GAEL-FORCE WIN

Iona reaches final, sits step from NCAA

ALBANY — The MAAC’s regular season winner won’t be part of its conference title game, but the defending tournament champs will be back playing for another crown.

Iona advanced to its fifth straight conference title game — and sixth appearance in Tim Cluess’ seven years — with a 73-65 win over St. Peter’s in the MAAC Tournament semifinals Sunday night at the Times Union Center, setting up Monday night’s championship matchup against Siena on the Saints’ home floor.

Iona (21-12, 12-8), which defeated Monmouth in last year’s championship and is 2-3 in previous conference title games under Cluess, is one win away from reaching the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six years.

No. 3 Iona and No. 4 Siena split their two meetings this season, but the Gaels have won seven straight games against the Saints at the Times Union Center, along with all eight MAAC Tournament meetings between the teams, including the past two years.

Still, the thousands of Siena fans who helped propel the Saints to an incredible comeback and upset over top-seeded Monmouth will be back again — with even more company.

“I’m not gonna touch that line because right now this is the way the league runs it,” Cluess said, regarding Siena’s home advantage in the title game. “I think it’s really good that we have so much experience in [championship] games. I’m confident if our guys play well, we have a really good chance.”

After losing both regular season meetings against Iona, the second-seeded Peacocks (19-13, 14-6) entered on a seven-game win streak — their longest in two decades — and successfully slowed the pace to a crawl for a significant stretch of the game, holding the Gaels’ explosive offense to 24 first-half points, behind Quadir Welton (18 points) and Trevis Wyche (18 points).

But early in the second half, Iona — which held a 22-4 edge in points off turnovers — ripped off the shackles and sprinted out to a game-changing 17-0 run in 3:17 to turn a ninepoint deficit into a lead it would never relinquish, led by Queens native Jordan Washington (22 points, four steals).

“You can’t do that against Iona,” St. Peter’s coach John Dunne said. “Once they start feeling good and the 3’s are going, they’re hard to stop.”