Iona 75 – Marist 71

BUFFALO – Iona couldn’t buy a free throw, got just two first-half minutes from all-league center Nakiea Miller and played sloppy, turnover-prone offense in yesterday’s MAAC semifinal game against Marist. But the top-seeded Gaels’ deep bench and withering defense were so dominant it hardly mattered, lifting them into tonight’s championship game against Canisius.

Iona put the second-half clamps on fourth-seeded Marist in a come-from-behind 75-71 win in front of 4,836 at HSBC Arena. The Gaels (21-10) seized command with an 18-4 run, held the Red Foxes to 7-of-28 shooting in the second half, and are just one step – tonight’s 7 p.m. ESPN tilt against seventh-seeded host Canisius – away from becoming the first MAAC team to repeat since La Salle in 1990.

“Our players showed the heart of a champion,” said Iona coach Jeff Ruland. “I’m happy we get a chance to move on. I can enjoy it, but I can’t be satisfied. We’re the defending champs, and now we have a legitimate chance to defend our title. I’m sure they’ll be ready to play.”

They’ve been ready, pointing toward this since last year’s win. Swingman Dyree Wilson (10 points, seven rebounds), last year’s Tourney MVP, said, “[Tonight] is what I’ve lived for this whole year. I have only had one date on my Palm-Pilot calendar this entire year, and that date is [tonight].”

Chances like this – along with Rutgers coach Kevin Bannon forcing his players into an infamous strip-free throw contest that induced Johnson to sue the school – are the biggest reasons point guard Earl Johnson transferred to Iona. The senior scored seven of his team-high 15 points in that pivotal 18-4 run, and sits one win away from the NCAA Tourney, while the beleaguered Bannon couldn’t even make the Big East Tourney.

“I feel real good right now. I’m just glad that I get a chance to play in the conference championship,” Johnson said. “This is a special chance to make it to the Big Dance. I just want to play hard, help my team and let my team help me.”

Iona played hard, if not particularly well. But after closing the regular-season with three straight losses, and Ruland admittedly worrying that he’d lost his team, the Gaels aren’t about to apologize for ugly wins . . . if there is such a thing.

Miller, who led the league in blocks, picked up two offensive fouls in the first 2:08, and with him sitting the rest of the half, Marist drove the lane with impunity for 50-percent shooting. But they led just 40-36 at intermission, and Iona made them pay for not putting the game away. Miller had missed six games with an injured left wrist, and Iona had gone 5-1, learning how to survive without their 6-9, 240-lb. star.

“The injury earlier in the year helped us. They know we’re still a good team without him. We survived it,” Ruland said. “We showed the heart of a champion. These guys were great.”

Behind forward Greg Jenkins, Iona’s bench outscored Marist’s 27-2. Jenkins scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half to pick up the inside slack. And when Miller returned in the second half, he dominated defensively. Iona’s defenders harassed Marist like angry bill collectors, forcing the Red Foxes to shot 2-of-8 with three turnovers in a pivotal 7:40 stretch.

A 3-pointer by guard Nick Eppehimer (13 points) put Marist ahead 48-42, but Iona’s 18-4 run – capped by Johnson’s free throws – gave the Gaels a 60-52 lead with 9:09 left. The Red Foxes never got within three again, and lost their fifth straight to Iona.

In the other semi, Canisius upset third-seeded Siena, 76-64. The Golden Griffins got 18 points off the bench from Richard Hampton, and held ex-Knick Louis Orr’s Saints, who’d hit an amazing 13-for-21 against Manhattan Saturday, to 4-of-22 from long range.