Men’s Basketball Defeats Iona for Eighth Straight Win in the Yanitelli Center

JERSEY CITY, NJ – Saint Peter's men's basketball closed out the 2019-20 regular season with its eighth straight home win, following a 68-65 victory over Iona on Friday night. The win propelled the Peacocks Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) record to 14-6 and the team's overall record to 17-12. With Siena's win over Monmouth, Saint Peter's will be the second-seed in the upcoming 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championship.
 
How it Happened

• Iona came out the locker room on fire, taking a quick 12-4 lead over Saint Peter's by the first media break. 
• Over the next 5:07, the game was taken over by the home team, as the Peacocks put together an 18-5 run which included 11 straight to take their first lead of the night.
• Off the bench, KC Ndefo hit three straight layups, cutting the meeting to one possession.  
•  Then Hassan Drame scored the team's next three points, before Ndefo capped off the 11-0 rally with a steal and alley-oop dunk from Matthew Lee that put Saint Peter's ahead 15-12, forcing an Iona timeout.
• Back-to-back layups by H. Drame and Daryl Banks III, paired with a triple from Dallas Watson would give the Peacocks a 22-17 lead midway through the first half. 
• The slim lead would slowly evaporate, and the Peacocks found themselves in a back-and-forth battle the rest of the half as the teams took a 36-36 tie into halftime.
• Saint Peter's and Iona continued to exchange leads early on in the second half.
• Trailing 44-43, the Peacocks went on a 10-2 spurt that saw four players score (Fousseyni Drame, Lee, Ndefo, and Quinn Taylor), putting the home squad up 53-46. 
• The seesaw affair resumed as Iona was able to erase the deficit and even up the contest at 55-55. 
• It remained an exchange of baskets, as the two teams tied up at 57, 63, and 65 with 34.4 seconds left to play.  
• On the Peacocks final offensive possession, Aaron Estrada drained the clock as low as possible, then drove to the paint, kicked it to Lee, who hit the go-ahead triple with just 3.6 seconds remaining. 
• Iona would advance the ball, call a timeout. On their final possession, Tajuan Agee threw up a contested three-pointer that hit the front of the rim as time expired.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Three Peacocks surpassed double-figures in the win. Ndefo stuffed the stat sheet, matching his career-high of 16 points, grabbing five rebounds, posting a career-best five steals, and blocking three shots.
• F. Drame was the next high-scorer with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds, followed by Taylor's 10 points. 
• Saint Peter's led for 21:23 compared to Iona who led for 13:48 and the contest produced seven ties.
• The Peacocks had in-game advantages in points off turnovers (17-10), points in the paint (44-28), and bench points (36-0), while the teams were an even 16-16 on second chance points.
• The win gives Saint Peter's its first regular-season sweep over Iona since the 2008-09 season.
• Saint Peter's closed out the regular season in Jersey City as winners of eight straight and 11 out of 12, finishing the year with an 11-3 overall home record and 9-1 MAAC home record. The nine MAAC home wins are the most ever by the program and the 11 overall home wins are the most in almost 30 years, having last been done by the 1990-91 MAAC Championship Peacock squad who earned 12 wins in Jersey City that season.
• The men end the regular season in second place and tie the program record for most league wins in a season, matching the 2016-17 team that also racked up 14 MAAC victories.
• Additionally, Saint Peter's closed out the regular season as one of the conference's hottest teams, winning 12 out of 15 since Jan. 18. 

 


Up Next          

• Saint Peter's will head to Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championship as the No. 2 seed.
• The Peacocks will have a first-round bye and will begin action in the tournament's quarterfinals on Wednesday, Mar. 11 at 9:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 7 Iona and No. 10 Canisius.