NEW ROCHELLE, NY – After falling behind by 17 points twice in the second half, the Saint Peter's men's basketball team battled back to edge four-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Iona College, 75-74 on Friday night. Freshman guard
Daryl Banks III had himself a night, leading all scorers with a career-high 25 points, which included the game-winning layup. The Peacocks start the MAAC season 1-0, while improving to 4-6 overall.
What Went Down
- Banks opened the game on fire, starting off 3-for-3 (2-for-2 3pt) scoring the Peacocks' first eight points to put the team ahead 8-4.
- Succeeding the fast start, Iona went on a 14-0 run to go ahead 18-8.
- Over the next six minutes, the Peacocks outscored Iona 18-7, to reclaim the lead (26-25) with 6:28 remaining in the half.
- During the run, the Peacocks connected on over 50 percent of their field goal attempts and three-pointers with Fousseyni Drame and KC Ndefo each scoring six points while Doug Edert and Quinn Taylor each added three points.
- From there, the contest went back and forth with three lead changes and three ties --- Saint Peter's holding a 32-30 lead with 3:21 to play.
- Over the final minutes of the half, the Peacocks gave up a 10-2 advantage to the Gaels, falling behind 40-34. Banks was the lone player in the half to score in double figures, leading all-scorers with a game-high 16 points through the opening 20 minutes.
- In the second half, Saint Peter's fell behind by 17 points twice --- 56-39 (15:58) and 68-51 (9:34).
- With just under 10 minutes to play, the Peacocks began a run for the ages.
- Banks started the push with consecutive baskets from a three-pointer and a mid range jumper.
- Then, trailing by 13, Ndefo forced a steal at mid court and flushed home a one-handed fastbreak dunk to pull the deficit to 70-59.
- On the ensuing possession, a flagrant foul was given to Iona, awarding Banks with a pair of free throws (which he made) to make it a single-digit game (70-61) with 4:57 reading on the clock.
- With just over two minutes left, Edert knocked down back-to-back threes, cutting the score to 71-67.
- On the very next defensive possession, Taylor made one of the biggest plays of the night, blocking an attempted jumper by E.J. Crawford, recovering the defensive rebound, and forcing a foul on Crawford, putting him at the charity stripe. Taylor would make both free throws, making it a one possession game, down 71-69 with 1:38 left.
- The Peacocks would force an Iona turnover on the defensive end, and would earn a trip to the line for two after drawing a foul on a layup. Ndefo hit the first, but missed the second, leaving the Peacocks down by one with 43.0 ticks on the clock.
- Needing a stop, Iona's Mohamed Thiam hit what looked to be the game-sealing three-pointer, putting the Gaels ahead 74-70 with 15 seconds remaining.
- The Peacocks advanced the ball and called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Lee found Edert for a corner trifecta, with just 6.2 to go, putting the score at 74-73.
- Saint Peter's quickly fouled Iona's Asante Gist, putting him at the line for a one and one situation.
- Gist missed the front end, Banks grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast for the game-winning layup at the buzzer, securing an improbable 75-74 road victory for Saint Peter's.
Inside the Numbers
- Saint Peter's dominated the final 9:58, using a 24-9 advantage --- which included a 10-0 run for a two-minute stretch --- to seal the win. During the run, the Peacocks defense was the key, holding Iona to 2-of-11 shooting and forcing five turnovers.
- The win for the Peacocks snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Gaels, dating back to 2015. It was also the first victory for Saint Peter's at Iona in over a decade, having last won in New Rochelle on Dec. 4, 2009.
- It was by far Banks' best game as a Peacock as he stuffed the stat sheet in his 34 minutes of action. In addition to his 25 points, he also grabbed five rebounds, handed out two assists, and forced two steals, while connecting on 8-of-16 field goals, 3-of-8 three-pointers, and going 6-for-7 from the line.
- Scoring in double figures for Saint Peter's along with Banks were Ndefo (14) and Edert (12).
- Ndefo also left his print all over the game, picking up nine rebounds, four steals, and blocking four shots.
- Saint Peter's outscored Iona 41-34 in the second half --- the ninth consecutive game the team has not lost the second half scoring battle.
- The Peacocks won the battle of the paint for the third straight contest, outrebounding the Gaels 41-33, and outscoring them in the paint 24-18.
- Saint Peter's bench out did Iona's, winning that battle 49-22 --- the Peacocks' bench accounted for 65 percent of the team's total points.
Up Next
- The Peacocks will look to improve to 2-0 in MAAC play for the first time since the 2015-16 season, when the team opens up the home MAAC slate on Sunday, Jan 5 with Marist.
- Opening tip for the game will be at 2 p.m.
