The wins had been stacking up in a neat pile, making Iona look like a real contender to be a participant in March Madness for the first time in five years.

 ESPN even thought enough of the Gaels yesterday to give them a BracketBuster Saturday home game on Feb. 18 against Buffalo.

But Iona still has a tendency to do things the hard way, and last night was no exception. The Gaels, with their four senior starters, didn't look like a tournament team against a so far so-so Saint Peter's team, falling behind by 10 with 18 minutes left in regulation and then by 10 again with just under 6 1/2 minutes left.

 But there had been seven double-digit comeback wins by Iona already this season. And, suddenly, there was the cushion melting again. Suddenly, it was tied. But this time the Gaels couldn't take the lead.  Keydren Clark scored six of his game-high 27 in the final 2:12, including four clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds, and Iona's road to March hit a big pothole with a 76-72 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 2,611 at the Hynes Center.

 The setback stopped the Gaels' seven-game winning streak and dropped them to 16-4 overall and into a tie for first in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with Manhattan at 9-2.

 This turned out to be one double-digit hole too many.