GAELS GOIN’ DANCIN’
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ALBANY — There were selfies, and there was singing, and there were parents wading through cheerleaders, trying to find their sons, who were smiling as wide as they always hoped.
Another net would be cut down, and another banner will be raised. It’s just another year at Iona. The fourth-seeded Gaels staked their claim as one of the great dynasties in MAAC history Monday night, securing their third straight conference tournament championship, and fifth NCAA Tournament berth of the past seven years, with an 83-71 win over sixth-seeded Fairfield at the Times Union Center.
Playing in its sixth straight title game, Iona (20-13) became the third team in league history to three-peat, and the first since Siena (2008-10). The Gaels will be a 15 or 16 seed in the Big Dance, an honor as exciting as ever, because it was as surprising as ever.
“They know people doubted them, and they know people gave up on them, and that makes it even more special that they didn’t give up on themselves,” coach Tim Cluess said. “It’s funny, sometimes when you’re going through the difficult times, you wonder how your season’s gonna end up, you wonder if those difficult times are gonna lead to a special ending, or if they’re gonna have you fall apart.”
Iona was reeling just over a week ago, having lost four of six games to close the worst regular season of Cluess’ tenure, but the Gaels rediscovered their swag upstate, benefitting from the topthree seeds falling in their first tournament matchups, which highlighted how difficult Iona’s year-after-year triumphs truly are.
Iona knocked off rival Manhattan in the quarterfinals, then overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to St. Peter’s in the semifinals, before ending Fairfield’s (17-16) seven-game win streak, and keeping it from its first NCAA Tournament in 21 years.
The Gaels became the lowestseed to win the MAAC Tourna- ment since also winning it as a four-seed in 2013, and have now won at least 20 games in each of Cluess’ eight seasons.
“When we were 1-4 to start the year, I didn’t know if we were gonna get two wins, and it wasn’t because of talent,” Cluess said. “I think they all just came together, and they all realized they were good enough to win, and the players started holding themselves responsible.”
After splitting two regular-season meetings, Fairfield was carried by MAAC leading-scorer Tyler Nelson (25 points), and held a four-point lead with less than seven minutes left in the first half, with Iona hitting just one of eight 3-pointers. But the Gaels’ latest home-run transfers gave them control, with Roland Griffin and Zach Lewis combining for 30 points to take a 43-37 halftime lead.
The duo then combined to score 11 of the team’s first 14 points in the second half, and sparked a 21-7 run, as Griffin finished with a career-high 29 points, and Lewis was named tournament MVP, scoring 20.
Two years ago, the Gaels needed to upset top-seeded Monmouth in the title game. Last year, it required beating Siena on its home floor.
This time, a championship hinged on the Gaels forgetting so much of what happened this season — and remembering this is their time of year.
“It was tough at the beginning, but learning from [teammates], they just tell you to stay the course, we’ll get here, we’re gonna have this moment, it’s all gonna come true,” Griffin said. “And it happened.”