Across 76 days, Iona played just five games due to several positive COVID-19 tests. This week, the Gaels won four games in five days to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Their coach, Rick Pitino, even at the age of 68 and at a much lower level than he has been accustomed to coaching, clearly has a lot left in the tank.

A day shy of the one-year anniversary of Iona’s stunning hiring of the Hall of Fame coach, the ninth-seeded Gaels punched their fifth consecutive ticket to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday with a commanding 60-51 victory over seventh-seeded Fairfield in the MAAC tournament championship game in Atlantic City.

“It’s pretty darn special,” Pitino said over Zoom, before Iona flew to Indianapolis for the NCAA’s “controlled environment” late Saturday night. “I wanted to coach at a small Catholic school to end my career. To me, it’s a great way to end a very long career.”

He added: “Although I’m 68, I’m going on 48 with my passion.”

This, of course, was unlike the previous four titles for Iona. While those Gaels teams were coached by Tim Cluess, this one was coached by Pitino, who previously guided Louisville and Kentucky to national championships. Iona had never faced a season like this. Nobody has. But no team dealt with disruption to such an extent.

The Gaels (12-5) had their season paused multiple times due to myriad positive COVID-19 tests. They went 51 days without a game. Upon returning and playing five games, another positive test shut them down for 16 days before the MAAC Tournament. All told, 10 Iona players, three coaches and three staff members tested positive for the virus.

“I don’t think everybody knows what it’s like when you have to get shut down,” fifth-year senior guard Asante Gist, the MAAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. “You really are down. There’s no working out, nothing, just sitting in the house.”

It didn’t stop Iona.

The Gaels won four games in five days and Pitino became the third coach to lead five different teams to an NCAA Tournament. Only Tubby Smith and Lon Kruger have also done it.

Pitino tempered expectations in the fall. He was returning just three contributors and there was no offseason program due to the pandemic to get his many newcomers up to speed. His goal was to see gradual improvement. During the Gaels’ lengthy pause, he just wanted his players to have fun and get back on the court.

His seniors, Gist, Isaiah Ross and Dylan van Eyck, were crucial in Saturday’s victory. Gist led all scorers with 18 points, Ross had 13 and van Eyck nine. Freshman Nelly Junior Joseph owned the paint, notching 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Jake Wojcik led the Stags (10-17) with 13 points.

Iona showed the toughness you would expect from a Pitino team this week. It didn’t allow more than 64 points in any of its four victories. The Gaels now win with defense, unfamiliar to MAAC foes, who were used to seeing them running and gunning and lighting up the scoreboard during the Cluess era.

“Our defense is key for us,” Pitino said.

When Fairfield cut Iona’s 12-point halftime lead to four, the Gaels answered with a 13-3 run to go 45-31 and really never had to sweat again. Friday night, Niagara had cut a 24-point lead all the way down to three. But the Gaels held the Purple Eagles to three points over the final 2:54 to assure itself of a trip to the final. Against the top seed, Siena, on Wednesday, Iona found itself down nine deep into the second half. It outscored the Saints 22-10 the rest of the way.

At the final horn on Saturday, Iona players, coaches and staff members joyously danced and smiled and hugged one another. It was a trying season, full of uncertainty and stressful stretches of inactivity.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity this year, we stayed hungry, we stuck with it and it paid off,” Ross said.

Pitino has frequently talked over the past year about his big plans for Iona, wanting to turn the Gaels into the Gonzaga of the East Coast. Even he couldn’t have imagined a finish like this.

“For them to win four games coming out of COVID pause and to do these things is remarkable to me,” Pitino said. “We haven’t played that many games this year, and we’re getting better with each game we play.”