Less than a week after Nemo rocked the region, another storm was brewing in The Bronx on Friday night.
Manhattan College fans rushed the court in an out-of-the-ordinary scene at Draddy Gymnasium after the Jaspers pulled off a thrilling 74-73 double-overtime win against Iona that sent Steve Masiello into a fan-hugging, baby kissing frenzy.
“Well a very unentertaining, boring game in Riverdale so I apologize,” Masiello said. “I really just thought it was two basketball teams that played incredibly hard. I really think it could have gone either way, I was so proud of our kids’ resiliency.”
Trailing 73-71 with 11 seconds remaining in double overtime, Jaspers guard Michael Alvarado drew a foul and hit the first free throw to bring Manhattan (10-15, 8-7 MAAC) to within one.
Alvarado’s second attempt hit off the front rim and luckily for the Jaspers, forward Rhamel Brown was there to tip the ball back and set up what would be the game-winning layup by Emmy Andujar.
“The game is on the line, [Brown] grabs me and says ‘Coach, put me on the line and if Mike misses, I’ll grab the rebound,’” Masiello said. “The kid is going to be one of the best players to ever put on a Manhattan uniform. I couldn’t be more proud of a player.”
Brown, who has become a vocal team leader this year, set the defensive tone early by picking up five blocks in the first ten minutes of the game. The 6-foot-7 junior finished with game-highs in points (21), rebounds (17) and blocks (seven).
“I try to come out and focus on defense,” Brown said. “If I focus on defense, the rest of the game just comes to me.”
If Brown’s stellar play in the post opened up the floor for freshman forward Shane Richards, who made Iona pay from beyond the arc, hitting five treys in 36 minutes.
“[Shane] is huge,” Masiello said. “You have to really pick your poison, are you not going to play Rhamel on the pick-and-roll or are you going [let Shane shoot]. He’s invaluable because you need to prepare for him. If you leave him open, it’s going down.”
Iona (15-11, 9-6 MAAC) had a chance to win the game in the first overtime but Lamont Jones (17 points) missed a long 3-point attempt. Jones and his backcourt partner Sean Armand both struggled, shooting 12-of-35 from the field, and both fouled out late in the second overtime.
“We need better production,” Iona head coach Tim Cluess said. “When [Jones and Armand] shoot well, we’re probably going to win. When they don’t shoot well we’re probably not going to win.”
Jones, who leads the team in scoring, defended the decision to take the long three and put the loss on his shoulders.
“It was a good shot, it just didn’t fall down,” a somber Jones said. “Tonight I just didn’t play good. Shots I should have knocked down I didn’t knock down. Tonight wasn’t a good night and I’m going to take this one on me. Coach put the ball in my hands and I didn’t make the play.”
The loss was Iona’s second double-overtime defeat in its past three games. The Gaels dropped a 105-104 game against Marist on Feb. 7.
“We’re running out of new ways to lose late in games,” Cluess said. “We seem to be inventing new ones.”
The Gaels aren’t only struggling to execute late in games, but they have had serious issues on the road recently. Iona has lost three straight road games and have to play Fairfield and Indiana State before returning for a game in New Rochelle.
“We have not shot the ball well on the road,” Cluess said. “They’re young men who make mistakes.”
Manhattan on the other hand has won four straight and five of its past six and is morphing into the MAAC juggernaut it was a season ago.
“We are getting some lucky breaks right now,” Masiello said. “I say this humbly, I wouldn’t want to play us.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com