Monmouth vs. Iona Men’s Basketball Set to air on ESPNU
Monmouth vs. Iona Men’s Basketball Set to air on ESPNU
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (Feb. 10, 2021) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced today that the men’s basketball matchup between Monmouth University (10-5, 10-4 MAAC) and Iona College (5-3, 3-1) on Feb. 19 will be flexed to ESPNU as part of the MAAC Wildcard Game package. The game is set to tip at 7:00 p.m. at Iona’s Hynes Athletics Center in New Rochelle.
The matchup features two MAAC heavyweights, with Iona being selected second in the MAAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll and Monmouth being selected third, tied with Saint Peter’s.
Monmouth currently sits atop the MAAC standings with 10 conference wins, going 5-1 in the team’s last three series against Quinnipiac, Niagara, and Manhattan. The Hawks have the MAAC’s highest powered offense, leading the league with 77.9 points per game. Deion Hammond, a MAAC Player of the Year candidate and unanimous Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection, leads the Hawks in scoring at 17.3 points per game. This past weekend, Hammond broke Monmouth’s all-time record for three-pointers made with his 261
st made bucket from beyond the arc.
The Hawks offense also features George Papas and Melik Martin, who both rank in the top 20 in the conference in scoring at 13.3 and 11.7 points per game, respectively. Martin was most recently named MAAC Player of the Week for his performance against Manhattan, where he averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds while dishing out six assists and knocking in four triples and 11 field goals.
Iona has not seen action since action since a Dec. 23 win against Coppin State due to COVID-19 pauses. The Gaels are set to play historic rival Manhattan this weekend for the team’s first games in 51 days. Before the team’s extended pause, Iona began conference play with a split series against Fairfield and a sweep of Rider, with both series occurring on the road.
The Gaels got off to a hot start under new Hall of Fame Coach Rick Pitino. Isaiah Ross collected MAAC Player of the Week honors three times during the Month of December. In eight games played, he averaged 22.3 points – which ranked No. 14 in the country and No. 1 in the MAAC. Ross has scored 25+ points in four of his eight games played this season. Freshman star Nelly Junior Joseph, a 6-9 forward from Nigeria, also got off to a blistering start by collecting three MAAC Rookie of the Week awards. He was averaging 11.8 points and 7.2 rebounds with a field goal percentage of 56.5%.
The MAAC Wildcard Game format allows ESPN to pick any game scheduled for that specific date to air on ESPNU and allows the MAAC and ESPN the flexibility to showcase the best matchups as the season progresses. Future MAAC wildcard matchups will be announced at later dates.
The 2020-21 campaign concludes with the 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships from Mar. 8-13 at Atlantic City's Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. Stay up to date with all MAAC basketball by visiting
MAACSports.com/basketball and by following
@MAACHoops and
#MAACHoops on Twitter.
About the 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships:
The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships return to New Jersey on March 9-13, 2021 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. To stay up to date on MAAC basketball, visit http://maacsports.com/basketball and follow @MAACHoops on Twitter.
About Time Out for Black Lives:
Time Out for Black Lives aims to inspire and educate youth, athletes, families and fans. The initiative has an interactive website where coaches and student-athletes from MAAC basketball programs contribute their time and resources to read children’s books in entertaining videos, all focusing on Black culture, history, music and myths. The program comes as part of the MAAC’s United for Justice campaign that was announced over the summer. For more information, visit timeoutforblacklives.com.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.