SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Tre Bowman scored 20 points and Iona earned a berth in the NCAA tournament with a 60-57 win over rival Manhattan on Monday night in the MAAC championship game.Lamont Jones added 14 points and earned tournament MVP honors for the fourth-seeded Gaels (20-13), who will be making their second consecutive trip to the NCAAs after receiving an at-large bid last year.

Michael Alvarado had 14 points for Manhattan (14-18). The Jaspers led for much of the game and were up by five in the second half before Manhattan went on a 17-2 run to take charge.

This is the Gaels’ eighth MAAC title but first since 2006. The victory also gives Iona 20 wins for the fourth consecutive season.

Manhattan led at halftime and was up 35-30 in the second half before Iona went on its run. Sean Armand’s layup gave the Gaels their first lead of the half at 37-35 with just over 13 minutes left.

Armand picked up his fourth foul just over a minute later, sending the team’s second leading scorer to the bench. Iona then put the ball in Jones’ hands and his off-balance jumper made it 43-37.

Manhattan coach Steve Massiello then picked up a technical foul after two warnings for coming out on the court. Jones hit the free throws, and Taaj Ridley extended the lead to 47-37 with a pair of foul shots.

But Ridley was forced to take a seat on the bench when he picked up his fourth foul with more than 8 minutes left.

Manhattan cut the lead to six on a steal and layup by Emmy Andujar with 2:30 left, forced a shot-clock violation and made it a four-point game on a pair of free throws by Rhamel Brown.

But the Jaspers could not get a rebound on the other end. A pair of foul shots by Bowman made it 58-52 and a steal and dunk by David Laury sealed it.

The game was played at Manhattan’s pace. Iona came in averaging more than 81 points, while the Jaspers were holding opponents to just under 61.

Manhattan missed its first six shots, but Iona made just two of its first seven and led 4-3 at the first media timeout.

The Jaspers used an 8-0 run to turn an 18-13 deficit into a 21-18 lead and quickly pushed it to six, but a jump shot by Jones just before the halftime buzzer cut the lead to 26-24.

Iona is hoping for some redemption after the Gaels wasted a 25-point lead in a first-round loss to BYU in last year’s NCAAs.

The New York rivals, whose campuses are separated by less than 10 miles, were meeting for the 82nd time but had never met in the championship game. They split two meetings during the regular season, including a double-overtime thriller won by Manhattan at home on Feb. 14.

The Jaspers had won eight of their last 10 coming in, and the two losses were by a total of four points.

Manhattan made its run to the final without its best player, guard George Beamon, who played just four games this season after suffering a severe ankle injury in the season opener.

Jones came in averaging 23.5 points, second behind Virginia Tech’s Erik Green on the list of the nation’s top scorers. But the MAAC player of the year has been fighting flu-like symptoms throughout the tournament.

Iona knocked off fifth-seeded Canisius and No. 1 seed Niagara on its way to the final. Manhattan upset third-seeded Loyola before beating seventh-seeded Fairfield.

 

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Elizabeth Beynnon was chosen as tournament MVP and scored 15 points and added 6 rebounds to help Marist beat Iona 72-48 on Monday to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship for the eighth straight year and clinch a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Player of the Game, Casey Dulin, came up just 1 assists and 2 rebounds shy of a triple double. She had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists leading the Red Foxes to their 21st consecutive victory. Overall, Marist has now won 31 consecutive conference games, including the post season, dating back to last February 4 at Manhattan.  With this championship win, Marist ties the all-time conference record held by Saint Peter’s with 9 championships.

Iona’s (20-12) successful season comes to end. This was the Gaels third championship game in 7 years – they lost in 2007, 2008 and now in 2013 all coming by way of Marist. Iona’s phenomenal rookie Joy Adams had an impressive outing with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Player of the Year Damika Martinez struggled, held to only 4 points in the game.

 

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Springfield, Mass. - The two semifinal contests of the2013 MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship will take place on Sunday, March 10 at the MassMutual Center.At 2:00 p.m., top-seeded Niagara University will take on fourth-seeded Iona College in the first game of the day. Following that matchup, sixth-seeded Manhattan College will face seventh-seeded Fairfield University at approximately 4:30 p.m. Both games can be seen live on ESPN3.

Fans can follow along online via Stat Broadcast. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster and the MassMutual Center box office.

 

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Springfield, Mass. - MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Rhamel Brown scored 12 points with 12 rebounds and sixth-seeded Manhattan held off No. 3 seed Loyola for a 55-52 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2013 MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship Saturday night.

Manhattan (13-17) led the entire second half, though Loyola (21-11) threatened late, pulling within 53-52 on Dylon Cormier’s three-point play.

The Greyhounds missed three consecutive shots in the final 35 seconds.

Cormier paced the Greyhounds with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Anthony Winbush added 12 points.

Manhattan plays seventh-seeded Fairfield in the semifinals Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

 

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