Location: Times Union Center – Albany, N.Y.

Starters: G - #1 Malcolm McMillan; G - #5 Kassius Robertson; G - #23 Jamal Reynolds; F - #22 Phil Valenti; C - #14 Kevin Bleeker

Game Recap
Iona senior A.J. English scored 20 points and dished out 10 assists and his senor teammate Isaiah Williams was good for 18 points and seven rebounds as the second-seeded Gaels defeated Canisius 73-55 Friday night in the MAAC Championship quarterfinal round in the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.

With the win, Iona (20-10) moves on to the MAAC semifinals, where the team will play either Siena or Manhattan on Sunday night. The Golden Griffins see their season end with the loss. The Blue and Gold posted a 14-19 record on the year.

For Canisius, junior Phil Valenti led the way offensively, as he posted a team-high 13 points to go with seven rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal. Sophomore Kassius Robertson scored 11 points and grabbed six boards, and senior Kevin Bleeker ended his career as a Griff with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, which matched a career high. Canisius shot 42 percent from the floor in the loss, but the Blue and Gold hit on just 28.6 percent (6-for-21) of their tries from 3-point range.

On the other side, Iona shot 46.6 percent from the floor and 43.3 percent from long range, connecting on 13 of 30 shots from behind the 3-point line. English and Williams combined for nine of those 3-point field goals in the win for Iona, which has now defeated Canisius in three of the last four MAAC Tournaments.

How It Happened:
• In the opening minutes of the game, Canisius kept pace with Iona's high-power offense, and a bucket by Valenti with 15:35 left in the first half put the Griffs up 10-8. From there, the Gaels took over, using a 20-7 run over the game's next 5:08 to take a 28-17 lead with 8:59 before halftime. In that run, Iona freshman Rickey McGill scored six points on a pair of made 3-pointers and English added five points as the Gaels jumped out to an 11-point margin.
• Canisius sophomore Jermaine Crumpton got the Griffs' deficit down to single-digits with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 8:30 left in the first half, making the score 28-20 in favor of Iona, but Iona put the game out of reach with a 15-8 run to close out the first stanza and send the teams into the locker room at halftime with the Gaels in the lead by a score of 43-28.
• In the second half, the Griffs got within a dozen at 46-34 thanks to a pair of makes by Bleeker and a lay-up by Valenti. However, Iona ended the Griffs' thoughts of a second-half comeback when the Gaels outscored Canisius 19-7 in the span of 8:47 to make the score 65-41 with 9:14 left on the game clock.

Beyond the Box Score:
• After making 34 free-throws on 44 chances in the triple-overtime win against Niagara the night before, Canisius went 7-for-16 from the stripe in the loss to Iona, shooting a season-low 43.8 percent from the line.
• Canisius had more turnovers (11) than assists (10) for the only time this season.
• Iona grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, and turned that into 16 second-chance points. Additionally, the Gaels outscored Canisius 17-0 in fastbreak points.
• Canisius has allowed 15 opponents to shoot 50 percent or better for the game this year. The Griffs are now 2-13 in those games.

Quotes from Canisius coach Jim Baron
"We knew this was going to be a real quick turnaround, having just played three overtimes last night. But that's not an excuse. Iona is a very, very good team. They finished second in the league, but I truly believe they are the best team in this conference. They just make big shots and they used those shots to get away from us tonight."

"I am proud of the way our guys played, not only tonight, but all season. We had some ups-and-downs, but our guys never quit, they never put their heads down. They came to work every day and they keep trying to get better."

"We obviously spent a lot of time this past week focused on Niagara, because we played them first, and if you don't win the first one, you don't get a next one here. It is tough to get ready for Iona in a short amount of time because they do so many things well. You need to have time to prepare for them and all they bring to the table. They had a week off. Their last game was when we played them at their place last Sunday. To their credit, they were ready to go tonight, and I think after a while, we just kind of ran out of gas."

"At the end of the day, I'm disappointed that guys like Malcolm [McMillan] and Kassius [Robertson] and Phil Valenti did not make a postseason all-MAAC team. Those guys have numbers that compare with anyone in the league. I am very proud that Malcolm and Kevin Bleeker are going to leave Canisius with their master's degrees, and Jamal [Reynolds] is on track to graduate in May. That's the other part to this. Yes, we wanted to win more games, but helping get guys their degrees is important too."

Additional Game Notes:
• Friday's game was the 69th all-time meeting between Canisius and Iona, with the Gaels leading the series 39-30.
• Friday's MAAC Tournament meeting was the eighth between the two programs. Canisius has played more MAAC Tournament games against Iona and Siena than an other conference rival.
• Canisius is now 24-26 all-time in MAAC Championship games.
•  Valenti ended the season by scoring in double-figures in the team's final seven contests.
• McMillan dished out four assists in the loss on Friday. He had multiple assists in all 33 games for the Blue and Gold.
• Robinson's three 3-point field goals on Friday allowed him to finish the season with 86 makes from behind the arc, which ranks third-best on the school's single-season 3-point field goals chart. All three of those players (Robertson, Billy Baron and Isaac Sosa) have played for Jim Baron at Canisius.
• Canisius had four players end the year with double-figure scoring averages, led by McMillan's 14.7 points per game. Valenti was good for 14.6 per outing, while Robertson (14.1) and Crumpton (10.4) rounded out the top-five scorers.