JERSEY CITY, NJ — The Iona College men’s basketball team stumbled in its regular season finale, falling to Saint Peter’s 68-60 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at the Yanitelli Center. The Gaels struggled from the field, shooting just 31.6%, the second lowest total of the season. The Peacocks never trailed.
Junior A.J. English scored 17 points and dished out four assists to lead the Gaels. Junior Kelvin Amayo added 15 points and seven rebounds while senior David Laury recorded his 16th double-double of the season in the loss.
Saint Peter’s led by as many as 13 points with 3:47 remaining in the first half. Iona got within three points on a Laury layup with 5:33 to play and was down four following two free throws by the senior with three minutes remaining. After getting a defensive stop, the Gaels were unable to make it a one possession game on their next turn. Peacock senior Tyler Gaskins three pointer from the wing with 1:43 left all but sealed the game, giving the home team a seven point lead at 63-56.
Senior Desi Washington posted 19 points to lead all scorers. Gaskins had 16 points, hitting 4-of-7 three point attempts in he win. Senior Marvin Dominique had 10 points and seven rebounds for Saint Peter’s.
The Gaels were outshot 51.0%-31.6% and out rebounded 34-30 despite committing a season low six turnovers.
The eight-point loss was the second largest margin of defeat regular season MAAC play in five seasons under head coach Tim Cluess. The Gaels fell 86-74 at Quinnipiac on Jan. 6, 2014. Iona’s 19 other losses since 2010-11 have come by a combined 58 points, an average of 3.1 per game.
The Gaels complete the 2014-15 regular season with a 24-7 overall mark and were 17-3 in MAAC play matching last season’s school record for conference wins. Iona will be the No. 1 seed in next weekend’s MAAC Championship at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. It will face the winner of No. 8 Siena and No. 9 Niagara in the quarterfinal round Saturday (Mar. 7) at 12:00 pm on ESPN3.