Its the Finals of the MAAC Tournament tonight and we will see the Iona Gaels take on the Manhattan Jaspers. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ESPN 2. Currently the Odds for the game have Iona favored by 4 points while the total sits at 134.5.
Analysis: Seeded fourth for this year's tourney, the Gaels are the most successful of the current members of the MAAC in this event, having taken home the trophy a total of seven times, but that hasn't happened since 2006. Sporting a record of 39-24 in the event overall, Iona began this year's run with an 89-85 victory versus Canisius on Saturday and then followed it up with a 79-73 victory versus top-seeded Niagara on Sunday afternoon. Except for Tavon Sledge who finished with seven points, every starter scored in double figures for the Gaels as they pulled away to defeat Niagara yesterday afternoon. David Laury dominated in the paint with 20 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, helping to give his team a 45-32 advantage on the glass overall. Lamont Jones accounted for 17 points, though shooting just 5-of-17 from the floor, followed by Taaj Ridley and Sean Armand with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Jones may be the MAAC Player of the Year and one of the top scorers in the nation with 23.3 ppg, but yesterday the Gaels showed that he doesn't have to be the focal point of the offense in order for Iona to thrive. Jones, who has camped at the free-throw line (213-of-241) this year, is also first on the unit with 114 assists, many of those going to Armand (16.9 ppg) and Laury (13.2 ppg) who is averaging a double-double with his 10.6 rpg.
Sixth-seeded Manhattan, which is facing the Gaels in the championship round for the first time ever, started off the 2013 edition of the tournament with a 55-52 win against third-seeded and defending champion Loyola-Maryland two nights ago, and continued with a 60-42 romp over seventh-seeded Fairfield yesterday. The Jaspers are seeking their fourth MAAC Championship, the first since 2004. Manhattan led by just a single point against the Stags at the break on Sunday, but in the second half the Jaspers dialed up the pressure at both ends of the floor and outscored Fairfield by a 37-20 margin to claim the comfortable win. Emmy Andujar finished with a game-high 16 points off the bench, Michael Alvarado added 12 as the team survived a mere 2-of-11 shooting behind the 3- point line. Playing without George Beamon (16.8 ppg) for the majority of the season has not been easy for the Jaspers, but clearly they've played well enough at the right time in order to make it this far into the postseason. Rhamel Brown remains the only player scoring in double figures with his 11.5 ppg, his 7.3 rpg and 94 blocked shots also pacing the program and helping them to limit the competition to just 59.9 ppg.
Pick: I like the Over in this one. I look at Iona as the better team here and they should dictate pace. Manhattan loves to slow the pace, but they haven't been able to that much in this series of late, as 5 of the last 6 between these teams have put up 147 points or more. Iona seems to be able to speed this team up and with a spot in the NCAA tourney on the line you can bet they will look to play their game here. We could also get a foul fest at the end as both teams will not give up till the end, knowing that they have a shot at the big dance with a win and no shot with a loss. I expect at least 14 points in this one.
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