SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Next!
Top-seeded Iona treated its first game in the MAAC Tournament no differently than its remarkable regular season, as the defending champs ran No. 8 Rider out of the MassMutual Center Saturday afternoon with an offense exhibition and 94-71 quarterfinal victory.
The Gaels will play the winner of No.4 Canisius/No. 5 Siena on Sunday.
Iona (21-9, 18-3) led from start to finish, hitting 59.6 percent from the field, including 11-of-25 on 3-pointers.
After opening last year’s tournament with back-to-back double-doubles, power forward David Laury came off the bench and dominated the way his teammates and coaches so often implore him to, as he dropped 13 points and nine rebounds in the first half, on his way to an 18-point, 11-rebound afternoon.
Laury, whose potential can’t be measured, but whose effort is often questioned, sought out contact and played to his power in the paint, rather than relying on several different facets of his incredibly well-rounded game.
Tre Bowman scored 17 of his game-high 28 points (8-of-11) in the first half to give Iona a 50-34 lead at the break, while senior Sean Armand finished with 20 points.
Rider (14-17, 9-12) went on a 12-2 run to cut Iona’s lead to 10 early in the second half, but the Broncs could never claw their way to a single-digit deficit, despite 19 points from Anthony Myles.