Iona recovers from Mount misstep with resilient win over Siena

Toby Harris led Iona with 25 points as Gaels held off late Siena rally to retake lead and defeat Saints. (Photo by Will Quincy/Iona Athletics)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Toby Harris may not have verbalized having something to prove Friday, but Iona’s fifth-year senior forward did not need much time to demonstrate it.

Coming off a deflating loss to Mount St. Mary’s Monday night in which the Gaels saw a second-half lead evaporate at the hands of the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion, the Division III transfer was simply looking to make up for a missed opportunity.

Harris did that, and more.

On his 23rd birthday, the explosive wing scored 15 of his 25 points in the first half and remained consistent as Iona overcame a frantic Siena comeback to down the Saints, 75-72, beginning the new calendar year with a successful defense of its home floor and improving to 10-5 on the season.

“I’ve always believed I belonged out here,” said Harris, who connected on six of his 12 three-point attempts and ended the evening with a 9-for-15 shooting night. “The main thing for me is a lot of these teams might have reached out to me when I entered the portal, or didn’t at all, so it’s almost like an added chip on my shoulder when I come into every game. I’m a little crazy, a little competitive, so I like to think of it like, ‘these guys didn’t want me,’ so it’s a little bit of that.”

While Harris sent a subtle message to those who passed on his services, his head coach heralded the togetherness of his roster to turn the page from Monday’s setback by banding as one yet again to atone for losing a 12-point lead as Siena (9-5, 2-1 MAAC) used a full-court press to regain its momentum and steal the lead on several occasions down the stretch before CJ Anthony and Keshawn Williams’ master shotmaking display put the Saints away.

“Mount was such a great learning experience for us and for feeling out this conference,” Dan Geriot remarked. “A lot of our guys don’t necessarily understand what the MAAC is all the time, and that’s where our grind mentality started to take over (Friday), which was great. At The Mount, we were kind of searching for answers that were in front of us, but we weren’t able to really execute them. I thought it was great to be able to handle it and withstand it, and it was great for our group.”

Geriot shook up his lineup Friday, a tactic he attributed to Williams and Denver Anglin battling illnesses during the week and thus not having enough time to prepare adequately.

Each guard contributed, however, but in their stead, Harris and Alliou Fall got the nod in the opening five. The latter recorded a game-high plus-12 efficiency rating in 30 minutes, bookending the metric with seven points and seven rebounds in perhaps his best outing as a Gael.

“He can screen and get our guards a little loose,” Geriot said of Fall’s efficiency impacting the Iona offense. “Alliou was great. I just think he rapidly improved at a pretty high clip. The more experience, the better for him, and he’s playing in a role that we need. It’s a necessity for us, and I think he’s done a great job.”

Harris did as well, using his natural shooting ability to get open in Iona’s NBA-inspired offense to find gaps in the defense and use each part of the floor to his advantage.

“It’s very nice,” he said of Geriot’s system playing to his skill set. “I think we’re really figuring out how to get — we call it ‘eyes out,’ Geriot calls it ‘piercing the paint.’ That’s something we’re big on. It’s definitely nice to have that freedom to get them up when they’re open and shoot some. It’s really nice, and I’m happy to be here.”

And while Harris and Fall started the productive night for the Gaels, Anthony — as he has several times already moving toward the midpoint of the season — finished it. The senior point guard was quiet offensively in the first half, playing more of a facilitator, but ultimately found his rhythm to finish with 10 points and 13 assists in a performance his teammate Harris dubbed “high-level.”

Perhaps most impressive was Anthony’s ball control. The assist total commands attention on its own, but amassing 13 helpers against just one turnover was another step in the right direction for the Cincinnati transfer.

“It’s about the timing of how we’re attacking certain sets, certain spacing,” Geriot explained. “The timing of what he’s doing is really growing, the whole thing of CJ playing on the scout team last year, he’s seeing all these different looks and all these different situations. But now, there’s obviously consequences to whatever he’s doing, both good and bad, and for me, that’s where this has been great to see him feel this and understand it.”

Iona is now 2-2 in MAAC play, alternating losses and wins in each of its first two sets of league splits. The first quarter of conference action culminates Sunday when the Gaels visit Marist, but record aside, the cohesion of a complete unit has taken root earlier than expected for a group that had more questions than answers when it was first formed seven months ago.

“What we’re doing here is something kind of unprecedented,” Harris conceded. “You bring in 15 new guys and we’ve only been together since June, so you’re bound to have these ups and downs, but I think we’re finally starting to figure it out as a team. We’re all about business, we’re all about our preparation. I think it’s just going to continue to build and we’re gonna find our momentum.”

“That’s just what we are. We’re a team. A lot of programs in the country that can’t say that, and I think we can probably say we’re a team. Everyone contributes, and I think you’ll continue to see that on a daily basis.”