Iona one to beat in MAAC
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — With the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament tipping off last night at the MassMutual Center, the league’s coaches agreed on two points: The tourney will be hotly contested, but it will be Iona’s to lose, and after last year’s bitter finals upset loss to St. Peter’s, the top-seeded Gaels don’t plan on losing it again.
Conference Player of the Year Scott Machado and the Gaels (24-6) have talked about finishing what they started and reaching the NCAA Tournament. Iona will be the prohibitive favorite, and will start its quest today at 4:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal against Marist, a 64-57 winner over St. Peter’s in last night’s opening round.
“I wanted to lead my team to the conference championship and the NCAAs,” Machado said. “It’s just been going in the right direction so far, and I’m loving it.’’
Machado is averaging a nation-leading 10.1 assists, as well as 13.1 points and 5.0 rebounds. The senior point guard from Queens is up for the Wooden and Naismith awards, and is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. But what he and his Gaels really want is to clinch their NCAA bid with a title this weekend — though Iona coach Tim Cluess and the rest of the league coaches insist they deserve one, win or lose.
Third-seeded Manhattan, which opens at 9:30 p.m. against sixth-seeded Siena, is led by All-MAAC junior swingman George Beamon, averaging a league-high 18.4 ppg.
The Jaspers enjoyed a nation-leading 14-game turnaround under new coach Steve Masiello, vaulting from 6-25 to 20-11. But they’re 0-4 against Siena in the previous five MAAC tournaments, and could be without sophomore point guard Mike Alvarado, who missed the past three games with a cracked orbital bone.
