MAAC Monday: Crawford's maturation helping Iona back to top of league, stat leaders, power rankings

By Jaden Daly (@jadendaly) and Vincent Simone (@VTSimone)

MAAC Monday returns today with its usual three-segment look at the inner sanctum of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, but a different twist to open the curtain. Whereas stat leaders and power rankings will once again be refreshed in the second and third segments, we begin today with an individual player spotlight as opposed to the team profiles that have led off the past two weeks. Already proven to have a knack for big shots in big moments, this junior has been more vital in the first three months of the year than maybe even he thought possible, and is a significant reason why his team is once again forwardly placed in the MAAC standings.

From the moment he arrived at Iona in 2016, E.J. Crawford served notice that he would be making his presence known and felt in each game over the next four years in New Rochelle.

A go-ahead basket that turned out to be the game-winning shot in the 2017 MAAC championship game was just one of many instances in which the Hartford, Connecticut native would be counted upon to provide a lift for the Gaels, and he continued his prowess for clutch heroics into his sophomore year, when he and his Iona teammates defended their conference crown yet again. Now in his third campaign wearing maroon and gold, his role took on a seismic shift just days before the season began, as the dismissal of Roland Griffin -- thought of to be a MAAC Player of the Year contender -- left a gaping hole in the Iona interior that Crawford, not necessarily a rebounder by trade his first two seasons, was left to take on the lion's share of filling.

"I think my role got a lot bigger without Roland," Crawford, fifth in the MAAC in scoring at 16.6 points per game, said of his increased responsibility. "That's a big piece we're missing. He probably would have been the best player on the team, so I gotta step up and do more than score this year."

Averaging five rebounds per contest -- second on the team behind Tajuan Agee -- to supplement his dynamic offense, Crawford has done exactly that for Iona, and has become more well-rounded in lockstep with the Gaels' improved team chemistry, the product of a long non-conference road trip that has fused team camaraderie with a common goal of becoming the first school in MAAC history to win four consecutive league tournaments, something he and his teammates will be trying to do this March.

"Oh, man!" Rickey McGill proclaimed when asked of Crawford's evolution. "This kid right here? I've seen him grow from a little kid to somebody that's being tougher. I told him he had to change it up in his game, that he had to stop crying and be a little tougher. That's what he's doing, and I'm proud of him. He's going to keep it rolling."

Crawford's head coach was even more effusive in his praise of the one-time shooter who has now become an all-around threat, highlighting his growth in all facets of his game.

"He's been really important," Tim Cluess gushed. "And he's scoring in some other ways. He's not as athletically explosive as Roland to get to the rim, but he's just been able to get to the rim in a different way and get to the foul line, little post-up, little jump shot, a little in-between game. He's made big shots when we've needed him to, in parts of the game, kind of stem the tide of an opponent, and I think he's just growing and growing as a player."

And while Iona knew what it would get from McGill, its four-year bedrock of a point guard, and even to an extent with the junior college newcomer Agee, what the Gaels have received from Crawford transcends even the most optimistic of predictions.

"Pretty much everything he's doing," said Cluess when asked what had changed from Crawford's game that was not present his first two seasons. "In year one, he didn't do anything but take jump shots. Year two, he only began to actually drive the ball a little bit, he wanted nothing to do with the post. When we would work him in the post in practice, he didn't want to be there, and now, he's like, 'I want to go work half with the bigs, half with the guards,' because he wants to be an all-around player."

"He's transformed that, and I think he's transformed his body tremendously. I think (strength and conditioning coach) Kelly Shaver has done a great job with him in that area, and the two of them together are helping to bring his game to another level."

Scoring Leaders
1) Cameron Young, Quinnipiac (19.9 PPG)
2) Davauhnte Turner, Saint Peter's (17.5)
3) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (17.2)
4) Takal Molson, Canisius (16.7)
5) E.J. Crawford, Iona (16.6)
6) Evan Fisher, Siena (16.6)
7) Rickey McGill, Iona (15.6)
8) Brian Parker, Marist (14.9)
9) Jalen Pickett, Siena (14.8)
10) Ray Salnave, Monmouth (13.0)

Rebounding Leaders
1) Jonathan Kasibabu, Fairfield (8.2 RPG)
2) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (7.8)
3) Tajuan Agee, Iona (7.3)
4) Evan Fisher, Siena (6.8)
5) Tyere Marshall, Rider (6.2)
6) Isaiah Reese, Canisius (6.1)
7) Dominic Robb, Niagara (5.9)
8) Frederick Scott, Rider (5.9)
9) Kevin Degnan, Siena (5.7)
10) Quinn Taylor, Saint Peter's (5.6)

Assist Leaders
1) Jalen Pickett, Siena (7.3 APG)
2) Rickey McGill, Iona (5.3)
3) Isaiah Reese, Canisius (4.4)
4) Stevie Jordan, Rider (4.4)
5) James Towns, Niagara (4.1)
6) Brian Parker, Marist (3.8)
7) Neftali Alvarez, Fairfield (3.4)
8) Malik Johnson, Canisius (3.2)
T-9) Aidas Kavaliauskas, Fairfield (2.9)
T-9) Davauhnte Turner, Saint Peter's (2.9)
T-9) Kimar Williams, Rider (2.9)

Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Jonathan Kasibabu, Fairfield (.588)
2) Evan Fisher, Siena (.538)
3) Warren Williams, Manhattan (.532)
4) Dominic Robb, Niagara (.531)
5) Samuel Idowu, Saint Peter's (.522)
6) Stevie Jordan, Rider (.512)
7) Frederick Scott, Rider (.507)
8) Rickey McGill, Iona (.497)
9) E.J. Crawford, Iona (.488)
10) Jesus Cruz, Fairfield (.487)

Free Throw Percentage Leaders
1) James Towns, Niagara (.823)
2) E.J. Crawford, Iona (.808)
3) Davauhnte Turner, Saint Peter's (.781)
4) Rickey McGill, Iona (.778)
5) Cameron Young, Quinnipiac (.771)
6) Asante Gist, Iona (.768)
7) Tajuan Agee, Iona (.760)
T-8) Takal Molson, Canisius (.750)
T-8) Quinn Taylor, Saint Peter's (.750)
10) Stevie Jordan, Rider (.744)

Three-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Andrija Ristanovic, Iona (.484)
T-2) Frederick Scott, Rider (.444)
T-2) Landon Taliaferro, Fairfield (.444)
4) Marvin Prochet, Niagara (.437)
5) Kevin Degnan, Siena (.432)
6) David Knudsen, Marist (.406)
7) Isaiah Lamb, Marist (.404)
T-8) E.J. Crawford, Iona (.400)
T-8) Jibreel Faulkner, Canisius (.400)
T-8) Felix Lemetti, Fairfield (.400)
T-8) Ben Perez, Iona (.400)

Steal Leaders
1) Rickey McGill, Iona (2.4 SPG)
2) Dimencio Vaughn, Rider (2.4)
3) Jalen Pickett, Siena (1.9)
4) Isaiah Reese, Canisius (1.8)
5) Stevie Jordan, Rider (1.8)

Blocked Shot Leaders
1) Dominic Robb, Niagara (2.6 BPG)
2) Samuel Idowu, Saint Peter's (1.5)
3) KC Ndefo, Saint Peter's (1.2)
4) Kevin Degnan, Siena (0.8)
5) Abdulai Bundu, Quinnipiac (0.8)

Power Rankings
1) Rider (10-7, 5-0 MAAC)
Last Week: 1
Last Game: Saturday 1/19 vs. Manhattan (W 60-47)
Next Game: Friday 1/25 at Iona, 7 p.m.

2) Monmouth (6-14, 5-2 MAAC)
Last Week: T-6
Last Game: Sunday 1/20 vs. Iona (W 83-81)
Next Game: Thursday 1/24 at Canisius, 7 p.m.

3) Iona (6-11, 4-2 MAAC)
Last Week: 2
Last Game: Sunday 1/20 at Monmouth (L 83-81)
Next Game: Friday 1/25 vs. Rider, 7 p.m. 

4) Canisius (7-11, 4-2 MAAC)
Last Week: 5
Last Game: Saturday 1/19 at Fairfield (W 73-68)
Next Game: Thursday 1/24 vs. Monmouth, 7 p.m.

5) Quinnipiac (8-9, 3-3 MAAC)
Last Week: 3
Last Game: Saturday 1/19 at Niagara (L 75-72)
Next Game: Friday 1/25 at Marist, 7 p.m.

6) Siena (7-11, 2-3 MAAC)
Last Week: 9
Last Game: Thursday 1/17 vs. Niagara (W 66-57)
Next Game: Thursday 1/24 at Fairfield, 7 p.m.

7) Niagara (9-10, 2-4 MAAC)
Last Week: 8
Last Game: Saturday 1/19 vs. Quinnipiac (W 75-72)
Next Game: Tuesday 1/22 vs. Saint Peter's, 8 p.m.

8) Fairfield (5-14, 2-5 MAAC)
Last Week: 4
Last Game: Saturday 1/19 vs. Canisius (L 73-68)
Next Game: Thursday 1/24 vs. Siena, 7 p.m.

9) Saint Peter's (5-12, 2-3 MAAC)
Last Week: T-6
Last Game: Thursday 1/17 vs. Manhattan (L 58-56)
Next Game: Tuesday 1/22 at Niagara, 8 p.m.

10) Marist (6-11, 1-4 MAAC)
Last Week: 10
Last Game: Friday 1/18 at Iona (L 90-77)
Next Game: Monday 1/21 at Manhattan, 7 p.m.

11) Manhattan (4-14, 2-4 MAAC)
Last Week: 11
Last Game: Saturday 1/19 at Rider (L 60-47)
Next Game: Monday 1/21 vs. Marist, 7 p.m.