Of all the teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), there is no team that Iona has had more success against than Saint Peter’s.

The Gaels, who have defeated the Peacocks 59 times in their history, had just completed a successful three-game road trip, which included wins against Niagara and Canisius.

Although they were in first place, the Gaels played down to the Peacocks’ level in the first half.

Iona, who tallied 101 points at Canisius three days prior, made only two three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Senior forward Mike Poole’s 10 points was the most of any player wearing the Maroon & Gold, who led 24-22 at the intermission.

To start the second half, the Gaels had a 17-9 run over the first 7:16 of the second half to take a 42-31 lead, their largest of the half.

However, the Peacocks used their height advantage to prevent Iona from obtaining additional rebounding opportunities. Over the next ten minutes, both teams exchanged baskets, but the Gaels never had an advantage larger than nine points.

With less than a minute remaining, the Peacocks made a push to retake the contest. After scoring with less than 20 seconds remaining, redshirt junior guard Jamel Fields stole an inbound pass and scored to tie the game at 59 with four seconds left.

On the ensuing inbound, senior guard Sean Armand passed the ball to sophomore guard A.J. English, who hit a game winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining to rescue a 62-59 win for Iona.

The nerve-racking contest the Gaels had did not repeat two days later when the Maroon & Gold faced Monmouth.

Although the Hawks out-rebounded the Gaels 44-25, Iona capitalized on 21 Monmouth turnovers to run away with an 89-70 win. Iona also made 14 three pointers in the win, while Monmouth made three.

English recorded his second career double-double in the effort with a 21 point and 13 assists in the contest.

Aside from English, four other Gaels recorded double digit point totals. Senior guard Tre Bowman led all scorers with 23 points.

The high scoring ways of the Gaels continued in their ensuing contest at Rider. In their first contest against the Broncs this season, the Gaels displayed their offensive dominance throughout the first half.

Iona held a nine point lead after the first 20 minutes thanks to Armand’s sharpshooting.

The school’s leader in career 3-pointers, with 330 career makes from behind the arc, Armand registered three from downtown to push the Gaels to a 41-32 lead halfway through the contest.

Alongside of Armand, junior forward David Laury contributed nine points and six rebounds off of the bench.

Laury, who has been the sixth man for the Gaels since the middle of January, has embraced the role he has been put into as the most potent player off the bench.

“I just want to do whatever will help us win,” said Laury, who is in his second season with the Gaels. “It is more about the name on the front of the jersey. You are playing representing Iona, and coming off the bench is giving our team a big boost.”

In the second half, the Gaels continued their offensive dominance over the Broncs. The Gaels had a 73-59 lead following a Bowman layup with 3:50 remaining in the game.

Despite facing their largest deficit in the contest, Rider’s defense prevented Iona from making another field goal following Bowman’s basket.

The Broncs used three three-point field goals and a series of Iona turnovers to get within a point of Iona with 14 seconds remaining. However, two English field goals and a defensive stop on a potential buzzer-beater allowed Iona to escape with an 80-77 win.

Now with a ten game winning streak, Iona had an opportunity to get their 11th straight win at Marist. With a win, the Maroon & Gold would secure at least a share of the MAAC regular season title.

Iona went into this contest having not lost at the McCann Center since December 2008, and continued this streak with an 86-67 win.

This was just Marist’s third home loss in MAAC play this season.

In the first half, the Gaels led by as many as 11 with 6:45 after an English free throw. However, the Red Foxes got within three points of Iona at the intermission.

With 18:24, Marist took a 45-44 lead. However, Iona rebounded with a 16-3 run over the next four minutes to run away with the contest.

During this stretch, the Red Foxes missed 14 of 15 field goals, which allowed Iona to eventually outscore Marist 45-29 in the half.

English and Laury both had 22 points apiece to pace the Gaels to the win.

For the second time in three years, Iona has claimed at least a share of the MAAC regular season crown, and will secure at the very least a bid in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) with a win in either of their last two contests.

Iona will return to the court on Feb. 28 at Manhattan in a nationally televised contest on ESPN2. On March 2, the Gaels will play their final regular season game against Rider at the Hynes Athletics Center.

“We just need to continue to play together as a team, not as individuals,” Laury said. “We also need to bring as much energy and effort as we possibly can.”

The Gaels will compete in the MAAC championships starting on March 8.