Iona erases two double-digit deficits to eclipse Saint Peter's

Rickey McGill led Iona with 19 points, and sealed win over Saint Peter's with two three-pointers in final two minutes. (Photo by Vincent Simone/NYC Buckets)

NEW ROCHELLE, NY -- Trailing by ten points with just over four minutes remaining in regulation, it looked as though Iona, which had escaped narrowly against Saint Peter's at the Hynes Athletics Center in each of the last four seasons, would finally be burned by the fire with which it had played against the pesky Peacocks.

Their all-conference backcourt had other ideas.

On the short end of a 58-48 deficit at the 4:24 mark in the second half, this after conceding an 11-0 run to start the game, the Gaels relied on Rickey McGill and Schadrac Casimir to flip the stretch run on its head, erupting for 14 straight points and coming alive at the most opportune time to steal a 73-69 victory from upset-minded Saint Peter's, holding serve in the opening act of a four-game homestand to open the 2018 calendar year.

"We just came out of the timeout and told everyone, 'We gotta fight harder,' McGill recollected as Iona (8-7, 2-1 MAAC) returned to their winning ways after splitting the Western New York trip to Niagara and Canisius to open the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference slate. "That's what we did."

"I told our guys to believe in themselves," head coach Tim Cluess said in the huddle at the final media timeout, by which point the Gaels had trimmed their hole to seven points on a McGill jump shot. "We work on four-minute games every day. Our guys fought like crazy and found a way."

Iona missed each of its first five shots before a Deyshonee Much triple with just under four minutes gone by in the contest put the defending MAAC champions on the board against a Saint Peter's team that attempted to lure the Gaels into their suffocating defensive pressure. The Peacocks (7-7, 1-2 MAAC) would again lead by 11, at 23-12 with 9:25 to play in the opening stanza, but a 17-5 run by the home team; capped off by Jan Svandrlik's three in the right corner inside the final minute before the intermission, sent Iona to the locker room with a 29-28 halftime lead.

The Gaels played the role of aggressor to start the second half, opening up a seven-point lead after McGill; who scored 16 of his team-high 19 points in the final period, ballooned the Iona cushion to 40-33 with 16:25 to play. Undaunted, Saint Peter's pushed back with a 25-8 spurt to take their aforementioned 10-point initiative, inching closer to what would have been their first win in New Rochelle since December 4, 2009, when Kevin Willard patrolled the sidelines before moving on to Seton Hall the following season.

However, the Gaels' game-changing stretch quashed any thought of a home loss, beginning with a Casimir free throw with 4:05 on the clock, which preceded McGill's jumper shortly before the under-4 stoppage. The junior point guard then came alive on the defensive end, forcing a steal and then drawing a foul on Nnamdi Enechionyia. A pair of free throws and a dunk by TK Edogi, the latter coming on a McGill assist, brought Iona within one possession, with another Edogi free throw narrowing the gap to two points. With just under three minutes remaining, the Peacocks coughed it up again, as Nick Griffin was stymied by the Gael defense before Zach Lewis found a wide-open Casimir on the right wing for one of his game-high 11 assists. Casimir's trifecta splashed through the net to give Iona the lead for good, and was followed by the redshirt junior procuring a steal on the ensuing possession to find McGill for a three-ball, putting the climax on a run that was sparked by uncharacteristic carelessness from a team known for placing great value in the basketball.

"Turnovers," Saint Peter's head coach John Dunne succinctly surmised. "They're going to make you pay when you turn it over. We've gotta fix that as the year goes on. They went out and won the game, but clearly, we have to get better on the turnover aspect."

Point guard Davauhnte Turner did bring Saint Peter's back within two points with just over a minute to go, but was promptly answered by a McGill three on the left wing to put Iona ahead by five once again. The Peacocks again drew within two after Samuel Idowu (20 points) connected on a trey, but the Gaels again found an answer as Casimir knocked down the last of his five triples on the next possession, with his backcourt partner McGill stealing the ball away from Griffin and feeding Edogi for a dunk off the glass to put the exclamation on a run where the three combined for 23 of the final 25 Iona points.

"Today was really important," said Cluess of the Gaels' return home and precursor to Sunday's contest against Fairfield. "We tried to tell those guys just to find their opening and be ready when they get the ball. I thought they did a good job of that, and our guys found each other tonight."