Iona yesterday did what most local college basketball teams have struggled to do all season — win a big game when it needed it most.
In defeating St. Peter’s, 49-48, in front of 1,028 fans at Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, the Gaels (21-9, 12-6) captured the No. 3 seed in this weekend ‘s MAAC tournament, where they will face sixth-seeded Niagara in the quarterfinals Saturday in Albany.
The Peacocks (16-13, 11-7) settled for the fourth seed and on Saturday will play fifth-seeded Rider.
“I was happy with our team’s effort today, but if we want to win games in the tournament, we have to do a better job of finishing,” said St. Peter’s coach John Dunne after his team blew a lead in the final seconds.
Both teams waged a defensive battle indicative of how they are evenly matched. The largest lead of the game was just six points, held by St. Peter’s in the first half.
The Peacocks led 27-24 at halftime, and the back-and-forth continued in the second. Down four with 1:17 left, Iona made it 48-47 when freshman sharpshooter Kyle Smyth hit a 3-pointer on an assist from Scott Machado.
With less than six seconds left, Machado drove to the hoop and was fouled by Steven Samuels. The sophomore from Queens hit both free throws to put Iona ahead.
Machado, who finished with 10 points and six assists, had struggled with his shot all afternoon. He was 3-for-12 from the floor, 0-for-3 from downtown and 2-for-4 from the foul line prior to the final free throws.
“We have to make [Machado] shoot a jump shot instead of putting him on the line,” Dunne said.
Sophomore Jermel Jenkins led Iona with 13 points and Smyth had nine points off the bench on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. Junior Alejo Rodriguez added six points, 13 rebounds and two blocks to the victory.
St. Peter’s relied heavily on junior guards Wesley Jenkins and Nick Leon, both of whom played 38 minutes. Jenkins had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Leon, whose last-second shot was knocked out of bounds, had eight points and three assists.
Junior Ryan Bacon had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Peacocks.
