Missed free throws late in regulation cost both St. Peter’s and Manhattan trips to the MAAC basketball tournament semi-final round; top seeds Iona and Canisius survive
If you thought the first day of the MAAC basketball tournament was fun, I hope you tuned in for the second. With the first round games wrapped up, the quarterfinals got underway on Friday night, and both of the day’s games went right down to the wire. Both Iona and Canisius punched their ticket to the next round, but nothing came easy for either favorite.
St. Peter’s falls short, again
The Peacocks stunned the Metro-Atlantic a season ago with a win over the top seeded Rider Broncs in this tournament. St. Peter’s was the nine seed, just like they were Friday night, and they ran Rider out of the Times Union Center with a 66-55 victory. In the semi-final round, they almost pulled another monumental upset, but fell two points short to eventual champion Iona. Winning their first round game against Marist in overtime yesterday, they had the opportunity to repeat history, and finally get over the perpetual MAAC hump that is Iona.
St. Peter’s came as close as probably anyone could’ve hoped against the regular season and three-time defending tournament champion Gaels. Iona topped St. Peter’s 73-71 on Friday, despite a huge effort from the Peacocks’ Davauhnte Turner, who led his team with 23 points. His three three-pointers in the final two minutes brought St. Peter’s within a point, but a missed free-throw on the front end of a one-and-one with his team down a point with two seconds left sank the Peacocks.
Iona got a huge efforts from Tajuan Agee, Rickey McGill, and E.J. Crawford, and advanced to the semi-finals where they will play the winner of Saturday’s game between Rider and Siena.
Manhattan lets big lead slip away
Manhattan led second-seeded Canisius by as many as 12 in the second half, but the Golden Griffins climbed back into the game, tying the ball game for the first time since 0-0 with the last made basket of regulation. All-conference selection Takal Molson would tie the game for Canisius with under a minute to play, but fouled out before overtime. Both teams had opportunities to close out the game in regulation, with Manhattan’s Tykei Greene missing two foul shots with 13 seconds left, and Malik Johnson failing to hit one from beyond the arc with a few seconds left for Canisius. Manhattan managed another good look before the buzzer sounded for overtime, but Warren William’s had his last-second shot blocked by Marcale Lotts.
Canisius was able to take the game over in overtime, a pair of Jibreel Faulkner threes early putting the Griffins up 65-60. Manhattan went cold in the extra session, making only two field goals in OT. A Malik Johnson layup with eight seconds left effectively sealed the deal for Canisius, and they would win by a final of 69-65. Canisius will play the winner of Saturday’s Quinnipiac-Monmouth match up.
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