ALBANY — The best basketball rivalry in New York will have its rubber game.
No. 1 Iona and No. 3 Manhattan will battle for an NCAA Tournament berth on Monday night, meeting in the MAAC Championship game for the third consecutive year, following the Jaspers’ 65-48 win over No. 7 St. Peter’s in the semifinals on Sunday night at the Times Union Center.
Though the Gaels swept the season series for the first time in four years, the Jaspers enter as defending champions, winning last year’s title game in Springfield, Mass. over the top-seeded Gaels by three after losing to Iona by three the previous year.
The long-anticipated championship game — between schools separated by less than 10 miles — only heightens the already significant stakes.
“There’s magic in the air when these two teams take the floor, there’s a little different vibe, there’s a little different energy, there’s a little different look in everyone’s eyes,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello said.
“Contrasting styles, but both successful programs in their own right. I think that’s what makes it special. Both programs have been cornerstones of New York basketball.
“We’re going to be who we are, they’re going to be who they are … We have to win with defense, they’re going to have to win with offense.”
Winning for the sixth time in the past seven games, Manhattan (18-13, 13-7) surrendered the game’s first basket and never trailed again, leading 33-23 at halftime after forcing 13 turnovers, with Shane Richards scoring 12 of his 14 points.
The Jaspers extended their lead to 14 in the second half, seeing it slip to 46-39 with less than six minutes remaining, but the defending MAAC champions ended any chance of being dethroned by holding the Peacocks (16-18, 8-12) to 36 percent shooting in the second half.
If Manhattan can beat Iona for the second straight year, the Jaspers would become the first back-to-back MAAC champions since Siena (2008-10) and the first from Riverdale in more than a decade (2003-04).
“We have the ability to make it ugly and win, which you have to be able to do in any type of tournament setting because there are going to be nights you don’t shoot the ball great,” Masiello said. “They might not pass the sexy test to a lot of people, but they’re a coach’s dreams. A lot of people want to tell me what they can’t do, but I look at what they can do. They win. They know how to win. That’s what they’re about.”
With three very different cores, Manhattan is back in the title game, its pressure defense the constant after losing its top three scorers from last year’s 25-win team. Iona, with a different leading-scorer for the fourth straight year is one win from its dream, too, still as explosive as any offense in the nation.
The two paths, so very different, keep ending up in the same place, with everything at stake.
“It’s gonna be a fun game, it’s gonna be a battle,” Manhattan senior RaShawn Stores said. “They’re our biggest rivals and we know what’s on the line – the NCAA Tournament.”