2017–18 Iona Gaels men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Iona Gaels men's basketball team represented Iona College during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gaels, led by eighth-year head coach Tim Cluess, played their home games at the Hynes Athletic Center in New Rochelle, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). They finished the season 20–14, 11–7 in MAAC play, to finish in fourth place. As the No. 4 seed in the 2018 MAAC tournament, they defeated Manhattan, Saint Peter's and Fairfield 83–71, to become champions of the MAAC tournament for the third consecutive time.^[1] They earned the MAAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the first round to Duke, 89–67.^[2]

2017–18 Iona Gaels men's basketball
MAAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	20–14 (11–7 MAAC)
Head coach	Tim Cluess (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Jared Grasso Eric Eaton Adam Ginsburg
Home arena	Hynes Athletic Center
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 MAAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Rider	15	–	3		.833			22	–	10		.688
Canisius	15	–	3		.833			21	–	12		.636
Niagara	12	–	6		.667			19	–	14		.576
Iona †	11	–	7		.611			20	–	14		.588
Manhattan	9	–	9		.500			14	–	17		.452
Fairfield	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Quinnipiac	7	–	11		.389			12	–	21		.364
Monmouth	7	–	11		.389			11	–	20		.355
Saint Peter's	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
Siena	4	–	14		.222			8	–	24		.250
Marist	4	–	14		.222			6	–	25		.194
† 2018 MAAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Gaels finished the 2016–17 season 22–13, 12–8 in MAAC play, to finish in a tie for third place. In the 2017 MAAC tournament, they defeated Rider, Saint Peter's, and Siena win the tournament championship for the second season in a row. As a result, they received the MAAC's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA tournament as the No. 14 seed in the Midwest region. There, they lost in the first round to Oregon, 93–77.^[3]

Roster

2017–18 Iona Gaels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Rickey McGill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Spring Valley Spring Valley, NY G 1 Zach Lewis 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Northwest Catholic Windsor, CT G/F 2 E.J. Crawford 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Simsbury Hartford, CT G 3 C.J. Seaforth 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Hamden Hamden, CT G 4 Schadrac Casimir 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Trinity Catholic (CT) Stamford, CT F 10 Andrija Ristanovic 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Hillcrest Prep Academy (AZ) Belgrade, Serbia F 11 Roland Griffin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr West Aurora Aurora, IL G 12 Nils Taylor 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Rio Mesa Somis, CA F 13 TK Edogi 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) GS Valley Vista (AZ) Phoenix, AZ G 15 Deyshonee Much 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Redemption Christian Academy (MA) Rochester, NY G/F 20 Jan Svandrlik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) GS Canarias Basketball Academy Plzeň, Czech Republic F 21 Gavin Kensmil 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Canarias Basketball Academy Paramaribo, Suriname G/F 22 Isaiah Still 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Union Catholic Regional Rahway, NJ F 30 Branden Aughburns 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Canterbury School (CT) Flushing, NY F 44 Tyrell Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Miami Norland Senior Miami, FL	Head coach Tim Cluess (Hofstra) Assistant coach(es) Jared Grasso (Quinnipiac) Eric Eaton (UMass-Dartmouth) Adam Ginsburg (Buffalo) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2024-04-01

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Albany	L 67–69	0–1	SEFCU Arena (3,529) Albany, NY
Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN		at Syracuse	L 62–71	0–2	Carrier Dome (19,601) Syracuse, NY
Nov 17, 2017* 8:00 pm		vs. Weber State Islands of the Bahamas Showcase quarterfinals	W 80–72	1–2	Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (316) Freeport, Bahamas
Nov 18, 2017* 8:00 pm		vs. Northern Kentucky Islands of the Bahamas Showcase semifinals	L 72–85	1–3	Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (417) Freeport, Bahamas
Nov 19, 2017* 5:00 pm		vs. Coastal Carolina Islands of the Bahamas Showcase 3rd-place game	L 84–89	1–4	Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (312) Freeport, Grand Bahama
Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ohio	W 93–88	2–4	Convocation Center (4,383) Athens, OH
Dec 2, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Fairleigh Dickinson	W 82–75	3–4	Hynes Athletic Center (1,500) New Rochelle, NY
Dec 9, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at NJIT	W 74–70	4–4	Wellness and Events Center (460) Newark, NJ
Dec 12, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Yale	W 83–67	5–4	Hynes Athletic Center (1,553) New Rochelle, NY
Dec 17, 2017* 4:30 pm, FS1		at St. John's	L 59–69	5–5	Madison Square Garden (9,515) New York, NY
Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Holy Cross	W 82–68	6–5	Hart Center (1,054) Worcester, MA
Dec 21, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Rhode Island	L 74–80	6–6	Ryan Center (4,381) Kingston, RI
MAAC regular season
Dec 29, 2017 7:00 pm		at Niagara	W 98–93 ^OT	7–6 (1–0)	Gallagher Center (966) Lewiston, NY
Dec 31, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Canisius	L 78–85	7–7 (1–1)	Koessler Athletic Center (969) Buffalo, NY
Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU		Saint Peter's	W 73–69	8–7 (2–1)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,376) New Rochelle, NY
Jan 7, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Fairfield	W 84–65	9–7 (3–1)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,749) New Rochelle, NY
Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Siena	W 71–69	10–7 (4–1)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,639) New Rochelle, NY
Jan 14, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Rider	W 91–64	11–7 (5–1)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,193) New Rochelle, NY
Jan 19, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Monmouth	W 76–73	12–7 (6–1)	OceanFirst Bank Center (3,020) West Long Branch, NJ
Jan 21, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Canisius	L 82–84	12–8 (6–2)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,567) New Rochelle, NY
Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Manhattan MAAC Tripleheader	W 78–65	13–8 (7–2)	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (2,545) Uniondale, NY
Jan 29, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Fairfield	L 100–103 ^OT	13–9 (7–3)	Webster Bank Arena (1,179) Bridgeport, CT
Feb 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Quinnipiac	W 87–82 ^2OT	14–9 (8–3)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,857) New Rochelle, NY
Feb 4, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3		at Marist	W 98–64	15–9 (9–3)	McCann Field House (1,145) Poughkeepsie, NY
Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Monmouth	L 50–72	15–10 (9–4)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,371) New Rochelle, NY
Feb 10, 2018 12:00 pm		at Saint Peter's	W 86–77	16–10 (10–4)	Yanitelli Center (745) Jersey City, NJ
Feb 12, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Siena	L 78–82 ^OT	16–11 (10–5)	Times Union Center (5,773) Albany, NY
Feb 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Niagara	L 84–85	16–12 (10–6)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,797) New Rochelle, NY
Feb 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Manhattan	W 88–75	17–12 (11–6)	Hynes Athletic Center (2,411) New Rochelle, NY
Feb 25, 2018 2:00 pm		at Rider	L 101–110	17–13 (11–7)	Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ
MAAC tournament
Mar 3, 2018 9:30 pm, ESPN3	(4)	vs. (5) Manhattan Quarterfinals	W 72–60	18–13	Times Union Center (2,630) Albany, NY
Mar 4, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(4)	vs. (9) Saint Peter's Semifinals	W 65–62	19–13	Times Union Center (2,151) Albany, NY
Mar 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN	(4)	vs. (6) Fairfield Championship	W 83–71	20–13	Times Union Center (3,329) Albany, NY
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 2018* 2:45 pm, CBS	(15 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 9 Duke First round	L 67–89	20–14	PPG Paints Arena (18,757) Pittsburgh, PA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. "Iona Claims Third-Straight MAAC Men's Basketball Championship". maacsports.com. March 5, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
2. "Duke 89-67 Iona (16 Mar, 2018) Game Recap - ESPN". ESPN. March 16, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
3. "Oregon 93-77 Iona (18 Mar, 2017) Game Recap - ESPN". ESPN. March 18, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2024.