Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Recaps

Springfield, MA (Sports Network) – Tre Bowman scored 20 points off the bench and Iona earned its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance with a 60-57 win over Manhattan in the MAAC Tournament final.

The Gaels (20-13) were the fourth seed and had a first-round bye in the tourney. They defeated Canisius, 89-85, on Saturday and upset top-seeded Niagara 79-73 on Sunday to reach the title game.

Bowman shot 7-of-9 from the field for the Gaels. Lamont Jones scored 14 points and David Laury had 10 points and six rebounds in the victory.

“This year, it’s a lot more meaningful,” Jones said of his team’s second straight NCAA Tournament bid. “If you told me nine months ago that this was going to be the case, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.”

Michael Alvarado scored 14 points for the Jaspers (14-18), who have not made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2004. No other player on the roster scored in double digits.

Manhattan, which earned the sixth seed and a first-round bye in the tourney, got past third-seed Loyola-Maryland, 55-52, on Saturday and seventh-seed Fairfield, 60-42, on Sunday.

“We’re going to look back on this day and cherish it,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello said. “And this will be the fuel to Manhattan’s future.”

The Jaspers led at halftime, 26-24, but the Gaels seized control in the second half.

Down 35-30 with 14 1/2 minutes left in regulation, Iona went on a 17-2 run to take a 47-37 lead with 8:41 to play.

Manhattan tried to come back and cut the deficit to 56-52 with 1:24 left, but the Jaspers lacked rebounding opportunities when they needed it most.

Bowman made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to go and Laury dunked with six seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

The Jaspers’ Shane Richards made a 3-pointer with one second left and the Iona bench committed a technical foul to allow Donovan Kates to sink a pair of free throws, but that was it.

Game Notes

Iona will be making its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance … The Gaels have 20 wins for the fourth straight season … Iona and Manhattan split in the regular-season. Manhattan won the first matchup, 78-70, on Jan. 6 while Iona won the second meeting, 74-73, in double overtime on Feb. 15 … It was the 82nd matchup between the two teams, but they had never met in the title game.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball