MAAC Basketball: Iona going dancing after nail biting win over Monmouth

The Gaels will represent MAAC basketball in the Big Dance for the first time since 2013.

Iona has dealt with plenty of adversity over the last few seasons. They lost two straight conference tournament championships to Manhattan and this year, the Gaels were handed a major blow when Kelvin Amayo and Schadrac Casimir went down with a season ending injuries.

Senior A.J. English, one of the best players in the country that no one knows about, has yet to play in an NCAA Tournament. And then there’s the Gaels’ other star, Isaiah Williams, who has rebounded from a serious knee surgery to play the best basketball of his career.

Iona was finally rewarded on Monday night in Albany, as they squeaked out a nail biting victory in the MAAC Conference Tournament final over Monmouth, 79-76.

The Gaels shot only 41 percent from the field and 38 percent from downtown but they had seven less turnovers than the Hawks and three more assists. They made the critical plays down the stretch defensively, including a Williams strip of Deon Jones that led to an English steal with four seconds remaining.

New Rochelle can begin their celebration knowing that this tough Gaels team, that has drastically improved defensively, will live at least another week and a half.

Two studs no where to be found

English (22.5 ppg, 6.2 apg, 5.1 rpg) and Justin Robinson (the MAAC Player of the Year) are the leaders of their respective teams. But on Monday night, both players were quiet for the majority of the game.

English finished with 19 points, made some nifty passes and hit a sweet turn around jumper late in the game, but he was inefficient, shooting just 4-of-13 from the floor. He also shot 30 percent from beyond the three point line and was hounded by Josh James, who was in his shorts all night.

On the other side, Robinson made some poor decisions with the basketball and had only 14 points on 2-of-9 shooting (1-of-6 from three). The quicker Ibn Muhammed was in the junior point guard’s shorts for 40 minutes and face guarded him often to keep the ball out of his hands.

Who stepped up?

With English having an off night, Iona needed someone to step up and lead them to victory. The two players who did the damage were Williams and Jordan Washington.

Williams came out of the gates on a mission as he knocked down the first two three pointers of the game and had the Gaels first six points. He finished with 17 total points on 6-of-10 shooting from all areas of the floor and 4-of-8 from downtown.

His ability to stretch the defense and help the big men on the glass gives Tim Cluess the freedom to play a four-guard lineup that favors tempo and quick shots over half court sets.

But we certainly cannot forget Washington (15 points and 13 rebounds) because he had the night of his season. The former JUCO big man was physical in the interior, didn’t foul (which has been a problem for him far to often) and played within himself on the offensive end.

If it wasn’t for Williams and Washington stepping up, there was no way Iona would have pulled this one out.

Monmouth will sweat it out

The Hawks deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. They are ranked 49th in the RPI, finished with a 27-6 record, a non-conference strength of schedule ranked 117th in the country and four RPI top 100 wins.

King Rice’s unit owns wins over UCLA (true road game), Georgetown (true road game), USC and Notre Dame and most importantly, they have won an uncharacteristic amount of true road games.

Monmouth also passes the eye test with their tremendous guard play and up-tempo offense.

More busting brackets: Big 12 Tournament preview

If Wichita State deserves a bid, so do the Hawks.