Men's College Basketball
Broncs Set Seed at Iona Sunday
NEW ROCHELLE, NY—The Rider men's basketball team will play the regular season finale at Iona Sunday at 3pm on ESPN3. The outcome of the game will determine if the Broncs are the sixth, seventh or eighth seed in the 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship tournament, which begins Thursday, March 6, in Springfield, Mass.
If Rider defeats Iona the Broncs finish in sixth place and will play the 11th seed, Niagara, at 9pm on Thursday.
If the Broncs lose at Iona and Saint Peter's (vs. Niagara) and Marist (vs. Quinnipiac) both lose, Rider will still be the sixth seed and play Niagara.
If Rider loses and Saint Peter's and Marist both win, Rider will be the eighth seed and will play the ninth seed, Monmouth, Thursday at 5pm.
If Rider loses and Marist wins and Saint Peter's loses, or if Saint Peter's wins and Marist loses, then the Broncs will be the seventh seed and will play the 10th seed, Fairfield, Thursday at 7pm.
Rider and Iona have met 52 times since the series began in 1949-50, with Rider winning 23, including eight of the last 17. Rider and Iona split the series last year, with the home team winning. Rider is 15-21 vs. Iona since joining the MAAC.
The Broncs lost 80-77 to Iona on ESPNU on February 21. In that game Iona guards A.J. English and Sean Armand each scored 20 points to lead the first place Gaels. English made three of four foul shots in the final 19.4 seconds to preserve the win. Rider out-scored Iona 10-0, all 10 points by freshman Jimmie Taylor III, to cut the lead to 75-72 with 1:01 left to play. Taylor finished with 19 points.
The Gaels are the top seed in the upcoming MAAC tournament. Iona clinched the regular season title before losing 80-77 in overtime at Manhattan Friday night.
Iona has the highest scoring offense in the MAAC (83.7) but is giving up the second most points (77.6) in the conference. Iona has the best shooting percentage in the MAAC (.482) and the best three-point shooting percentage (.399). Iona also leads the MAAC in assists (17.3 per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6). Iona is averaging 10.4 three-pointers made per game, by far the most in the MAAC.
The Gaels are led by A.J. English and Sean Armand, who are both averaging 17.6 points per game. English is also third in the MAAC in assists (4.5) and three-pointers made (2.8), while Armand is second (2.9). David Laury leads the MAAC in field goal percentage (.573) and is fourth in the MAAC in rebounding (7.3).
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