Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos didn’t even need to be prompted during this week’s conference call to promote Iona for an NCAA tournament at-large berth should the Gaels stumble this weekend in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

“I’ve been in this game for a while,” Patsos began, citing his time as an assistant at Maryland under Gary Williams, “and I’ve seen a lot of college basketball. With the schedule they’ve played and the players they have, they should be in the NCAA tournament regardless.”

Patsos, always outspoken, of course, is not on the NCAA tournament selection committee.

And while Iona does have a legitimate at-large claim – a 5-3 record against the RPI top-100 with 14 road/neutral site wins – its best bet is still to claim the automatic berth awarded to the conference tournament champion.
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LAWRENCEVILLE – The faster the pace, the better Iona is.

For a half Wednesday night against Rider, Tim Cluess didn’t like the way his team played.

He called it a lack of energy.

The Gaels trailed the shorthanded Broncs, who were missing two starters, by five at intermission before hitting the gas with a 26-6 run to start the second half and eventually cruising to a 75-62 victory.

“We got the tempo going a little faster,” Cluess said. “The end of the first half and the beginning of the second half was almost a crawl. It was all too passive. But then they came out with some more, ‘oomph.’”

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