Category: MAAC

Khallid Hart, Marist Hoping Patience Pays Off In MAAC

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Winning a non-conference game over what might be the worst team in the Ivy League at the moment isn’t usually classified as a “program” win, but when you have the recent history of Marist and have to fight back from adversity a couple times to prevail in double overtime, well.

“Things didn’t go our way,” head coach Mike Maker said. We could have folded twice and we didn’t. And that’s why I’m really proud of our guys.”

Things have been rough in Poughkeepsie pretty much since Matt Brady left in 2008 for James Madison after four successful seasons. The Red Foxes haven’t had a winning season since, went 1-29 in 2009-10, and recently went through three coaches (Chuck Martin, Jeff Bower, and Maker) in three seasons, which doesn’t exactly foster continuity or consistency.

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Rhode Island 79, Iona 74 (OT): Gaels Nearly Pull Off Remarkable Win

KINGSTON, R.I. – As far as walk-ons go, Iona freshman Benjamin Nwokeabia has a pretty good resume, the Swiss native played AAU ball and at Impact Academy in Sarasota, Fla.

But he doesn’t appear among the 12 names on the front of the Iona media notes in “At a Glance”, and he had so little chance of getting meaningful minutes Saturday night at the Ryan Center against Rhode Island that his bio wasn’t included either. So the confluence of events that saw him on the floor late in overtime of a tight game Saturday night, well, that’s quite a long story.

Alas, if you’ve been following you know much of it. Kelvin Amayo is out indefinitely with a knee injury and Schadrac Casimir the same with a stubborn groin injury that is not healing as fast as anyone involved with Iona would like. MAAC Preseason Player of the Year A.J. English will hopefully be back for MAAC play from a broken bone in his hand.

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Iona 83, Texas Southern 73: English Out, But Gaels Survive

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Ibn Muhammad hit his first and only field goal of the game Wednesday night, but it was massive, a three-pointer that extended Iona’s lead to five over pesky Texas Southern with two minutes to go. He followed with a steal and assist for a Jordan Washington dunk that basically sealed Iona’s 22th straight home victory. Continue reading “Iona 83, Texas Southern 73: English Out, But Gaels Survive” →

Manhattan 71, St. Francis Brooklyn 60: Magnificent Seven For Jaspers

BRONX, N.Y. – Division I basketball coaches aren’t generally a breed that is prone to feeling sorry for themselves, but even among that group, Manhattan coach Steve Masiello has to rank near the bottom of the list.

The Jaspers have carved back-to-back MAAC titles through adversity, so it shouldn’t have been surprising that dressing seven players – not seven scholarship players, but seven total – was but a minor distraction on Monday night as they led start to finish and dominated defending NEC regular-season champion St. Francis Brooklyn 71-60 at Draddy Gym.

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Quinnipiac Frontcourt Tested By Injuries

Over the last five years, no team in the country has been better at rebounding than the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Under the guidance of head coach Tom Moore, the Bobcats have finished among the top two teams in the country in rebounds per game every year this decade. Each of the last three years, they have led the nation in the category. Continue reading “Quinnipiac Frontcourt Tested By Injuries” →