Box Score ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The tenth seeded Manhattan men's basketball team fell 60-57 in the opening round of the MAAC Tournament, to seventh seed Iona.
"Tip your cap off to Iona," said Head Coach John Gallagher. "They made one more play than us so you have to give them credit. As for us, I can't tell you how proud I am of how far we came from after losing Brett Rumpel, and the other array of injuries we had."
Manhattan, who finished the season 7-23, and 4-16 in conference, was led by Jaden Winston who scored 17 points while adding four assists. Seydou Traore recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.Â
Iona advances to the quarterfinals, and is now 16-16 on the season, after a 10-10 conference record. The Gaels were led by Idan Tretout who scored a game high 24 points. Jeremiah Quigley added 17 points and six rebounds for Iona.
The two teams traded buckets to start the contest, tied 11-11 through seven minutes. From this point forward, the Jaspers would not trail in the first half. Manhattan scored the next seven points to go up 18-11. Iona would cut into the lead for the remainder of the half, narrowing the deficit to 32-30 at the break.Â
Iona would storm out to an 11-2 run to start the second half, climbing to a 41-34 lead at the first media timeout. Manhattan scored the next six points to make the score 41-40. From here, the game would be defensively focused with buckets coming at a premium. With just over two minutes remaining in the contest, the Gaels led 54-48. Manhattan began to attack the hoop, trading layups for free throws, until they got possession with 49 seconds left, down five. Manhattan got the ball down to Daniel Rouzan who would kick it out to Perry Cowan for a three-pointer to cut the lead to two. Following a timeout, the Jaspers set up a full-court press and were able to steal the inbounds pass with 31 seconds to play, down by two. Following a long set, Winston was sent to the line with a change to tie the game with 1.7 seconds remaining. After missing the first shot, he attempted to miss on purpose but got a lane violation, awarding the Gaels possession. Iona would go one for two from the line giving the Jaspers one final heave at the basket which they could not convert, ultimately losing by three, eliminating themselves from the tournament. This loss will end the 2023-24 season for Manhattan.Â
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