While the Saints were in Philadelphia playing in the Philly Hoop Group Classic, Iona was testing itself against big conference powers in the Old Spice Classic and the rest of the MAAC is picking up the pieces.

Iona Wins One in Orlando

Iona did not start well in Orlando, getting down as much as 11 in the second half, but tied the game twice before falling to Florida State 54-49. Why the low scoring?

Both teams combined to shoot 7 of 29 (24.1%) from three point range and Iona made more shots from the field (8) than Florida State (6) in the second half. The Seminoles did go 5 of 14 from 2 point range in the 2nd half (35.7%) but won because they converted 16 of 23 (69.6%) free throws in the second half. Jermel Jenkins led the way for Iona with 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting. Jenkins made the only 2 of Iona’s 15 three point attempts.

Friday the Gaels brought the Baylor Bears to Overtime but could not make a basket in the final 1:33 in a 72-62 loss. However Iona picked up the MAAC’s 4th win in their hosted tournament with a 63-55 victory over Creighton. Freshman Kyle Smyth led the way for the Gaels with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

The MAAC Did Well on Saturday (except Marist)

Canisius blew out winless Howard 70-54 behind a 27 point effort from Julius Coles. Canisius held Howard to 39.7% eFG% for the game and forced 18 turnovers.

Manhattan managed to hold Fordham to even worse numbers. Fordham shot 25.5% eFG% for the game, going 0 of 11 from three and committing more turnovers (20) than field goals (13). Antoine Pearson added 16 to lead the way for the Jaspers, Rico Pickett scored 14 points. Pickett has been an impressive find this season, transferring from Junior College, and has scored double digit points in three of his four games with the Jaspers.

Rider squeezed out a narrow 8 point win over Binghamton needing all 12 of Ryan Thompson’s 21 points in the final 6 minutes. Rider got off to an extremely slow start, shooting an eFG% of 25% which included going 0 for 12 from behind the arc. However the three point shot lit up in the second half, going 7 for 11 (63.6%) to close the gap. Novar Gadson led the Broncs with 10 rebounds.

Marist committed more personal fouls (23) than made field goals (21) in their 72-59 loss to New Hampshire Saturday. Marist only made 3 more field goals (21) than turnovers (18) as they got down quickly to UNH, trailing at halftime by 19. Dejuan Goodwin and Candon Rusin both had 11 points each.

Akron’s Hot Second Half Does In Purple Eagles

Niagara shot 48.4 eFG% but could not hold off the Akron Zips in their comeback 80-68 win over the Purple Eagles. After a poor first half from the Zips, with a 41.3 eFG%, but erupted in the second half. After a three pointer from Steve McNees with 14:26 to go, they never surrendered the lead. They came back to shoot a 77.2% eFG% in the second half, scoring 57 points. The Zips out rebounded the Purple Eagles by 11