Iona Falls in MAAC Championship Game to St. Peter’s

BRIDGEPORT, CT—Iona’s offense had looked so good in the MAAC Tournament it almost seemed unfair. The Gaels hung 94 on on Saturday. They hit 14 three-pointers and shot 50 percent in an 83-point performance against on Sunday. With point guard Scott Machado driving and dishing—either to his beast of a forward Mike Glover or one of Iona’s many outside threats—there didn’t appear to be a tactic that could slow this scoring attack.

Saint Peter’s found a way. The scrappy team that made its mark on defense all season put together another impressive performance, holding Iona to its lowest total this season and winning 62-57 in the MAAC Championship on Monday night at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The Peacocks earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

It was Iona that had hopes of claiming a berth in the Big Dance. Riding a nine-game winning streak, the Gaels entered the title game as big favorites after putting on clinics against their previous two challengers.

From the start, this one would not be nearly as easy. St. Peter’s knew it could not run with Iona, as it found out the hard way in its two prior meetings with Iona this season, a and a 73-59 defeat at home just 10 days ago in a game that wasn’t even as close as the margin indicates.

This time, St. Peter’s slowed the tempo on offense and prevented Iona from getting easy baskets in transition. Almost every time the Peacocks missed a shot, the entire coaching staff rose from the bench in unison and yelled at their players to “Get back!” on defense.

“We know we can’t beat them at their game,” St. Peter’s head coach John Dunne said. “As a coach you can say all you want about tempo and shot selection, but as players they have to believe in that. If they were a different group they might say, ‘No, we can run with them.’ It’s a pride thing. But these guys knew exactly what we needed to do to win. They followed the game plan to a T.”

The result was Iona shooting just 32 percent, including 3-of-18 from three-point range. Shooting is not entirely defense-dependent. The Gaels certainly missed some shots, both from deep and close, they had been converting throughout the weekend. “The guys pressed a little bit because we didn’t hit shots early,” Iona head coach Tim Cluess said. Starting shooting guard Kyle Smyth re-injuring his shoulder at the 3:00 mark of the first half and not returning didn’t help.

Neither did Jeron Belin’s performance off the bench for the Peacocks. The 24 percent three-point shooter made all three of his attempts in the first half to help St. Peter’s to a 26-20 lead. He finished with 17 points for the game and was named the Tournament’s MVP.

Midway through the second half, Glover slammed home a long alley-oop pass from Machado to cut the deficit to four. It energized the Iona fans grouped in the corner behind the Gaels’ bench. Nine bus loads of students made the 40-mile trip from New Rochelle. But instead of the highlight reel play inspiring an Iona run, St. Peter’s extended its lead to 13 with seven minutes left.

Iona trailed by eight after Wesley Jenkins of St. Peter’s hit two free throws with 1:53 remaining, but that’s about when the Peacocks started having flashbacks to their semifinal game against Fairfield. Much like that game, the Peacocks struggled against a pressure defense—in the second half alone they turned it over 10 times and Iona registered nine steals.

A St. Peter’s inbounds pass was thrown directly to Iona’s Trinity Fields, who quickly put it in for two to make it 53-48. Jenkins responded with what seemed at the time to be a backbreaker—an acrobatic left-handed shot off the glass as he was fouled. His free throw pushed the lead back to eight with 1:10 left.

But Iona didn’t quit. Question their offensive execution all you want, but you can’t fault the Gaels’ effort. They out-rebounded St. Peter’s 38-30, a figure enhanced by Iona’s 19 offensive rebounds. Glover tallied nine offensive boards, including several in the final minute to keep Iona’s hopes alive. He finished with a game-high 23 points, many on putback layups.

After yet another steal, this one with 30 seconds left, Machado found Fields open for a three that would cut the lead to one, but the shot drew iron. Machado’s three with 18 seconds left made it a three-point game, but Jenkins’ two free throws sealed the victory for St. Peter’s. The Peacocks were a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line; they hit nine in the final two minutes and six in the last 30 seconds.

Iona’s shooting stars from the semifinal game, Rashon Dwight and Jermel Jenkins, couldn’t get anything going. Dwight was 2-of-13 from the field while Jenkins was 0-for-4.

Iona’s 22 wins and impressive run to the MAAC final should not be forgotten. “I think our guys had a good enough season that we should get an invite to some tournament. I’m hoping for that,” Cluess said. The NIT is certainly not out of the question.

As for next year, with only Dwight and forward Alejo Rodriguez graduating, Iona will be a favorite to make a similar run in 2012.