2020-21 MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES GAME 16 • #5 NIAGARA • MAAC CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL • FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 5:30 p.m. • Atlantic City, N.J. • Boardwalk Hall • ESPNews (Tiffany Greene & Chris Spatola) ABV @ICGaels, @IonaGaelsMBB, #ICMBB #GaelNation 2020-21 SCHEDULE/RESULTS The No. 9 seed Iona College men's basketball team (10-5, 6-3 MAAC) GAELS IN THE MAAC Overall: 10-5 H: 4-2 A: 4-3 N: 2-0 MAAC: 6-3 takes on No. 5 Niagara (9-10, 7-9 MAAC) in the semifinal round of the CHAMPIONSHIP Date Day Opponent Time/Result 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Championship at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Army 4-0 N 30 Mon at Seton Hall (FS1) L, 64-86 Hall Friday night on ESPNews. Canisius 6-3 Fairfield 3-4 D 5 Sat at Hofstra (FloSports) W, 82-74 WHY NINE? DRIVE FOR FIVE? Fordham 3-2 D 8 Tue MORGAN STATE (ESPN3) L, 72-83 • Despite owning the second-best winning percentage in the conference, Holy Cross 3-2 D 11 Fri at Fairfield* (ESPNU) W, 70-42 due to this season's tiebreaker, the Gaels will serve as the No. 9 seed. Loyola 4-0 D 12 Sat at Fairfield* (ESPN+) L, 52-67 Manhattan 3-4 • With the 2020 Championship canceled before completion last Marist 4-2 D 18 Fri at Rider* (ESPN+) W, 70-54 year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Iona still remains the four-time Monmouth 3-0 D 19 Sat at Rider* (ESPN+) W, 72-64 defending MAAC Tournament Champion. Niagara 2-5 D 23 Wed COPPIN STATE (ESPN+) W, 85-65 • The Maroon & Gold look to climb a steep hill in its Drive for Five straight Quinnipiac 1-0 F 12 Fri MANHATTAN* (ESPN+) W, 85-67 Rider 4-1 titles, needing to win four games in five days to accomplish the feat. Saint Peter's 8-4 F 13 Sat MANHATTAN* (ESPN+) L, 70-77 Siena 11-0 F 17 Wed at Quinnipiac* (ESPN+) L, 70-74 THE GAELS IN MAAC TOURNAMENT PLAY Overall 59-27 (.686) F 19 Fri MONMOUTH* (ESPNU) W, 91-86 In 40 years as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic F 20 Sat MONMOUTH* (ESPN+) W, 88-65 Conference, Iona has compiled an all-time record of 59-27 IONA VS. NIAGARA (.686) record in the league’s postseason tournament - including Overall: 48-39 (.552) | Rick Pitino: 2-2 MAAC Championship - Atlantic City, NJ - No. 9 Seed a league-record 12 titles. The .686 winning percentage is MAAC Championship: 2-5 M 9 Tue #8 Quinnipiac (ESPN+) W, 72-48 highest in MAAC history (Siena, 40-26, .606). MAAC CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS M 10 Wed #1 Siena (ESPN+) W, 55-52 Year Round Decision Site M 12 Fri #5 Niagara (ESPNEWS) 5:30 p.m. BUSTING THE (MAAC) BRACKET 2002 Quarter L, 83-89 M 13 Sat #3 Saint Peter's/#7 Fairfield (ESPNU) 4 p.m. • The No. 9 seed has never reached the MAAC 2003 Quarter L, 75-81 Home events in CAPS & BOLD; MAAC Games noted by an asterisk Championship game in the event's history. 2004 Quarter L, 92-106 OT • The lowest seed to reach the MAAC final was Fairfield, 2005 Semi L, 66-69 a No. 8 seed, in 1997. 2006 Quarter W, 80-54 2010 Quarter L, 64-68 • Iona is the No. 9 seed for the first time in history. 2013 Semi W, 79-73 • With its win over No. 1 Siena, Iona became the second 9-seed to reach the semifinal in tournament GAELS VS. PURPLE EAGLES history joining Saint Peter's from 2018. With a win NAME GP MIN PTS REB AST tonight, the Gaels would be come the first No. 9 to Ross 2 38.5 15.5 5.5 3.5 reach the semifinal round. Gist 3 29.7 9.3 1.3 4.3 • The Gaels are 9-1 all time vs. the No. 5 seed, 0-0 in van Eyck 2 8.0 1.0 1.5 0.0 the 5/9 game, 0-0 as the lower seed. Cashaw 1 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2020-21 IONA GAELS AT A GLANCE ## Name Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. PPG RPG APG Of Note Starters (based on last game's starting five) 0 Berrick JeanLouis Jr. G 6-4 195 8.3 5.7 1.7 Uber-athletic wing... Leads MAAC with 2.5 spg... 13p in MAAC QF vs. Siena 2 Asante Gist Sr. G 5-10 185 12.5 1.8 3.8 Leads MAAC with 88.2 FT%... Ranks No. 3 with 3.8 apg.. Four straight 10+ point efforts 11 Dwayne Koroma Fr. F 6-7 190 2.8 3.5 1.3 Talented rookie prospect... Has started last six games... Season bests 10p 2x vs. QUI 20 Isaiah Ross Sr. G 6-3 200 19.7 3.5 1.5 All-MAAC First Team... 3x MAAC POW (12/7, 12/21, 12/28)... Leads MAAC in scoring 23 Nelly Junior Joseph Fr. F 6-9 230 11.2 7.3 1.2 MAAC Rookie of the Year... 4x ROW (12/7,21,28, 2/15)... Leads MAAC rookies in PPG, RPG, FG%, BPG Off the Bench 1 Colton Cashaw Sr. G 6-2 185 0.6 0.3 0.6 Back up point guard... Converted first field goal vs. Monmouth Feb. 19 3 Ryan Myers Fr. G 6-0 170 6.6 1.5 1.1 Five double-digit point efforts... 10.0 ppg, 2.2 3FG/g, 61.5 FG%, 61.1 3FG in last 3 reg. seas. GP 4 Parker Weiss So. G 6-2 175 0.5 0.1 0.0 Second-year walk-on from Florida... Has converted both FGA this season 5 Tahlik Chavez So. G 6-1 160 3.5 1.3 0.9 Tremendous shooter with great range... Scoring guard that will see point guard minutes 12 Jordan Brooks Fr. G 6-4 190 0.0 0.0 0.0 Rookie walk-on from Kentucky... Son of former Rick Pitino player/assistant Delray Brooks 13 Omar Rowe Fr. G 6-5 185 0.7 0.6 0.1 New York product that played scholastically in Conn. and prep down South 15 Johan Crafoord Fr. F 6-8 230 0.7 0.3 0.3 Tough inside presence who will push for time in Iona's deep front court 24 Dylan van Eyck Sr. F 6-8 210 6.7 6.8 2.7 Four games with 10+ rebounds... Averaged 13.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.5 apg in 2 GP vs. Monmouth 44 James Carey So. G 5-10 160 0.5 0.0 0.0 Sophomore walk-on... Played rookie year at Gettysburg College (PA)... Scored first Iona pts vs. MON 50 Trey James Fr. F 6-10 240 0.5 1.0 0.0 2021 recruit, joined Iona a year early after graduating HS in December.. Made debut vs. MON 55 Osborn Shema So. F 7-0 200 4.4 4.0 0.5 One of Iona's top recruits for 2020-21... Made season debut vs. MAN... Grabbed 10r vs. MON/QUI 2020-21 Iona College Men’s Basketball Game Notes vs. Niagara - MAAC Semifinal Round - March 12, 2021 • Page 2 ABOUT THE SEMIFINALISTS • Siena had seven straight from 2006-2012, • The Gaels have reached the semifinal round of Manhattan (2000-2005) and La Salle (1987-1992) the MAAC Championship for a league record 25th recorded six straight and the Gaels (1997-2001) time overall. had five. • Iona's semifinal round counterparts represent TOP DOG the league's No. 3, 4 and 5 teams in terms of • Senior Isaiah Ross finished the truncated semifinal appearances. The Gaels defeated No. 2 2020-21 MAAC STANDINGS* 2020-21 regular season averaging 20.5 points per Siena (20 apps) last night. MAAC OVERALL game, leading the MAAC in scoring. SCHOOL W L PCT W L PCT ALL-TIME MAAC SEMIFINAL APPEARANCES • Ross is the seventh Iona player to lead the 1. Siena 12 4 .750 12 5 .706 Team Total SF Apps Semifinal Record MAAC in scoring, with Steve Burtt senior owning 2. Monmouth 12 6 .667 12 8 .600 Iona 25 18-6 the honor in the league's first three seasons. 3. Saint Peter's 10 8 .556 14 10 .583 Saint Peter's 19 7-11 • The Gaels have boasted back-to-back scoring 4. Marist 10 8 .556 12 9 .571 Fairfield 18 8-9 champs following EJ. Crawford's 18.8 ppg last year. 5. NIAGARA 7 9 .438 9 10 .474 Niagara 14 6-7 • It is the first time a MAAC school has had a 6. Canisius 7 5 .583 7 6 .538 back-to-back scoring champs since Saint Peter's GAELS IN MAAC REGULAR SEASON PLAY 7. Fairfield 7 11 .389 9 16 .360 Keydren Clark led the league for four straight Since the inception of the MAAC in the 1981-82 8. Quinnipiac 7 10 .412 9 13 .409 seasons from 2002-2006. season, Iona has compiled a 403-252 (.615) record 9. IONA 6 3 .667 10 5 .667 • It is the second time in MAAC history a in regular season conference play. The Gaels’ 403 10. Manhattan 6 12 .333 7 13 .350 school has had different players in back-to-back wins and .615 winning percentage are the highest 11. Rider 5 13 .278 6 17 .261 represent the league's scoring champ.