Neither the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds will partake in the title game of the MAAC Tournament on Monday night. Instead, the No. 4 seed Siena Saints will attempt to punch their ticket to the Big Dance for the first time since 2010 against the No. 3 seed Iona Gaels who just so happened to eliminate them in the semifinals of last year’s tourney. These teams split their regular season battles, so this is sure to be a war till the bitter end.
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Down 14 at the break and putting forth a listless 20 minutes of basketball, the Saints needed some type of spark to get them going or else another trip to the NIT was in the cards. They got just that in the form of Nico Clareth who went on to score 24 of his 27 overall points to lead Siena to the exhilarating 89-85 comeback win over top seed Monmouth. They won outright as 7 point underdogs to move to 3-0 both straight up and against the spread in their last three games.
Tim Cluess’s kids are the more experienced of the two teams with it going through the title game festivities a year ago to the day. The Gaels started their march off in the quarters against Rider whom they destroyed 88-70 as 5 point chalk. That win was followed up with a comeback victory of their own against St. Peter’s whom they gouged for 49 second half points after going for just 24 in the first stanza. With that, Iona moved to 6-1 straight up and against the spread on neutral courts this season.
Last Meeting
Iona held 10 point halftime leads in both regular season meetings. It held on to secure the 77-66 outright win and cover as 2.5 point road underdogs in the first meeting, but allowed Siena to battle back in the second go round. The defense was gouged for 48 second half points to cough up the game by an 81-79 final score as 5 point home favorites. The game was almost a carbon copy of what went down on Sunday between the Saints and Hawks. The loss snapped Iona’s three game win streak both straight up and against the spread in the recent rivalry. The Saints have dropped seven straight games to the Gaels on their own floor and only covered one of those contests.
Matchup to Watch
The Saints won the rebounding battle in both regular season meetings winning it 38-28 at Iona and 35-32 back at home. The Gaels have been outboarded in both tourney games played thus far, while Siena has won the battle of the boards in each of its contests. Jimmy Patsos’s kids have a huge advantage on the glass with it owning a better than 6.0 rebounding margin over Iona. Should the Gaels shots not be falling, it’s likely Brett Bisping and company will be snatching them up. If that turns out to be the case, look for Siena to make some hay with numerous second chance scoring opportunities.
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Iona won the MAAC Tournament last season after toppling Monmouth in the title game. It also beat the Saints on this floor in the semis last season. That’s two check marks in their corner heading into this matchup. However, this game is being played in Siena’s home gym and that will carry a ton of weight with it into these rival’s third meeting of the season. The Saints have been at their best when in the comforts of their own arena winning 10 of 14 regular season games, and they’ll enter this tilt off major revenge from losing in it to this same opponent last season.
Siena didn’t have the services of Clareth in the first meeting of which it lost, but will have him in the lineup for a full 40 minutes in this one. Iona took advantage of a poor Peacocks offense to stage yesterday’s comeback, but that won’t be the case tonight with the Saints ready, willing and able to run with them all game long. The Saints have been playing some real solid ball here down the home stretch, and I expect that to continue tonight. Look for Siena to outlast Iona in a likely high scorer.
College Basketball Odds: Siena 81, Iona 78
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