The Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball team capped off its run at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on top, defeating the Iona Gaels 63-49 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. The Mountaineers head to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history and for the first time as representatives for the MAAC.
Mount St. Mary’s was announced as a No. 16 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and will face another 16-seed American in a First Four matchup on Wednesday, March 19. Tip-off will be at 6:40 p.m. at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Playing in the East Region, a win in the First Four would propel the Mount into a First Round matchup with top-seeded Duke in Raleigh, North Carolina.
This is the Mount’s seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, joining teams from 1995, 1999, 2008, 2014, 2017, and 2021. However, this will be the Mount’s first trip representing the MAAC, as the Mountaineers won the MAAC title in their third year in the league.
Dallas Hobbs led the way on offense with 18 points and seven assists. Dola Adebayo was named Tournament MVP, completing his run in Atlantic City with a 15-point, three-rebound effort. Arlandus Keyes was superb off the bench again, supplying 14 points. Jedy Cordilia grabbed 12 of the team’s 37 rebounds.
The victory was the 22nd of the season for the Mount, setting a record for their time as a Division I program. The last occurrence where the program hit 22 victories was in 1986-87, winning 26 games as a Division II team.
The Mount overcame a challenging start in which they missed on their first nine shots. Iona was only able to tabulate a 6-0 run before Keyes scored the Mountaineers’ first basket. The Gaels grabbed their largest lead at the 16-6 mark on a triple by DeJour Reaves with 9:47 left in the opening salvo, matching it with a déjà vu trey from Reaves with 2:24 on the clock. It was there where the Mount began to seize the momentum, going on a 9-0 run to close out the half. Adebayo and Keyes tallied three-pointers during the sprint.
Cordilia handed Mount St. Mary’s its first lead with 16:06 to go on a fast break layup. The bucket was part of another 9-0 run that forced an Iona timeout with the Mount up 37-32. The contest teetered in the single-digit margins, getting as close as 43-41 on a Reaves three-pointer. Keyes responded with a three-pointer to reestablish momentum to the Mountaineers.
With the game at 49-45 Mount under five minutes, more triples – this time from Adebayo and Hobbs – pushed the divide over double digits. At this point, Iona went ice cold from the field, and any thoughts of a comeback were stopped in their tracks. Free throws and a highlight dunk from Cordilia sealed the game
This article first appeared on the Mount St. Mary’s website.