Monmouth and Iona will meet in the MAAC Basketball Tournament final on Monday after easy wins in the semifinals
The first three days of the MAAC basketball tournament featured endless drama and nail-biting finishes, but all of the excitement took a (hopefully temporary) break for the semifinal round on Sunday. Iona and Monmouth earned double-digit wins by almost the exact same score in the semis, and will face off in a rematch of the 2016 MAAC final on Monday.
Monmouth a game away from NCAAs after 0-12 start
Monmouth earned a convincing win over second-seeded Canisius on Sunday, opening up a double-digit first half lead that it wouldn’t relinquish. Canisius would get within a single possession in the second half, but the Hawks began pulling away for good with about seven minutes remaining. Sophomores led the scoring effort for both teams, Deion Hammond with 19 for Monmouth, 17 from Takal Molson for Canisius. Monmouth out-rebounded the Griffins 39-28, and shot over 72% on 29 foul shots. Monmouth won 73-59. Canisius has now failed to reach the final for two straight seasons as the tournament’s second seed.
Monmouth is on the verge of earning its first NCAA Tournament appearance since winning the NEC in 2006. King Rice’s squad had a two-year run atop the MAAC standings in 2016 and 2017, even garnering at-large discussions, but couldn’t grab a title in the MAAC tournament. The turnaround for the Hawks this season has been remarkable, after losing Micah Seaborn in the off-season and starting the season 0-12.
Iona rolls past Siena
Iona’s astonishing run in the MAAC Tournament has now reached 11 straight games, and the regular season champs will look to make it a fourth straight tournament title on Monday after beating hosts Siena 73-57. This one was never really close, with every big basket hit by Siena, ones that got the crowd going and seemed to potentially be a start of a run, being answered on the other end by the Gaels.
Junior Asante Gist led Iona with 22, and Tajuan Agee had another big game in the frontcourt with 13 boards and six points. MAAC Rookie of the Year Jalen Pickett did as much as he could for the Saints, scoring 15 points, gathering seven rebounds, and picking up eight assists.
Monmouth and Iona face off Monday
Monmouth will look to end Iona’s streak of MAAC dominance on Monday, and break through to the NCAA Tournament after missing out in 2016 and 2017. The Hawks will rely on a more balanced offensive attack than Iona, looking to guards Ray Salnave and Deion Hammond to lead a strong corps of talented guards. They used their bench for more than twice as many minutes as Iona did in their semifinal match ups. Samuel Chaput, Nick Rutherford, and sharpshooter Louir Pillari could all be big factors off Monmouth’s bench. Center Diago Quinn might be the only match in the conference for Iona’s Tajuan Agee, and his performance will be huge for the Hawks in gaining an advantage inside.
Iona will need to figure out Monmouth’s athletic and active defense. The Gaels did drop their road game in West Long Branch, splitting the season series with a Hawks team that sat in first place before a late-season slide dropped them to the sixth seed. Only two games separated Monmouth and Iona in the regular season, and as the MAAC has shown time and time again, anything can happen in this league. Iona needs a big performance from all-conference selection Rickey McGill, and a strong perimeter shooting game to get past a talented Monmouth team for their fourth consecutive title.
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