Not the Post I Was Intending For Today

So I was planning to have a nice detailed article on the Iona Lady Gaels game from last night vs. Saint Francis. As I was heading to New Rochelle train station to pick up Tieff, I took my usual route to Iona games, the Hutch north. About 1/4 mile from Exit 3E, Pelham Parkway, I was driving in the middle lane. All of sudden, BAM, some young guy in a minivan comes from the right lane and broadsides me.

Now he says he hit me from behind to avoid being cut off by someone in front of him, but I don't think so. I felt he came in from the right lane into the middle because he didn't see me. Well what happened next was that he spun me out from the middle lane across the right lane into a grass embankment. It was like something out of NASCAR, only I was playing the part of Tony Stewart. Thankfully it was grass or it would have been a lot worse.

NYPD was there on the scene quickly and by the way, the guys at the 45th precinct and the tow truck driver who checked on me couldn't have been nicer. The guy in the minivan admitted to the police officer that he was the one who hit me and that it was his fault. Here's the kicker, his car was more damaged than mine. He had to have his towed, while I was able to drive mine home.

And the amazing thing, I wasn't hurt whatsoever. Shaken up? When you are hit completely by surprise and then spun out at 55 mph on a major highway at rush hour, hell yeah, you're shaken up! And to boot, outside of backing into my neighbor's car six years ago, I had never been in a real accident before where I was the driver. Ever. I don't think that's what they meant by "remembering your first time".

So instead of pictures of my friend, Coach Tony Bozzella and his game last night, you get pictures of my damaged car. Tieff took the train from New Rochelle back home (though he could have got a taxi, rode to Iona, and I am sure Bo would have given him a ride back to his car at Manhasset, or wherever he parked it).

As for Iona, they played their best game of the season, a thorough 85-51 pasting of St Francis. The win broke a three game losing streak for the now 4-7 Lady Gaels. The Lady Gaels shot 65 percent in the first half as they shot out to a 55-18 lead. Anna McLean was a perfect 8 for 8 from the field for 16 points in only 13 minutes to lead four Gaels' scorers in double figures. All fourteen Lady Gaels played, with ten players playing more than 10 minutes. They forced 23 turnovers and had 21 assists. The Lady Gaels next play their first conference game at home vs. Loyola on Sunday at 2:00 pm before heading on a three game conference road trip.

The game of the night in men's college basketball had to be UNC Wilmington vs. Richmond. It was a game of two halves. The first half was incredibly low scoring as Richmond led 18-13 at halftime. The second half was a complete polar opposite of the first half as both teams combined to score over three times as many points as the first half combined point total. The Spiders extended their lead to 26-18 as they looked to remain undefeated at home (going into the contest, Richmond was 6-0 at home).

However, the Seahawks would go on a 18-8 run and take the lead 36-34 on a Jeremy Basnight three pointer with 11:36 left. The Seahawks would extend the lead to ten 54-44 and were still up eight, 59-51 with three minutes left. This was due in large part to the rebounding advantage UNCW had for the game 45-25.

Yet Richmond would come back and win this game. So how does a team like UNCW blow an eight point lead with less than 3 minutes left? Simple. Turnovers. In the span of a minute and five seconds, the Spiders forced four Seahawks turnovers. The culmination of which was a David Gonzalvez steal which resulted in a three point play for Gonzalvez after the made free throw on the foul when he hit his layup. The 10-0 run put the Spiders up 61-59.

Afterwards, the Seahawks would tie the game twice, the last of which was two Chad Tomko free throws tying the game at 63. But Kevin Anderson would hit two free throws to put the Spiders back in front 65-63. After another Seahawk turnover, their fifth in the last 3 minutes of the game, Gonzalvez made one of two free throws, to put Richmond up 66-63. The Spiders smartly called timeout after Gonzavlez made the second free throw. They then fouled Tomko before the Seahawks had a chance to shoot a game tying three (how many times do you see teams NOT do that). Tomko made the first, then missed the second on purpose but Richmond got a rare rebound and the game ended 66-63 Richmond.

Anderson had 24 points to lead all scorers, including going 10 of 11 from the free throw line (the rest of the Spiders only shot 10 of 21 from the line). Gonzalvez was the only other Spider in double figures with 12, but he struggled on the night, going 0 of 6 from beyond the arc and only 4 of 8 from the line. Tomko and Basnight each had 12 points while John Fields continues his rebounding prowess with 13 rebounds. Tomko also had 8 assists but he had 5 of the Seahawks 20 turnovers. UNCW is definitely improved from last year, but for them to continue improving, they need to cut down on the turnovers, especially Tomko.