Road tough Gaels get easier road in AC, clinch bye with win over Peacocks

Nelly Junior Joseph goes up for jumper as Iona clinched MAAC tournament bye with win over Saint Peter’s. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Just when two unexpected losses seemed to threaten Iona’s stranglehold on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference lead, Sunday’s rebound over Monmouth went a long way toward restoring order atop the standings.

Tuesday provided more of the same.

After spotting Saint Peter’s a fast start in which the host Peacocks imposed their will on Iona, the Gaels let the game come to them through the middle of the first half and dictated tempo after the intermission, muscling their way to a 70-61 victory inside Run Baby Run Arena to sweep Saint Peter’s, and more importantly, clinch a first-round bye in next month’s MAAC tournament.

“After the losses, we just had to come here to play our ass off and do our best and get a win,” Nelly Junior Joseph said after amassing 17 points and 12 rebounds. “My coaches always tell us to stay calm and play hard, take it one by one, one step at a time, every game.”

“We were road tough tonight,” Rick Pitino added as Iona (21-5, 13-2 MAAC) limited Saint Peter’s — the best 3-point shooting team in the MAAC — to just seven attempts from long range, of which it only made two. “What we told them before the game was if you control the backboard and you stop the three, they will not beat us. And we did. We only gave up six points from the 3-point line, and we beat them on the glass by five.”

Saint Peter’s (11-10, 9-5 MAAC) opened the game with a fast and physical start, punching the Gaels square in the jaw in the opening minutes before Iona found its rhythm and went on a 20-4 run to take the lead for good. The Peacocks did pull within two points midway through the second half, but were ultimately unable to string together a consistent defensive effort to come away with the victory.

“I thought they out-toughed us,” head coach Shaheen Holloway lamented. “And I’m disappointed because I was looking forward to it, I thought it would be a good, grind-it-out, physical game, and they just out-toughed us. We didn’t come out and play the way we were capable of playing. We just didn’t get stops when we needed them.”

The Peacocks, still third in the MAAC at 9-5 and a half-game behind Siena — who hosts Saint Peter’s on Sunday — for the second spot, now embark on a finishing stretch where four of their last six games are on the road. And while KC Ndefo, who scored 16 points in defeat Tuesday, carries the load, Holloway is counting on Fousseyni and Hassan Drame, as well as Daryl Banks III, to step up.

“We need more,” he bluntly stated. “I’ve got to get the twins back playing well, get DB back playing good. When they’re playing well, we’re a difficult team to match up with, but right now, those three guys gotta find it, and I’ve got to get them back in their rhythm.”

As for Iona, the Gaels appear to be back on the right track after last week’s missteps, moving closer to a regular season championship, which could be clinched as early as next week.

“It’s what you do coming out of losses,” Pitino said when assessing how to refocus his team. “It’s very tough to go undefeated in a 20-game schedule. The guys are having a great year, and this game, I was very impressed with. I wasn’t very impressed with the last home victory against Monmouth, because we let them back in the game. Tonight, I was very impressed with what we did. We were mentally tough, physically tough, we were trying to dunk the ball. Walter Clayton is really a special freshman, he’s got stones bigger than church bells. Nelly was big, but the guys were really tough tonight, and I’m proud of them.”

“Everybody wants to win, but we want to get better going into March. I’ve been rating the guys a five-six, and tonight, they played like a six-seven. If we can get to an eight, look out.”