GAME NOTES: The Iona Gaels try to make it to the championship game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament for the third straight year, but will first half to take out the Siena Saints in the quarterfinals of the event on Saturday at the Times Union Center.

The top-seeded Gaels, winners of a league-best eight MAAC Tournament titles, the latest of which came in 2013 versus Manhattan (60-57), played in the finals last season but lost by three points coincidentally enough to the Jaspers (71-68). The team had been on a roll in the month of February, winning all eight outings during the stretch and 11 in a row overall, before bowing to Saint Peter's in the regular-season finale last Sunday, 68-60.

For eighth-seeded Siena, this is their home floor, but still it is considered a neutral-site affair since Iona is the higher seed. The Saints trail only Iona in tournament titles, having claimed five over the years. Siena, which is now 35-20 in the event all-time and last won it all in 2010 with a win over Fairfield in overtime, is coming off a 71-54 beating of Niagara in the first round of the tourney on Thursday.

Siena, which has won 13 straight home postseason games at the Times Union Center, has lost all sixth postseason meetings against the Gaels. In the all- time series with Iona, the Saints trail by a 57-47 margin, with the most recent loss for Siena being an 87-83 decision back in early February.

The winner of this meeting will advance to the semifinals on Sunday versus the survivor of the Canisius/Monmouth contest for the right to battle for the crown on Monday night.

Considering the Saints lost five straight and seven of the final eight games on the schedule before playing in the first round of the tournament, it was certainly a surprise to see the team come up with not only a win over ninth- seeded Niagara, but a lopsided one at that. An early 7-0 run for Siena put the team on top and from there the squad never looked back, holding the Purple Eagles to just 1-of-11 shooting behind the 3-point line and forcing 14 turnovers.

Offensively, the Saints were driven by Evan Hymes who tallied 14 points and made five of his team's nine steals, followed by Ryan Oliver with 13 points and six rebounds off the bench. Marquis Wright tacked on 11 points and six assists, while Lavon Long added 10 points and six boards before fouling out.

Although he was questionable heading into the meeting with an ankle injury, Rob Poole accounted for eight points, but head coach Jimmy Patsos expressed concern about his availability for this game coming up.

If Poole is not at 100 percent, the Saints will have a tough time keeping up with Iona on the scoreboard since the Gaels are one of the top scoring programs in the country with an average of 79.6 ppg. The program has a quartet of players scoring in double figures, led by David Laury with his 20.1 ppg. Laury is also first on the unit with 9.5 rpg and 38 blocked shots, not to mention second with 80 assists for a very unselfish program.

A.J. English checks in with 19.5 ppg, adding 5.2 rpg and a team-best 155 assists as he plays close to 38 minutes per contest. English is tied with Schadrac Casimir (15.2 ppg) for the lead in 3-pointers with 89, while Isaiah Williams (13.5 ppg) is next on that list with 55 triples.

Even though the defense for the Gaels can be more than a little forgiving, with so many offensive weapons to turn to it would be foolish to pick against them in this meeting, although Siena has shown that it can get the job done in front of the hometown crowd in the postseason.