MAAC Championship Preview
The 2015 MAAC Tournament Final features two teams that are quite familiar with not only one another, but with the stakes that are at play. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while the loser gets a possible (but not necessarily automatic) trip to the NIT – or worse, the CBI or College Insiders.com Tournament.
Facing off in the final will be the Manhattan Jaspers (18-13), and Iona Gaels (26-7) in a rematch of last year’s final, where Manhattan beat Iona last year in the MAAC Tournament Final, while Iona emerged as the champion in 2013. Head coach Steve Massiello said on this rubber match with Iona “I’m not happy about the opponent.” The opponent he was talking about is Iona, and the Gaels beat his Jaspers in both regular season games by an average of 3.5 points (70-67 on Feb. 13th, and 79-75 on Feb. 27th). “They’re, offensively, just a nightmare to deal with,” Masiello said.
That nightmare coach Masiello was talking about knocked down a MAAC tournament record 19 three-pointers (on 35 attempts) and bombed away on Monmouth 95-77 in the Semifinals last night. On the flip side, Manhattan can be a different type of bad dream for Iona, having held Saint Peter’s to 0.77 points per possession and forced 19 turnovers in their 65-48 semifinal win.
Iona is still steaming from the close loss to their rival and hated Jaspers from last season. David Laury was so upset by his missed 3-pointer at the buzzer of last season’s MAAC championship against Manhattan that he spent the entire offseason working on, and improving his jumper. “I thought about it all summer,” “That shot wasn’t for me,” he said. This year David thinks it can be different. “If I’m open — wherever it is — I feel comfortable enough to shoot it and knock it down.”
There is only one way to find out if Massiello’s nightmare comes true or if Laury is able to avenge the loss from last season. We shall find out tonight at 9pm EST on ESPN2.
(Feature image: maacsports.com)