Feb. 11, 2011
Final Stats
If the season ended today, Siena would be playing in the opening round of the MAAC Tournament as the #7 seed. Mike Glover scored 22 points helping Iona snap a 10-game losing streak against the Saints with a 69-65 win in New Rochelle Friday night. Jonathan Breeden scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed four rebounds in a spot start at point guard for injured Rakeem Brookins.
The Saints lost their second straight and fall into a sixth place tie in the MAAC standing with Canisius, a winner at Rider tonight. The Griffs currently own the tie-breaker with Siena by virtue of their victory over second place Saint Peter's Sunday, but with games against Saint Peter's and Fairfield remaining, Siena would guarantee itself a top-6 finish by winning its final four league games.
Iona led 62-50 with 3:01 to play, before Siena cut the lead to 65-62 with 30 seconds left, but the Saints could never got the ball in a one possession game down the stretch. Ryan Rossiter his first of two free throws with a chance to cut the lead to two with 6.7 seconds remaining, and Jermel Jenkins made 1-2 on the other end to seal the win.
Jenkins was key for Iona, finishing with 19 points, and sinking 5-10 3-pointers.
Siena trailed just 34-32 after a very sloppy first half, and grabbed its first lead on Clarence Jackson's 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half. The Saints pushed their lead to two on a Breeden free throw, but Rashon Dwight hit a 3-pointer on Iona's next trip, and the Gaels never trailed the rest of the way.
Iona led by as many as 13 when Dwight hit a 3-pointer with 5:43 left, but Siena fought hard to make it a game.
Breeden was simply sensational for the Saints, besting his career high in scoring by nine points. He made 10-14 field goals, including 3-5 3-pointers to keep Siena in the game early, and help them rally late.
But in the end Iona's inside-outside combination of Jenkins and Glover proved too much to overcome.
Rossiter scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds, but after dominating Iona inside in a home victory in early January, nothing came easy on this night. Nine of his 13 points came from the foul line as the Gaels double and triple teamed him, many times before the entry pass even arrived.
Jackson finished with 14 points and made 4-8 3-pointers for the Saints, but he aggravated his ankle sprain, and was held out in the later stages of the game.
Siena shot 47% from the field and limited the league's highest scoring team to just 69 points and 42%, but committed 18 turnovers.
Iona got limited production from the nation's assist leader Scott Machado, who did not start and played just 20 minutes, but Jenkins and Dwight stepped up big.
Siena will try to right the ship Sunday at Manhattan.
