College basketball: Three takeaways from Iona's 73-63 win over rival Manhattan

NEW ROCHELLE - There were plenty of new faces and coaches on both sides, but the Iona-Manhattan rivalry remained a spirited one.

In front of a packed Hynes Athletic Center and a sea of gold for the Gaels' Gold Rush, Iona was able to bounce back from a recent road loss at home and defeat Manhattan in a 73-63 showdown on Friday night.

"It was fun, seeing all the gold shirts out there and the support we had," Iona forward Wheza Panzo said of playing in his first Iona-Manhattan game. "Rivalries are always good games."

Records don't usually matter in a rivalry setting, and visiting Manhattan made Iona uncomfortable to start. Despite limping in with a 5-17 record, the Jaspers showed no shortage of intensity on Friday, even taking a 31-29 halftime lead.

"Manhattan does a great job of making you play their style, slowing the game down a little bit and in the first half, we didn't make many shots and it became a grind," Iona coach Tobin Anderson said. "Played into their hands, but second half, we came out and had great focus in the first part of the second half, got ourselves a nice lead and played well down the stretch.

"... We haven't been consistent enough offensively, but I'm happy with the win. This time of year, any win is good. Impressed by Manhattan and how hard they played. We knew it'd be a struggle, they've played everybody close, so we're happy to get the win."

The Gaels emerged out of the halftime break and strung together a 9-0 run to snatch the lead. They hardly looked back from there and capitalized on a late-game stretch where Manhattan went more than six minutes without hitting a shot.

Panzo finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from three-point range. He also had two steals and two blocks. Greg Gordon had 19 points and seven boards. Jeremiah Quigley chipped in 13 points, seven assists and two steals. Idan Tretout had nine points off the bench in his first appearance after injury since dropping 30 points against Quinnipiac on Jan. 21.

For Manhattan, Seydou Traore led the Jaspers with 20 points and nine rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting. Jaden Winston had eight points, three rebounds and 12 assists. Briggs McClain made a couple of early 3-pointers, but checked out with six points after sustaining a lower back injury.

Iona improves to 13-11 overall and 8-5 in MAAC play. The Gaels return to action on Sunday against Saint Peter's at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Here are three takeaways from the game:

Panzo bounces back from the perimeter

After a scoreless outing in a disappointing road loss at Canisius, Panzo enjoyed a bounce-back game against rival Manhattan.

He went 0-for-5 from long range at Canisius, but he got into a groove early and carried the Gaels' offense in the first half. He made four of his game-high seven made 3-pointers in a closely-contested opening half of basketball.

"It feels good, I've been dealing with a lot of inconsistencies," Panzo said. "Just trying to be consistent every day and it feels good to see them go in, for sure."

Panzo closed out making 7-of-10 from deep. It was the second time this season that he made seven in a game.

"He can be streaky, but he just has to shoot the ball and if you miss it, you miss it, just make the next one," Anderson said. "You can't be hesitant or tentative. He's a great shooter. He just hasn't been consistent enough, and I think part of that is mentally. He just has to shoot for us."

Gordon stays hot for Iona

Gordon is only listed at 6-foot-5 on the Gaels' roster, but his game has been much bigger than that, especially as of late.

Over his first 12 games, he averaged 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and had some up-and-down outings early on.

Since the start of the New Year, in the 10 games entering Friday, Gordon averaged 20.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 55.9% on the floor.

He followed up with a solid outing on Friday night, scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while grabbing seven boards and dishing out two assists against the Jaspers.

While Panzo got the Gaels going early, Gordon was especially strong in the second half of play.

"I know (Iona-Manhattan) is a big thing for the people who love the rivalry, but I just look at it like another game," Gordon said. "But I definitely didn't want to be on the losing end of it. Definitely wanted to come out and make sure we didn't lose. We were on ESPNU, so we definitely couldn't lose."

Quigley, Brown dish dimes, Gaels' ball movement shines in win

The Gaels' ball movement continues to improve and Friday, during Gold Rush, was another shining example.

The Gaels assisted on 21 of 25 baskets, including every single made shot in the first half.

Freshman Jeremiah Quigley continues to emerge in the Gaels' lineup. He had 13 points, seven assists and just one turnover.

"We let him know that he's not just a regular freshman anymore," Panzo said of Quigley. "He plays a lot more minutes than freshmen usually play, so he just knows that he can take that step and be another leader for us."

Backcourt mate Joel Brown might not have scored as much as Quigley did, but he also played a big part in getting the Gaels' going on the scoring end, chipping in another seven assists.

"They're always in sync, one of them will attack the basket and one of them dishes the ball, and they'll reverse it," Gordon said of the Quigley-Brown tandem. "You normally don't see two point guards play really well together. They don't step on each other's toes, they just make it work -- like tango dancing."

Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay. 

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: College basketball: 3 takeaways from Iona's win over rival Manhattan