SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The rematch is set for New York’s best rivalry.
After falling to Iona in last year’s MAAC Championship, No. 2 Manhattan will get a chance to dethrone the No. 1 seed on Monday night, having avenged two previous defeats to No. 3 Quinnipiac with an 87-68 win in Sunday’s semifinal at the MassMutual Center.
Iona defeated Manhattan, 60-57, in last year’s title game and prevented the Jaspers from reaching their first NCAA Tournament since 2004.
“We’ve waited a year for this game,” junior Emmy Andujar said. “It’s good for the fans, but for us it’s not about payback. We just want to win and get to the NCAA Tournament.”
It is Iona’s top-ranked offense against Manhattan’s league-best defense. It is glitz vs. grit, city vs. suburbs. It is “two NCAA teams … two of the best 68 teams,” according to Manhattan coach Steve Masiello.
The two schools, separated by only 9 miles, split their two meetings this season and have seen their past seven meetings decided by an average of six points, matchups that included three overtimes and a game-ending buzzer-beater.
Only one win from the school’s first NCAA Tournament in a decade, Masiello wasn’t relishing the opportunity ahead, but instead fretting how to slow the nation’s fourth-highest-scoring team.
“[Iona is] a Sweet 16 team. That’s how good they are,” said Masiello, a former assistant at Louisville. “I’ve been in the tournament many years. That team is the real deal.”
The Jaspers (24-7) couldn’t come in much hotter, having won 10 of their past 11 games. Deadlocked at 40 at halftime against Quinnipiac (20-11), Manhattan’s offense and defense alternated exhilarating possessions, while out-muscling the top-rebounding team in the country despite Ike Azotam’s 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Jaspers turned 15 turnovers into 21 points and smothered the Bobcats’ shooters in the second half, holding them to 10-of-30 from the field after they hit over 59 percent in the first half.
“Everything starts on the defensive end for us,” said George Beamon, who had a team-high 25 points and four steals. “That’s how we live. That’s our brand.”
Beamon expanded the brand and the lead with three 3-pointers early in the second half, starting a 17-6 run that soon ended Quinnipiac’s season. Beamon, the team’s leading scorer, who shot 1-of-8 in the quarterfinals against St. Peter’s and 1-of-8 in the first half, hit 7-of-10 in the final half, while Andujar added 21 points and Rhamel Brown posted 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
A fifth-year senior, Beamon helplessly watched last year’s championship game from the sideline, out with an injured ankle.
Now, with one last shot at a lifelong dream, Beamon couldn’t ask for much more.
And there’s no better team to try to beat.
“I love the idea. I love it,” Beamon said when asked about the rivals’ rematch. “It’s gonna be a show. ESPN2, what better way to go out than with No. 1 and No. 2?”