ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Tobin Anderson has Iona back on the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament.
The Gaels upset top-seeded Quinnipiac, 81-73, in the semifinals of the MAAC tournament Friday and will face Mount St. Mary’s Saturday night with a trip to the Big Dance on the line.
Anderson is no stranger to the madness of March. He famously led FDU to an upset over No. 1 seed Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, becoming just the second No. 16 seed to pull off the feat, joining UMBC, who knocked off Virginia in 2018.
That season was Anderson’s lone campaign at FDU, where he led the Knights to a 21-16 record, a massive improvement from their 4-22 mark the year prior. The renown of the historic upset over Purdue led to Anderson’s hire at Iona, but came with a massive asterisk as well. FDU actually fell to Merrimack, 67-66, in the 2023 Northeast Conference tournament championship game, but Merrimack was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to its transfer up from Division II. FDU was granted the bid and went on to make history.
When Anderson took over the helm at Iona from Rick Pitino in March 2023, the role came with expectations unique to the mid-major level. The Gaels have made an astounding eight NCAA tournament appearances since 2012, six under Tim Cluess and two with Pitino.
“That’s why I left FDU to come here. I wanted to have a chance to be at a place where they’re used to winning,” Anderson said after Friday’s victory. “With that comes expectations to be where we’re at now, to play well, win games, win championships, and put up banners.”
Despite the program’s long track record of success – the Gaels own 14 MAAC tournament championships while Manhattan, Saint Peter’s, and Siena sit second with five apiece – Anderson himself owns more NCAA Tournament success than the program he now coaches.
The 2023 FDU program led by Anderson first notched a victory over Texas Southern in the First Four before its historic moment against the Boilermakers. Meanwhile, Iona is officially 0-15 in NCAA Tournament play, with the program’s lone victory over Holy Cross in 1980 vacated due to recruiting violations.
Iona will meet No. 6 seed Mount St. Mary’s after the Mountaineers followed up their victory over third seed Marist with an upset of second seed Merrimack in the second semifinal Friday night. The lone matchup of the season between Iona and Mount St. Mary’s ended in spectacular fashion when Yaphet Moundi’s offensive rebound led to a Dejour Reaves three at the buzzer in overtime to give the Gaels a 70-67 victory in Emmitsburg.
“When you’re playing them, you’ve got to take care of the basketball,” Mount head coach Donny Lind said of the matchup. “They’re an unbelievable offensive rebound team, so we’re going to have to keep them off the glass, then hopefully the ball bounces our way.”
Reaves led the way in Iona’s upset of Quinnipiac with a team-high 23 points. Backcourt mate Adam Njie, Jr. finished with 21 points and six assists while Moundi grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with his 17 points.
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