After last season’s success the bar was set high for the 2012-2013 Iona Men’s Basketball team as they strive to reach the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive season for the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Head Coach Tim Cluess has instilled upon his team a winning attitude since his arrival at Iona in the 2010-2011 season. With a 65-33 record and counting under Cluess’ reign, his expectations remain realistic.

“I think you always come into a season wanting to play for a MAAC Championship and a bid to the NCAA,” Cluess said. “I think that’s the reason every team plays and gets themselves prepared for that.”

Although the Gaels were crowned MAAC regular season champions last season, they have not won the MAAC tournament since 2006.

At the start of this year, the Gaels moved on without star facilitator Scott Machado and forward Mike Glover because of graduation. Fortunately enough for Iona, senior guard Lamont ‘Momo’ Jones and junior guard Sean Armand were ready to take over.

The dynamic duo has played a pivotal role in the Gaels’ success this year and has been mentioned as one of the most prolific scoring back-courts in the nation. Jones leads the Gaels, scoring 23 points per game, which is second in the country. As for Armand, he has elevated his game from a three-point specialist to an all-around threat. Armand is averaging 17.4 ppg, 5.4 rebounds per game and 3 assists per game.

“I think their leadership has probably been the biggest key for our team this year,” Cluess said.

The ability to help lead the team which lacks experience was a challenge for Jones and Armand. However, they both responded positively to the test.

“In order for the other guys to kind of learn what we’re doing and learn our work ethic and all that, it can’t just come from the coaching staff,” Cluess said. “So Sean and Momo did a very good job at that and have led on the court and off the court so it’s been great to have them.”

Through the first 21 games, the Gaels were able to jump out to a 14-7 record. However, a tough trip in upstate New York against the Niagara Purple Eagles and the Canisius Golden Griffins led to the start of a second-half slump. Iona has lost six of their last seven games by a combined 11 points.

Even through a downturn, Cluess still remains optimistic with the team’s postseason chances.

“I think we’re close enough in all the games, we’ve struggled for a period of time and we’ve been dealing with injuries,” Cluess said. “But we feel if we get healthy we have as good a chance as anyone in the MAAC to win three games.”

The most notable injury occurred to freshman guard A.J. English. The Delaware native provided great energy off the bench with the ability to shoot from three-point range. Before injuring his wrist, English was averaging 7.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 1.3 apg along with shooting just under 40 percent from three-point range. However, his status is still uncertain for the remainder of the season and is pending a doctor’s appointment in the near future to determine if he is ready to play.

“He’s still in the cast,” Cluess said. “We’re hoping that obviously it looks good. I don’t know if that would bring him back even if they tell us that it’s healed, if he’ll have range of motion and strength back in time for the MAAC, I’m not sure.”

Cluess also expressed how proud he was of his team, considering the current circumstance they are in and has noticed an increase in effort from his players.

“For the most part, they have been coming in extra in the gym and putting even more work into it and I think their attitudes have been really good,” Cluess said. “I’ve been very happy about that and look forward to them competing again this weekend and see if we can continue to just compete.”

In order for the Gaels to turn their season around they need to be able to play the entire game with the same intensity from the first whistle until the last.

“I think we’ve done a fairly good job in the first 30 minutes of the game,” Cluess said. “The last 10 minutes, teams are beating us on the backboard a little too much and they’re getting those second and third chances, which are easy opportunities for our opponents.”

With a crucial game against fifth seeded Canisius in the MAAC Tournament, Cluess believes it is anybody’s game when everyone gets to Springfield.

“We have a chance with them like we’ve had a chance in every other game,” Cluess said. “We have to get more from other players, we can’t just be a one or two man show, we’re not going to win like that and if we’re able to get that, we have a good shot and if we’re not able to get it, it’s going be tough.”