnipiac.
- Junior Quinn Slazinski posted nine points including a team-high seven in the first half. He also added four rebounds, two assists and a steal in 16 minutes on the floor.
- Shema played 25 strong minutes in relief of a foul-plagued Junior Joseph, with five points, five rebounds three assists and two blocks.
THE OPPONENT
- Saint Peter's was led by a trio of performers who accounted for 55 of the team's 77 points.
- Doug Edert had 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting including 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
- Matthew Lee also torched the Gaels from deep, posting 20 points, 7-for-10 shooting and 4-for-5 from distance.
- Preseason Player of the Year KC Ndefo posted 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
TEAM STATS
- Iona out shot Saint Peter's 51.9% - 46.4%. Both teams shot well in the second half with the Gaels converting 17-of-30 attempts (56.7%) and Saint Peter's making 15-of-30 (50.0%).
- The Maroon & Gold's 22-12 rebounding advantage in the second half led to a 37-30 lead for the game over the MAAC's leading rebounding team in terms of margin heading into the contest. The Gaels had a 16-6 advantage in second chance points.
- Iona led 18-14 on assists and committed one less turnover in the contest with 14. Both teams took better care of the ball in the second half. After 19 combined turnovers in the first 20 minutes, only 10 were committed in the final 20.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- The win was Iona's 30th in 39 tries under Coach Pitino. The best 39-game start by a head coach to start his tenure at Iona. Other Iona coaches with a .500 mark in their first 39 contests include: Tim Welsh (28-11), Tim Cluess (26-13), Jim McDermott (24-15), Pat Kennedy (23-16), Gary Brokaw (21-18), and Jeff Ruland (20-19).
- Iona has won seven straight games, the longest stretch since Coach Pitino's arrival last season and longest since a 10-game winning streak heading into the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
- Iona is the sixth team to win at least 10 games to start the MAAC season and first since Siena won its first 14 in 2019-10 in route to a 17-1 finish and regular season conference title.
- It was the first time Iona and Saint Peter's squared off since the 2020 MAAC Quarterfinal round. The game was one of the final NCAA contests completed before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the remainder of the conference tournament and entire NCAA tournament.
UP NEXT
Iona travels to Western New York next weekend for its annual tilts at Canisius and Niagara. The Gaels and Griffs square off Friday night.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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