Iona clips Manhattan to advance to MAAC quarters

Idan Tretout’s 24 points led Iona as Gaels began MAAC championship defense with victory over Manhattan. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Iona’s 17-point loss to Manhattan last Thursday left Tobin Anderson at a loss for words, other than the head coach stressing that things would eventually be fixed.

Saturday’s immediate response, and Tuesday’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament opener, suggests that the repairs have gone according to plan.

Playing the Jaspers for the second time in six days, Iona thrived despite Manhattan’s physicality dictating the terms of the game. Trailing by two at halftime, the Gaels seized control after the intermission with a 10-2 run and did just enough to hold their adversaries off, scoring a 60-57 victory to begin their latest MAAC championship defense.

“At their place five days ago, we had a really bad night,” Anderson again recalled as Iona, behind 24 points from Idan Tretout and 17 from Jeremiah Quigley, turned the tables on Manhattan to advance to the quarterfinals. “We were much better on the glass tonight, we rebounded better tonight. We’re happy to get a win however it comes. There are no beauty points in March, you just want to win and survive and advance.”

“They were embarrassed by what happened last Thursday. We were all embarrassed, but with that being said, you have to give credit to Manhattan. Even tonight was a dogfight. At this time of year, we’ve got a lot of seniors who don’t want their college careers to end, so I thought they showed a little bit of guts in that second half. I don’t think we started very well, but I thought in the second half, we really played well and dug in.”

Iona (16-16) was lured into the slower, methodical pace employed by Manhattan, who relied on efficient shots and the size advantage of Daniel Rouzan and Seydou Traore to gain the upper hand in the opening stages of the game, something the Gaels anticipated and capitalized on.

“We knew it was going to be a battle coming in,” Quigley said. “It’s March, playoffs. We had a chip on our shoulder coming in because at their place, they beat us pretty bad. We just wanted to go out and get a win. We all knew it wasn’t gonna be a cakewalk. We knew it would be physical. We just had to stay connected and be physical right back.”

Manhattan (7-23) took the initiative early in the initial stanza with an 8-0 run to pull ahead for the majority of the half, leaving Quigley and Tretout with the task of picking the Jaspers apart. Coming out of the intermission, Tretout finessed his way inside for a pair of layups to give Iona the lead for good at 35-34, then burnished his efforts with three 3-pointers down the stretch on a night where the Harvard transfer was buoyed by the vision of his teammates.

“I think when we started that run, the rim got a little bigger and shots started to drop,” Tretout said. “It was mainly off the guys. We’ve been preaching playing off two and taking smart shots, so they found me when we got off two, so it’s on them. Coach says keep it simple, so I’m gonna try to keep it simple.”

Iona’s defense, which had become a lightning rod of sorts in recent weeks, rose to the occasion once again. After surrendering just 54 points to Siena in Saturday’s regular season finale, the Gaels clamped down on Manhattan in the second half, flustering the Jaspers with their pressure as freshman point guard Jaden Winston registered seven turnovers.

“We had to press these guys,” Anderson admitted. “We didn’t press at their place, we had to play some zone. We had to press them the whole time and try to speed the game up. I thought we got into their legs a little bit, I think we really bothered them.”

“We had a great run to start the second half. We just couldn’t sustain that the whole way through, but I thought we played well towards the end. Our defense got a lot better, our defense won us the game.”

Iona will take the court again Wednesday, hoping to gain a third victory against second-seeded Fairfield, against whom the Gaels won both of their regular season matchups. Anderson proposed having experience inside Boardwalk Hall could be advantageous to his team, but also recognized the hunger in the Stags to avenge their in-season sweep.

“I still think, in my mind, it’s an advantage to play that first game,” he said. We’ll have a bit of momentum. Now, Fairfield’s a good team and they’re a really hard team to stop, they’ll come out and really go after us. But listen, it’s one game, it’s 40 minutes and we’ve gotta play well. Our guys will respond.”