MAAC Championships Day 5: Mount St. Mary’s Clinches First MAAC Title, Beats Iona 63-49

Published: Sunday, March 16, 2025

by CJ Weipz

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Behind a stunning second-half surge, the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers silenced the doubters, beating Iona 63-49 in the MAAC Final to punch their ticket to March Madness.

Coming into the week, Mount St. Mary’s had expectations about as high as the Atlantic City tide in the early morning hours. With their star shooter and a key rebounder out for the conference tournament, the No. 6 seed Mountaineers were just happy to be playing on Saturday night.

But in the true spirit of March, the Mount did something nobody outside of Emmitsburg thought possible: won the whole dang thing.

The road to the championship was a gauntlet from the start. Facing two of the MAAC’s most prolific scorers — Marist’s Josh Pascarelli and Merrimack’s Budd Clark — first-year head coach Donny Lind made sure his squad was ready to play Saturday.

The Mount got punched in the mouth to start the championship game, with the Gaels jumping out to an 18-9 lead through the first 12 minutes. There seemed to be a lid on the basket for Mount St. Mary’s, which went just 10-for-28 from the field in the first half. Iona’s defense protected the paint well and forced the Mount to settle for 15 3-point attempts in the half.

However, a late surge from the Mountaineers brought them back within one point before halftime. Dola Adebayo and Arlandus Keyes hit a pair of 3-pointers before Adebayo scored on back-to-back possessions in transition to cap a 9-0 run.

From there, the momentum stayed with the Mount. Sophomore Dallas Hobbs scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and added seven assists. Dola Adebayo hit a clutch fadeaway 3-pointer to put the game out of reach with four minutes to play. He finished the MAAC Tournament with an efficient 15 points, three rebounds and three assists en route to being named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

Iona’s Dejour Reaves finished with 19 points, leading all scorers, and added seven rebounds on his way to an all-tournament selection. Adam Njie Jr. also provided a spark for the Gaels’ offense with eight points on 4-of-13 shooting.

This is the Mountaineers’ sixth tournament appearance in school history, but their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since joining the MAAC in 2022.

The Mount will learn its opponent Sunday, March 16, at 6 p.m. on CBS. Tune in to 89.5 FM WSOU for coverage of the men’s selection show on a special edition of Empire Sports Talk and Pirate Primetime.

CJ Weipz is an Assistant Sports Director at WSOU 89.5 FM and can be reached at christopher.weipz@student.shu.edu. 

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