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Sunday / December 15.
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    • Iona, Monmouth

    NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — One year after missing the NCAA Tournament, Monmouth will head into March as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

    The Hawks won their 16th straight game on Sunday with a 79-73 victory over rival Iona on Senior Day at the Hynes Athletic Center. Monmouth (26-5, 18-2 MAAC) beat Iona (19-12, 12-8) for the second time this season and hasn’t lost since Jan. 2 at Saint Peter’s.

    Only Vermont’s 18-game winning streak is longer than Monmouth’s. Princeton has won 15 straight.

    When the Hawks open the MAAC Tournament on Friday night as the No. 1 seed in their quarterfinal at the Times Union Center in Albany, they will not have lost in more than two months.

    Iona

    Hamidou Diallo apparently isn’t the only NY Ren to enroll in college this month.

    Samson George, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward from Pittsburgh (PA) First Love Christian and the Rens AAU program, will enroll at Iona this week, a source told ZAGSBLOG.

    While the 6-6 Diallo plans to redshirt at Kentucky and begin playing in the 2017-18 season, it remains unclear if George will redshirt or play.

    George also considered Central Connecticut, Oregon State and Monmouth.

    “I love their style of play and also think this is the program that will get me better as a player,” George said when he committed.

    Iona, Recruiting

    Roland Griffin, a highly athletic 6-foot-7 combo forward from Midland (TX) College, committed to Iona, a source told ZAGSBLOG.

    He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

    As a freshman at Illinois State, Griffin scored 14 points at Kentucky on Nov. 30, 2015. He then departed that school that winter for undisclosed medical reasons before landing at junior college power Midland.

    “Roland chose Iona for a few good reasons,” Midland coach Jordan Dreiling said by email. “One, they win. Two, his relationships with their staff. And three, the past success they have had with JUCO transfers.

    “Roland Griffin is a big, versatile player who can guard multiple positions. Ro can really attack the basket and finishes very well. He’s a good athlete and a very underrated passer. He may be our best rebounder as well. He didn’t play the first semester due to leaving Illinois State in the middle of the spring semester last year. He’s eligible for us from here on out and we expect big things for him.”

    In other Iona news, former Marquette guard Traci Carter will take an official visit to campus Jan. 3.

    Iona

    NEW ROCHELLE, N.J. — When Iona beat Monmouth last March in the MAAC championship game to gain an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, Schadrac Casimir watched from his room at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

    “I was rooting for my team,” Casimir said recently in the Iona gym. “I was watching the game, I love the game, I’m a fan of the game, so I had no problem watching. I was upset I couldn’t play.”

    The 5-foot-10 Casimir couldn’t play for most of last season as he underwent three surgeries on his hips and groin in a five-month span.

    Now, with Iona set to open the 2016-17 season Tuesday at Florida State, Casimir will make his return to the court, hoping to lead the Gaels to another NCAA Tournament berth next March.

    “Schad is back and ready to go for the opener,” Iona associate head coach Jared Grasso said. “He has made great strides the past couple of weeks.”

    Iona

    NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Between them, Sam Cassell Jr. and Jon Severe have attended four high schools and four colleges. The two guards are a combined 46 years old.

    Yet they are exactly the type of seasoned college basketball veterans that Iona coach Tim Cluess and his staff have recruited — and been successful with — in recent years as the Gaels have reached the NCAA Tournament in 2012, ’13 and ’16.

    With former Iona star A.J. English now playing professionally in Italy and three other starters gone from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, the Gaels are now looking to Cassell Jr. and Severe for ball-handling, scoring and leadership.

    “Sam Cassell and Jon Severe are both playing well,” Cluess told me recently of the two graduate transfers. “It helps us with some leadership on the team with so many new guys because you’re not trying to break in a bunch of freshman who have no idea what it’s about. These guys have played against big-time teams in big-time games so they’ve been able to lead in practice, tell guys when they aren’t working.”

    Iona, Manhattan

    HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — In four of the last five seasons, Iona or Manhattan has been picked atop the MAAC preseason rankings.

    In three of the last five, Iona has won the league’s regular season title. Niagara captured it in 2012 and Monmouth won the crown last season.

    For the last four seasons, Iona or Manhattan has won the MAAC Tournament title, with Manhattan garnering the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and ’15, and Iona doing so in 2013 and last year, when they beat Monmouth in the championship game.

    Get the picture?

    Iona and Manhattan have dominated the league of late.

    Copyright 2016 Zagsblog. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network
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