Fouls, Free Throws and Jaspers - Oh My! (Recap of Manhattan vs. South Carolina)

A lot has been made of the new NCAA rules concerning fouls now being called on hand checks as well as the change in what is a charge as opposed to a block.  Fouls are up considerably in Division I basketball.  As of today, one hundred and seventy four teams are averaging twenty fouls or more per game.  Last season, only twenty nine teams averaged twenty fouls per game or more.  That's a difference of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE teams.

I had noted this in a previous article two weeks ago.  The number of teams that are averaging twenty or more fouls per game has not changed.  Most teams on average have now played ten games, which is nearly one third of the season.  So the idea that teams will adjust to the new rules (see Jay Bilas), well, that's not happened yet.  Not by a Dominick Mejia three point attempt (that one was for Dan Crain).

One of those coaches struggling to adapt to the rules is Manhattan coach Steve Masiello.  He was quoted recently as agreeing with Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo about the "three yards and a cloud of dust" offense Izzo believes his Spartans should play now;

"Tom Izzo said it best. I believe his quote, I don't want to misquote him, but he said after the Barclays Center games that he's going to just tell his players to drive in, create contact, throw the basketball up and worry about foul shooting, because it's taking away defensive advantages for schemes and scouting purposes. I have to learn the rules better and try to do a better job, and I'll do that. If you ask me how I feel, just take Tom Izzo's article, whatever he said, I agree. Steve Masiello agrees with Coach Izzo."

Manhattan averages five more fouls per game than they did last season; twenty six fouls this season compared to twenty one last season.  Yet the Jaspers have so far overcome the new rules/additional fouls and entered last night's game vs. South Carolina with a 7-2 record.  A lot of that has to do with the return of redshirt senior guard George Beamon, who came into the game averaging 20.7 points per game.   Beamon received a medical redshirt for his fifth season after he was injured for most of last season.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks had not played a game in eleven days since their twenty seven point drubbing on the road at the hands of Oklahoma State.   What made matters worse for Coach Frank Martin is that his young team, which consists of seven freshmen and three sophomores, had only played five games so far this season, the second fewest in Division I basketball.

The Gamecocks came out strong as they jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, as Bruce Ellington scored five quick points for South Carolina.  The Gamecocks didn't seem rusty at all at the beginning of the game, hitting four of their first five shots.

But the Jaspers responded with an 8-0 spurt, due in large part to forcing three Gamecocks' turnovers in that span. Rich Williams and Michael Alvarado each had three point plays to help put Manhattan up 12-10.  The Jaspers would extend the lead to four, 18-14 with about twelve and a half minutes left in the first half.

The Gamecocks would respond with a 7-0 run as guard Tyrone Johnson would score five of those points, including a free throw after an intentional foul was called on Emmy Andujar.  The Gamecocks would go up 21-18.   After Beamon tied the game with a three pointer, Johnson hit another two free throws to put South Carolina back up 23-21.

During this time, the fouls were mounting up for Manhattan.  In the first seven and a half minutes, the Jaspers already had eight fouls.  Rich Williams would pick up three fouls in the first half alone.  And with seven minutes left in the half, Beamon picked up his second foul and went to the bench with the game tied at twenty eight.

Just when Gamecock fans thought their team could take advantage of Beamon's absence on the court, the foul situation turned in favor of the Jaspers.   Manhattan would score their next eight points all on free throws; four from Donovan Kates and four from Alvarado.  Shane Richards would then bury a three pointer and Alvarado put the icing on a 11-2 run with a dunk to put the Jaspers up 41-30 with three and a half minutes left.

During this three and a half minute period, South Carolina went ice cold from the field as well as from the free throw line.  The Gamecocks only hit one of six field goal attempts and missed on three straight free throws before Tyrone Johnson hit the second of two free throws to cut the lead to ten 41-31.

Manhattan would actually extend the lead to thirteen before taking an eleven point lead into halftime, 45-34.  Alvarado picked up the scoring burden for the Jaspers with fourteen points, as well as adding three assists in the first half.  The Jaspers outscored the Gamecocks 17-6 over the last seven minutes of the first half with Beamon on the bench during that time.  Twelve of those seventeen Manhattan points came courtesy of the free throw line.

Rich Williams started the second half with a layup to put Manhattan up thirteen, 47-34.  South Carolina responded by scoring seven straight points to cut the lead to six, 47-41.  After Alvarado hit one of two free throws, Sindarius Thornwell hit two free throws to cut the deficit to five, 48-43.  The  Jaspers continued to be plagued by fouls, committing six in the first four and a half minutes into the second half, with Williams picking up his fourth foul during this time.  It looked like the Gamecocks were going to rally all the way back with help from the charity stripe.

But Manhattan was undeterred by their foul situation.  The Jaspers would score the next seven straight points as Alvarado buried a three, Andujar would add two free throws and an assist on Beamon's layup.  Masiello's club was back up twelve, 55-43 with 13:46 left.

South Carolina would not quit as Carrera and Thornwell combined to score all of South Carolina's points in a Gamecock 10-3 spurt to cut the deficit to five again, 58-53 with eleven and half minutes left in the game.  Carrera (10 points second half) and Thornwell (14 points second half) both came on strong in the second half after a quiet first half for each of them (Carrera and Thornwell combined for three points in the first half).

But two free throws by Kates and a three by Beamon put Manhattan back up by double digits, 63-53.  South Carolina would get within eight twice, the second time 65-57 with nine and a half minutes left in the game on a jumper by Carrera.

But what Carrera gave the Gamecocks, he would take away on the next possession, fouling Beamon on a three point field goal attempt.  Beamon calmly sank all three free throws to put the Jaspers back up by double digits, 68-57.  South Carolina would get no closer the rest of the contest, or more appropriately, the foul fest, as Manhattan won going away 86-68.

There were FIFTY THREE fouls called in the game, thirty on Manhattan, twenty three on South Carolina.  Two players fouled out; Ashton Pankey for the Jaspers, Mindaugas Kacinas for the Gamecocks.  A combined six other players on both sides had four fouls each.   Much of the eighteen point margin came from the free throw line.  Manhattan only had one more free throw attempt than South Carolina, 39 to 38.  But the Jaspers shot an excellent 34 of 39 from the line (eighty seven percent) while the Gamecocks were only 22 of 38 from the charity stripe (fifty eight percent).

The Jaspers excelled on the defensive end with eleven steals and nine blocks.  Beamon had four steals and Pankey and Rhamel Brown each had four blocks for Manhattan.  What helped the Jaspers deal with the fouls was their bench strength, as nine players were on the floor for at least eleven minutes.  In fact, starter Rich Williams only played seven minutes due to foul trouble.  He made the most of those seven minutes with nine points.

Beamon led all scorers with twenty five points.  He had eighteen points in the second half, two of which came on a really sweet floater that would have made Loren Stokes proud.  Beamon also had five rebounds to go with his twenty five points and four steals.  Alvarado made a great Pippen to Beamon's Jordan with twenty points and six assists.

Thornwell led the Gamecocks with seventeen points.  Johnson added twelve points, eleven of which came in the first half.  Carrera added ten points for South Carolina.  Brenton Williams, the team's leading scorer from last season, only played six minutes and was held scoreless.

Manhattan plays one more non conference game this Saturday vs. Buffalo at the Barclays Center before going back into MAAC conference play.  Meanwhile, South Carolina has a quick turnaround with a 4:00 PM game at home on Thursday at home before traveling to Hawaii to play three games in the Diamond Head Classic, with their first game against St Mary's on December 22.

Here's hoping that both teams start adjusting more to the free throw rules.  Fifty three fouls and fifty six points on free throws are two numbers that you don't often see in a basketball game.   And that's just too much stoppage in play for a game that prides itself on end to end action.

A Scouting Report of Manhattan for South Carolina Fans by Jaden Daly

As has become custom here at The College Hardwood,  Jaden Daly of "A Daly Dose of Hoops" and I will be doing guest blog articles on each other's site this season for a game that involves teams we each cover on a regular basis.  Today, Jaden gives a scouting report on Manhattan, who will be playing South Carolina tomorrow night at Colonial Life Arena.

***

Hello again, everyone, this is Jaden Daly from A Daly Dose Of Hoops, previewing the Manhattan College Jaspers before they come to Colonial Life Arena this Tuesday to take on South Carolina. Through my work covering many of the programs in the New York metropolitan area, I have been fortunate to cover Manhattan since Steve Masiello started his tenure on the bench in Riverdale in 2011, and am in the midst of my third season covering the Jaspers, who I have already seen six times during this young season.

Game Reviews

Enclosed are game stories for four of the six Manhattan games I have covered this season, as well as a preseason feature on senior guard George Beamon:

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2013/11/jaspers-express-rolls-to-2-0-start.html (Manhattan at Columbia)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2013/11/creek-submerges-jaspers-as-gw-scores.html (Manhattan vs. George Washington)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2013/11/rams-win-rumble-in-bronx-behind-severes.html (Manhattan vs. Fordham)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2013/11/fordham-79-manhattan-75-quotes.html (Postgame quotes from Manhattan vs. Fordham)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2013/11/fordham-79-manhattan-75-quotes.html (Manhattan vs. Monmouth)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2013/11/beamon-jaspers-in-search-of-special.html (Feature on George Beamon)

Starting Guards

The Manhattan offense begins and ends with George Beamon, the Jaspers' fifth-year senior from Long Island who has returned to the form that made him a first team all-MAAC honoree before a severely sprained ankle cost him all but four games last season. With an average of 20.7 points per game, Beamon had only scored 29 points in his previous three games before his game at UNCW yesterday.  Beamon responded with 23 points in the victory over the Seahawks, which makes it six games already this season where he has scored at least 23 points.

Alongside Beamon, who needs just three points to move into seventh place on Manhattan's all-time scoring list, fellow senior Michael Alvarado has experienced an uptick in productivity by virtue of playing off the ball more frequently despite still leading Manhattan in assists, with an average of over four helpers per game. Alvarado will still run the point when the game matters most, but do not be surprised to see him off the ball to start, with either CJ Jones or Tyler Wilson getting the start alongside the two seniors in the backcourt. Speaking of Jones and Wilson, the pair of underclassmen bring two different styles of play to the court. Jones, a sophomore from Chicago, is a tough on-ball defender who is the perfect fit for Masiello's system, which places suffocating defense at a premium, whereas Wilson; a homegrown freshman talent from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, the alma mater of Regis Philbin, (GOOGLE IT!) is a gifted floor general who sees the court better than some NBA players do, and is coming off a career-high 15-point effort against Monmouth.

Starting Forwards

You can't mention Manhattan's front line without first bringing up the name of Rhamel Brown, the Jaspers' senior big man and shot blocking sensation. With all due respect to Chris Obekpa, Brown is among the best shot blockers in the nation, already Manhattan's all-time leader and second on the same list in MAAC history. At only 6-7, Brown will not intimidate you with his size, but rather his muscle and physicality, coupled with his hard-nosed ability to grab a rebound out of seemingly nowhere. Simply put, Brown is the mid-major version of DeJuan Blair, the former Pittsburgh Panthers forward who has moved on to success in the NBA ranks with the San Antonio Spurs.

Accompanying Brown would normally be junior Emmy Andujar, but he has come off the bench in recent games to give freshman Rich Williams some more exposure. Williams, a former Hofstra commitment who opened his recruitment after the firing of Mo Cassara, is among the most efficient Jaspers in his limited action, shooting 64 percent from the field to back up the claims by both his teammates and coaches that he could be more than just an integral piece of the puzzle in Riverdale.

Bench

Leading the charge for Manhattan's reserves is sophomore sharpshooter Shane Richards, the reigning MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year who shoots 42 percent from three-point range and is a lethal weapon when left unprotected. Expect Richards to get a couple of open looks from one of the corners in the opening minutes, especially from Andujar, whose passing skills for a small forward do not get anywhere near enough credit. In addition, Maryland transfer Ashton Pankey is being used brilliantly as a reserve to protect against both he and Brown getting into foul trouble simultaneously. In his first sason of eligibility since leaving College Park, Pankey is averaging 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in just 16 minutes, numbers that equate to 14 points and over eight rebounds when averaged out over 40 minutes. He also shoots 54 percent from the field, one of four Jaspers with a clip of 50 percent or greater. Guards RaShawn Stores and Donovan Kates only add to the mounds of backcourt depth, with Stores capable of knocking down a three-point shot to supplement his point guard abilities, while the junior swingman Kates is Manhattan's best free-throw shooter, with a lethal mid-range jumper and knack for grabbing offensive rebounds to boot. Big men Adam Lacey and Carlton Allen have also seen action, albeit sparingly.

Strengths/Weaknesses

Much like South Carolina, Manhattan's depth keeps the Jaspers fresh throughout the game, as Steve Masiello also maintains an eleven-man rotation that he admittedly looks to refine leading into the resumption of MAAC play next month. The Jaspers' rebounding is also very beneficial to their success, and even more so given their lack of dominant size after the 6-10 Pankey. Manhattan averages 39 rebounds per game, 14 of which are on the offensive end, a key to their dominance in the paint on putbacks and second chance opportunities, not to mention their willingness to take mid-range jumpers at will when the ball is in George Beamon's hands.

On the contrary, Manhattan can be a little too trigger-happy from outside, as evidenced by their 6-of-32 showing from beyond the arc against Fordham last month. However, when the Jaspers are clicking from long range, they are as good as anyone in the nation. The key is taking shots in moderation, something this team is still trying to do.

Coaching

Now in his third season, Steve Masiello is finally starting to get the respect he deserves for turning the program around since replacing Barry Rohrssen in 2011, and has transformed Manhattan into a scrappy team that takes no prisoners on defense with their Rick Pitino-inspired press, coupled with a frenetic pace offensively that seeks to push the ball up as fast as possible and catch their opponents off guard on both ends of the ball, which he learned as an assistant to Bobby Gonzalez during the Jaspers' first taste of glory in Riverdale. Manhattan is a team that will keep attacking their opponents until they are methodically worn down, and even then will continue to work until the final buzzer. This team does not quit, a credit to the unbridled intensity and competitive fire of their coach, which will be fun to watch against Frank Martin after the two put on quite the show at the Barclays Center last season in a game that South Carolina emerged victorious from after a Masiello technical in the second half turned the momentum in the Gamecocks' favor.

Intangibles

Manhattan will be playing its second game in three days for the second time this season, having done it last week to open MAAC play, first traveling to Marist on December 6th before defeating Monmouth at Draddy Gym two days later. Coupled with the UNC Wilmington game prior to this one, the trip was something Masiello admittedly scheduled to prepare his team for MAAC play when I asked him about it during the offseason after Manhattan's schedule was released. The Jaspers are also 5-0 (again, feel free to update this after the UNC Wilmington game) on the road this season, and are off to their best start since the 2001-02 season, when Bobby Gonzalez's team started 7-1.

Keys To Victory

Manhattan will have to match South Carolina's backcourt, and also limit the touches of newcomers Tyrone Johnson and Sindarius Thornwell, who were not around for the meeting between these two schools in Brooklyn last December. It will, however, be interesting to see what Michael Carrera does against Rhamel Brown, who will likely be his matchup at some point during the game. If Carrera, who had one of his many breakout games in the win over Manhattan last season, is neutralized and forced to rely on his backcourt for support, Manhattan has the game playing right into their hands. All in all, it should be another defensive battle, with the first team to reach 60 points likely walking away the winner.

An Arena Grows in Brooklyn Part 2 (Recap of South Carolina vs. Manhattan)

Four months ago, I left my position at Hofstra for the University of South Carolina.  For twenty eight years of my life, I had spent most of my days on the campus located in Hempstead, New York.   Now I spend my work days on the campus located in Columbia, South Carolina.  I went from a mid major basketball school to the heart of the SEC, home of big time college football.  So it was ironic that on Saturday, I would be attending a tripleheader where my two worlds collided.  

In the first game, I proudly wore my Hofstra Basketball sweatshirt. My alma mater had played well for twenty minutes, only to see it be on the receiving end of a 20-0 run at the start of the second half before losing to Tulane.  But right before the tip-off of South Carolina vs. Manhattan, I took off my sweatshirt as I was wearing underneath a Gamecocks Basketball T-shirt.  I wasn't the only one in the Northeast CAA contingent wearing Garnet.  Mike Brodsky was proudly wearing USC athletic wear to support his friends at South Carolina.

Both Manhattan and South Carolina were missing their best players for the game.  The Jaspers' George Beamon has been battling injuries all season and sat out the game as Coach Steve Masiello wanted to get him ready for MAAC conference play. Meanwhile, Gamecocks' guard Bruce Ellington didn't make the trip as he was preparing with his fellow football teammates for the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. 

Once again, I was sitting with Tieff, Mike Brodsky, Victoria Rossi and Alex Faust for this second game.  I was joined by Ray Curren, who was covering the third of four games for the Mid Majority on the day.  We were going to see a much closer game than the first game of the tripleheader.

South Carolina came out strong.  As I had seen already several times this season, other than Ellington, the Gamecocks' two other best players are Michael Carrera and Brenton Williams.  Williams nailed two three pointers, while Carrera added a three pointer and a layup as well. They combined for all of South Carolina's points early as the Gamecocks went up 11-3.  

But also as I had seen several times this season, the Gamecocks allow their opponents to stay in the game. The Jaspers responded with 18-7 run over the next six minutes.  Shane Richards hit his second of six three pointers on the day to put Manhattan up 21-18 with 10:19 left in the half.

Neither team would score for nearly three minutes until Lakeem Jackson hit a layup to bring South Carolina within a point, 21-20.  It would be part of a Gamecocks' 9-2 spurt capped by a layup by Carrera to put USC up 27-23.  After Manhattan rallied to tie the game at 27, the Gamecocks had another spurt as Brian Richardson nailed two three pointers and Carrera added a free throw to put South Carolina up 34-27.  They would enter the half up six, 36-30.

Carrera was already impressing our group as he had twelve points and six rebounds, which helped South Carolina to a 23-9 rebounding edge at halftime.  He is undersized as far as SEC forwards at six foot five inches.  But Carrera plays with the heart of a six foot nine kid and has a high basketball IQ.   

Someone at the Barclays Center has a twisted sense of humor.  At halftime, they posted the score but listed it with Hofstra and Tulane instead of South Carolina and Manhattan.  The scoreboard folks were rubbing salt into a fresh wound for Pride fans like me.

The second half saw South Carolina extend its lead to seven points, 38-31 on a Jackson layup.  But Manhattan responded with a 10-0 run.  Again, Richards was in the mix, nailing another three pointer.  The Jaspers led 41-38 with fourteen minutes left.

But the Gamecocks came back with a 10-0 run of their own.  South Carolina forced five Manhattan turnovers over a four minute span. Richardson scored five of those ten points and the Gamecocks were up 48-41 with ten and a half minutes left. 

The next several minutes became the Brenton Williams show.  Williams scored eight straight points, the last of which was a three pointer that gave the Gamecocks their first double digit lead of the game.  South Carolina was up 58-47 with five minutes left in the game.

The Gamecocks would go scoreless for the next two and a half minutes.  But Manhattan only managed four points during that span.  Williams assisted on a Jackson jumper and South Carolina was back up nine, 60-51 with just under two and a half minutes left in the game.

But Manhattan refused to quit.  Mohamed Koita and Richards each hit a three pointer and the lead was down to three, 60-57 with 1:21 left.  The Jaspers got the crowd back in the game. 

However the Jaspers turned the ball over on each of their next two possessions and would not score again. Richardson, Williams and Carrera, the three leading scorers on the day for the Gamecocks, would each hit one of two free throws.  It wasn't pretty, but it was effective for South Carolina, as they won 62-57.

Williams led South Carolina with seventeen points.  Carrera, whose only point in the second half came on that free throw, still had thirteen points and Richardson added twelve points.  Jackson just missed a double double with nine points and eleven rebounds.

Richards led all scorers with eighteen points on six of twelve shooting from beyond the arc.  Rhamel Brown just missed a double double with ten points and nine rebounds.  He would have easily had more points if he was better than two of ten from the free throw line. Donovan Kates, however, had a good day at the line as he was eight of ten, which helped him score thirteen points for the game.

It was the eighth win on the season for Head Coach Frank Martin, who at times on the sideline looked like he needed some Pepto Bismol.  His team gave him reason for an upset stomach with nineteen turnovers, but they still won.  In fact, they are only two wins away from matching last year's win total, ten.  The Gamecocks didn't win their tenth game last season until my birthday, February 15.  

And despite how fiery Martin is, it wasn't him that got the technical foul call.  Manhattan's Masiello got a technical in the second half, which contributed to that game changing 10-0 South Carolina run.  As for Masiello, he has to hope that George Beamon is ready for conference play.  Manhattan, the preseason favorite to win the MAAC, is only 3-7 so far this season.

I said my goodbyes to the Northeast CAA gang and Ray Curren, who was staying for the Seton Hall - LIU Brooklyn game for his canasta of hoops on the day.  Tieff and I made our way back to Atlantic Terminal, then said goodbye at Jamaica station as we each had separate trains to Bellmore and Hicksville respectively. 

I know what you're saying.  How could I pass up a third game of a basketball tripleheader?  After spending the rest of the evening looking at Christmas lights with my wife and two boys, I hope the picture to the left answers your question.  

Plus, the basketball season is still young.  I still had a game to see on Sunday with Iona hosting Norfolk State and there are plenty of more games left to see.  And oh yes, I am making plans to be at Barclays again in March for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. 

Also, after seeing your alma mater in the first game and then your new home team play the second game, that was a fitting end to my basketball day. Anything more would have been anticlimactic.

Besides, two is a nice even number, in basketball and in life. 

Six Degrees of Hofstra Separation - Part 3 - Cluess' Gaels Gain Revenge on the Jaspers

After watching Hofstra suffer another tough loss at the hands of Georgia State, Matthew and I bid adieu to Tieff, who couldn't make our last part of the Hofstra influenced tripleheader.  My six year old color analyst and I raced up north to the Bronx.  Our destination was Manhattan College, who were hosting Iona in a big MAAC conference game on Saturday night.

I have been to several games on the campus of the Jaspers.  Very simply put, you need to get there early, otherwise you will be taking a significant hike from your car to Draddy Gymnasium.  Sure enough, the small parking lot for Draddy was already full.  There was a sign in front of the entrance that said "No parking".  This game was the hottest mid major ticket in New York.  Tickets to the game were actually going on Stubhub for about $100.

Think about that for a second.  Iona vs. Manhattan going for scalper prices that you would only see in this area for St John's teams in their prime.  Needless to say, I was glad I had tickets waiting for me at Will Call.

But to get to those tickets meant parking several blocks down on Tibbett Street.  Matthew and I made the long walk to Draddy Gym to the Will Call for our tickets.  As we got close to the street entrance for the gym, we passed the Marist Red Foxes bus.  

It turns out that this was a doubleheader, with a women's game between then undefeated in conference Marist and Manhattan.  I asked one of the Marist players how they did and in a matter of fact but demoralized way she said they lost.  Marist now had one loss in conference and the Manhattan fans must have been giddy about the fact they could knock off another first place team on Saturday night.

Once we got our tickets right at game time, we found that the choice of seating was limited since many people were there early for the women's game.  Also, Draddy's bleacher seat configuration is quite, well, bizarre.  First, only half the gym is used for basketball.  When you walk in for a basketball game, it's a large open concourse. That's because the gym is also used for indoor track.

As for the basketball court itself, a section of the bleachers behind the Manhattan basket is offset from the court.  So if you are sitting low in this section, your view is that of the corner of the Jaspers bench.  You need to sit high in this section to get the whole view of the court.  If I were overseeing facilities at Manhattan, I would push back the season ticket section bleachers thirty feet and give it a better squared off view.

Unfortunately for Matthew and me, the only seats available were in the second row of this offset section.  Thus the pictures you see of the game are from our end of the basket.  Luckily for Matthew, there was a large projection screen that hung high above the one section of general admission seating opposite the team benches.  That was showing the game action and Matthew and I could follow along there when we needed it.

Like other school gyms, Draddy Gymnasium is quite warm with no AC.  If you are a single guy in college, you take appreciation in the fact that this means the female students in attendance prepare for this by wearing tanktops and t-shirts.  This was little comfort to a married man wearing a hoodie sweatshirt and his equally warm six year old son.  Throw in the fact that people often were standing in front of you blocking the view, and the result was a slightly dampened experience as a whole.

Still seeing a loud, full house of green clad students and other Manhattan fans made this a great atmosphere. A good number of Iona fans also made the trip and I happened to be sitting with a number of them.  It was quite possibly the biggest regular season college basketball game in New York City this season

You had two teams tied for first place in the MAAC, Iona and Manhattan, squaring off in a rematch of their first game, won on a buzzer beater by the Jaspers.  I was at that game in New Rochelle, where Manhattan rallied from a seventeen point deficit with eight minutes left, winning on a three point shot and stun the Iona home crowd..

So for some of you, you are probably wondering where the Hofstra Six Degrees of Separation comes to play in this game.  It's very simple.  Iona Head Coach Tim Cluess is an alum of Hofstra.  Cluess went to Hofstra after transferring from St John's and got his degree.

After a very successful career as a high school coach at St Mary's on Long Island, he later became the head of coach of Division II C.W. Post, where he took the Pioneers to the Elite Eight.  And yes, someone made a very strong case that Cluess should be the head coach of Hofstra before Tim Welsh was hired and eventually Mo Cassara became head coach.  Ultimately, Cassara becoming head coach turned out to be a very good move for Hofstra.

Likewise, the move by Iona to hire Cluess turned out just as well.  In his first season, Iona was 25-12. They lost in the MAAC Tournament finals to St. Peter's and made it to the championship game of the CIT.  This season, entering last night, the Gaels were tied for first in the MAAC with the Jaspers and the Greyhounds of Loyola Maryland with a 10-2 record.  Entering the game, Iona's overall record of 18-5 has given it serious consideration for an at large bid and they have a televised home BracketBuster game vs. Nevada.

The game got off to a roaring start for the home Jaspers as they quickly went out to a 5-2 lead on a three pointer by George Beamon.  The Gaels scored the next six points to take an 8-5 lead. From there both teams would exchange the leads and the game was very close for most of the first half.  Manhattan did most of their damage on the outside, while the Iona's Scott Machado really focused on getting the ball to Michael Glover or Lamont Jones driving in for layups.  The Gaels would score twenty four points in the first half in the paint and Machado was his usual self with six assists.

Iona would go on a 9-3 spurt to end the half up 44-38.   Manhattan hit six three pointers in the first half with  Beamon hitting three of those as he had seventeen first half points. But the Gaels countered by hitting ten of twelve free throws.  It looked to be another barn burner with the two teams.

However, Iona came out and scored the first seven points of the second half to make the score 51-38.  But Manhattan responded with an 8-0 spurt  to cut the lead to five, 51-46 with exactly fifteen minutes left.  Draddy Gym was rocking now.

But once again, the Gaels responded.  They proceeded to go on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes.  Glover scored eight of those ten points as the Jaspers had no answer for him,.  Iona was up 62-46 with about twelve minutes left.

The lead actually swelled to eighteen and hovered around that for the next four minutes.   A Lamont Jones layup made the score 71-53.  Manhattan again was staring down the barrel of a large deficit with eight minutes left.

But just about everyone in the crowd knew that the Jaspers had rallied from seventeen points down with the same amount of time remaining at the Hynes Center to defeat the Gaels, so surely hope was not lost yet.  The Manhattan fans implored their team on for one more run.

However, this time the Jaspers couldn't make their shots.  Over the next four minutes, Manhattan missed eleven of the next fourteen shots.   The deficit was still eighteen as Iona was ahead 80-62 with three and half minutes left.  

The Jaspers did force a couple of turnovers and went on a 9-1 run to cut the lead to ten, 81-71.  But there was only a minute left and not enough time for Manhattan to pull off another comeback.  The Gaels would end up winning 85-73.  Iona was now one game ahead in the MAAC standings, tied with Loyola Maryland.

Glover, Jones, Machado and Sean Armand combined to score sixty nine of Iona's eighty one points.  Machado had nine assists, one off another double double.  Beamon led all scorers with twenty six points but no other Jasper scored in double figures.

Coach Tim Cluess had to be pleased with the big road victory.  There is still a long road ahead for him and his team.  There is the first place game vs. the Greyhounds on Loyola's home court on February 10, then the game against Nevada on national television, followed by the rest of the conference regular season with the MAAC Tournament as the cherry on top.   And oh yeah, if the Gaels get through all that unscathed, there's that little thing known as the NCAA Tournament.  

That's Cluess' ultimate goal.  It would be quite a feat in your second year of coaching Division I basketball.

It's Never Over Till It's Over (Recap of Manhattan vs. Iona)

Entering last night's game with Manhattan, Iona had been on a serious roll since their loss at Hofstra at the end of December.  The Gaels won three straight conference games by a combined total of seventy two points.  And I had seen two of the wins in person, the 95-59 dismantling of Siena at Madison Square Garden and a 73-61 win at home over Niagara.   They were looking to make it four straight with a win over the Jaspers and remain unbeaten in the MAAC.

Manhattan was coming off a big win themselves, a hard fought 53-51 win over Fairfield, the team considered by many to be the biggest challenger to Iona.  It was a much needed win for the Jaspers after losing two straight conference games.  But Manhattan has been playing well as their 10-7 record indicates.  I also saw them win impressively at Hofstra.  Now the Jaspers were facing their biggest challenge so far this MAAC season.

And the fans for both teams came out in droves to the Hynes Center to see the battle between the two New York City metro teams.   The game was sold out and near halftime, the PA announcer stated to the crowd that they must have their ticket stubs when they leave the gym, otherwise they were not allowed back in.  That actually is the case for all Iona games.  They just were making sure to tell the 4,125 fans in attendance that they were truly enforcing it last night due to the sell out.

As Matthew, my friend Tony and I made it into the gym right before the national anthem, I figured Steve Masiello's Manhattan team would be in its typical press defense, considering how Hofstra forced eighteen turnovers on Iona in the first half of their game.  But the always intrepid John Templon of Big Apple Buckets correctly predicted that the Jaspers might be better off playing half court defense.  And sure enough, the Jaspers settled in half court early in the game not risking a transition game with the Paul Westhead influenced Gaels.

However, Iona seemed prepared for Manhattan and came out firing from three.  Sean Armand decided to channel his record breaking performance at MSG by burying four three pointers in the first six and half plus minutes.  The Gaels were already up 19-7 with twelve and a half minutes left in the first half.

Iona was not done yet from long distance.  When Armand went to the bench, Kyle Smyth took his place and just picked up right where he left off  from beyond the arc.  Smyth canned three three pointers of his own and the Gaels were up 35-20 with three plus minutes left in the half.   The Gaels hit nine of sixteen three point attempts in the first half.

But the best part of the Gaels' offense is the conductor that runs it, one Scott Machado.  Machado is the rarest of birds, someone who is averaging a double double on the season with points and assists.  And last night, he was in top form.  If you watch Iona regularly, not a game goes by without the Machado alley oop pass to Glover for the dunk.  And sure enough not even five minutes in, Machado lob, Glover dunk.

However he was far from done.  There were eight other assists in the first half.  Most of Iona's three pointers were setup by Machado.  He also threw some sweet passes inside for layups.  The last basket of the half by Randy Dezourve was of course assisted by Machado, who had nine assists in the first twenty minutes alone.  The Gaels were up 39-22 at the half and seemed well on their way to another dominating victory.

The Jaspers couldn't contain the Gaels from the perimeter in the first half.  Nor could they score in the first twenty minutes.  Iona had effectively shutdown the Jaspers inside. George Beamon (eleven points) and Emmy Andujar (five points) combined for sixteen of Manhattan's twenty two points as the team shot only twenty eight percent from the field in the first half.

Manhattan decided in the second half to break out their press.  And immediately Iona, thanks to Machado, broke the press for an easy layup to put the Gaels up 46-29 with about seventeen and a half minutes left.  There didn't seem to be an answer to shutting down Iona.

The bright side for the Jaspers was that they were moving the ball around much more effectively in the second half.  They got the ball inside to Rhamel Brown for layups.  Manhattan was hanging in the game and actually had cut the lead back to twelve, 46-34.

Machado kept responding for Iona.  He continued to find open Gaels for baskets and the assists were piling up.  His fifteenth assist was a pass to Smyth for another three pointer that put Iona back up by seventeen, 65-48 with a little less than eight minutes left.  I turned to my friend Tony and said "Dagger", channeling the great Bill Raftery.  I thought the game was over.

But someone forgot to tell Manhattan that.  Their press was starting to throw the Gaels off.  Right after that Smyth three, the Jaspers went on a 10-0 run with help from Iona becoming passive on offense to cut the deficit to seven.  The score was 65-58 with five minutes left.  The Jaspers' fans in attendance for the first time all night started cheering. A Let's Go Jaspers chant was started, which got the Gaels fans in attendance to start a louder "I-O-N-A Iona Gaels!"  chant.   The Hynes Center was now really rocking.

Manhattan continued to chip away at the lead as they were getting Iona into foul trouble. Glover picked up his fourth foul and now had to be careful inside.  And the Jaspers took advantage as Brown and Andujar hit layups.  Then Brutus buried a three pointer and Machado picked up his fourth foul.  After Andujar hit his two free throws, the Iona lead was down to two, 69-67 with two minutes left and the tension was peaking.

Then the unthinkable happened.  Perhaps the best point guard in the country, Machado turned the ball over on the inbounds pass.  Michael Alvarado stole the ball from him and hit a layup.  The Manhattan fans went crazy.  In the span of six minutes, the Jaspers had gone on a 21-4 run and tied the game at sixty nine.

Iona called timeout to try to regroup.  But after the timeout, the Gaels seemed to have no clue how to get an open look on Manhattan's zone.  With only a couple of seconds left on the shot clock, Smyth forced a three pointer and Manhattan grabbed the rebound.  The Jaspers could have taken the lead but Beamon was called for an offensive foul.

Machado then drove the lane and missed a tear drop jumper.  His fancy tip in try missed but the ever present Glover was there for the offensive rebound and got hammered when trying the putback.  He went to the line but only hit one of two free throws to put Iona up 70-69 with thirty seconds left.

Manhattan now had a second chance to take the lead. Andujar missed a layup.  But Brown, who was so dominant down the stretch for the Jaspers with fifteen second half points, got the offensive rebound, hit the putback and was fouled.  Brown hit the free throw and the Jaspers had their first lead since the first thirty seconds of the game, 72-70 with eight seconds left.

Iona called timeout to setup a play to tie or win the game. With all the Iona fans on the edge of their seat, I am pretty sure the Gaels had not drawn up the prayer that Momo Jones hit with three seconds left.  The game was tied at seventy two and the Hynes Center was incredibly loud.

But instead of running out the clock and force overtime, Masiello wisely called timeout with 1.3 seconds left on the clock with the ball at midcourt.  My friend Tony turned to me and said "Great timeout".   The Jaspers had to either throw an alley oop pass or it was a quick catch and shoot.  Tim Cluess wisely put his tallest forward, Taaj Ridley out on the inbounds pass.  Manhattan barely got the ball into Andujar before five seconds was called.  He turned and with the Iona player directly in his face shot the ball from way beyond the three point line.

With everyone in the arena standing and watching the shot, the buzzer sounded.  The ball banked in to the net.

The Manhattan players rushed the court and mobbed Andjuar.  Outside of the screaming Jaspers' fans, the Gaels' fans were stunned in disbelief.  However, the game wasn't over yet, despite all the Manhattan players leaving the court.  The officials gathered at the scorers table to review the shot.  The Jaspers came back on the court as you could see Masiello apologizing profusely to one official for having sent his players in the locker room.

Iona fans were hoping that the shot went off after the clock hit zero. It took an usually long time to review the shot. I guess the officials wanted to make sure they were right.  And finally they made their decision.

The shot was good.  Ball game.

Manhattan had completed one of the most amazing comebacks I ever witnessed.  The Jaspers outscored the Gaels twenty seven to seven over the last nearly eight minutes of the game.  Beamon had twenty one points to lead Manhattan. Brown had a double double with seventeen points and eleven rebounds. And the man of the day, heck maybe the man of the season for Manhattan, Andjuar had fifteen points.

For the Gaels, Glover had eighteen points. Smyth and Armand each had twelve points, all on threes.  Finally, Machado had eight points and sixteen assists, but only one assist came in the last almost eight minutes of the game.

It might be the last time I ever say "Dagger" with eight minutes left in a basketball game. I now know better.  Yogi Berra was right. "It's never over till it's over."

The Slide Continues as Hofstra Loses to Manhattan

Two weeks ago, I was heading home from Kingston, Rhode Island.  I had just watched Hofstra beat Cleveland State 63-53 in what basically amounted to a rock fight at the Legends Classic SubRegional at URI.  It was a gutty, winning performance by a Pride team that took the Vikings best punch in the mouth and came back with multiple shots to their opponent's head.  They outworked, out-shot, out-defended and out-rebounded a team that had won road games at Vanderbilt and Kent State earlier in the season.   Cleveland State hasn't lost a game since that loss to Hofstra.

As I drove back home to Long Island that night, savoring my victory burger and chocolate banana shake from the awesome Jake's Wayback Burgers in Mystic, Connecticut,  I couldn't help but think about the possibilities with this Hofstra team.  I had watched Bryant Crowder play his first two games of the season at Rhode Island.  He gave them an inside scoring presence, height and serious attitude.  The Pride now had a nine deep rotation, with Steven Nwaukoni, Shemiye McLendon, Dwan McMillan and Crowder giving good contributions off the bench.  And they had a legitimate big time scorer in Mike Moore.  

Even though they were only 3-3 after the win over the Vikings, the Pride had been competitive in all their games. They had the impressive win over LIU and a gut check win over St. Francis. They hung tough against a good Oregon State team in Corvallis.  They lost by two to a Florida Atlantic team that had the best record in the Sun Belt last season.  And they rallied after being down nineteen against Rhode Island to keep the game close against the Rams.  I really thought the big win against Cleveland State was going to be the start of something special for the Pride.

But the next day the struggles began for Hofstra in the final game of the Legends Classic.  As I was following the game on my IPhone at my nephew's baptism in a church up in Wappinger Falls, they had a seven point lead over Boston University with ten minutes left.  They proceeded to shoot 2 of 15 the rest of the way in losing to the Terriers 68-61.  Starting point guard Steve Mejia injured his hamstring during the loss to BU and Crowder was suspended again for violation of team rules.

But last Saturday, despite being down two players, Hofstra started out well at home against James Madison.   They were up nine points at home on JMU with about eleven minutes left.  But, again they hit a cold spell, going 1 of  8 from the field.  They would lose to the Dukes 62-60 on a Humpty Hitchens jumper with three seconds left.

Then this Tuesday night, as I watched the Wagner streaming video feed at home, the Pride completely unraveled in the second half against the Seahawks, losing 58-43 to Team Hurley.  What I thought two weeks ago was going to be a springboard to a season of success turned out to be the last win Hofstra had going into today.  Hopefully home cooking would be the remedy to what ailed the Pride.

My son Matthew and I took our usual seats in Section 111, Row D.  It turned out to be Hofstra Fan Appreciation Day and there were a ton of boy scouts in the building today.  They came out on to the arena floor holding a giant American flag as the national anthem was beautifully sung.  Matthew and I had a feeling of hope that this was this day that Hofstra turned the tide.

But that hope was quickly dashed as they struggled out of the gate.   While the fans in my section stood at the request of the dance team until Hofstra scored a point, the Pride had three turnovers and missed their first three shots in the first nearly four minutes of the game  Amazingly, Hofstra was tied with Manhattan at two after a Moore jumper with 16:50 left.  We could finally sit down.

But the Jaspers would then make us wish we had stayed standing, as they went on a 21-4 run over the next seven minutes and forty five seconds.  Manhattan buried three three pointers and George Beamon hit an old fashioned three point play to put the Jaspers up 23-6 with nine minutes left in the first half.    I sat in my seat dumbfounded as Matthew sat next to me showing his frustration.

But Hofstra finally found their shooting touch and went on a 14-2 run of their own over the next four minutes. Moore's jumper made the score 25-20 with 5:04 left and the crowd was finally into the game.  After a missed free throw by Manhattan's Liam McCabe Moran,  Moore had a chance to cut it to two points, but his three pointer rimmed in and out.

The Jaspers would respond with a 9-1 spurt to end the half.  Hofstra would miss all seven of its shots and commit three turnovers in the last five minutes.  The Pride would walk into the locker room down 34-21 at halftime.

A youth basketball team from Syosset was the halftime entertainment as they played split squad half court games.  They handled the ball better than Manhattan and Hofstra, who had combined in the first half for twenty one turnovers.  Coach Mo Cassara was so upset at his team that they didn't go back onto the court until three minutes left before the start of the second half.

Unfortunately the long half time talk with his team didn't help the Pride.  The Jaspers actually extended their lead to fifteen, 52-37  with a little less than eight and a half minutes left .  Things were looking bleak for the Pride and I had not heard the Lions Den student section so quiet in such a long time.

However, the Pride didn't quit.  Nathaniel Lester, who had been quiet for most of the game and spent a good part of the second half on the bench, came alive in the final few minutes.  Lester and Moore keyed a 9-1 spurt over the next nearly two and half minutes.  A Lester layup cut the lead to seven, 53-46 with six minutes left.

But just when it seemed Hofstra was on the verge of making it a game, Manhattan responded.  Beamon buried a three pointer and Emmy Andujar followed with a layup, and the Jaspers were up by twelve, 58-46 with a little less than four minutes left.

The Pride would have one last mini spurt in them.  Lester would score five consecutive points and the lead again was cut to seven, 62-55 with three minutes left.  But once again, the Jaspers responded.  Rhamel Brown, who had his way inside in the second half for Manhattan, scored five of the next six points for the Jaspers.  Manhattan was back up 68-55 with two minutes left and many of the 2,800 that were in attendance headed for the exits.

Very few people were left in the stands when the buzzer sounded on Manhattan's 68-59 win over Hofstra.  Moore led all scorers with twenty points but he didn't have much help.  Lester scored eleven points, but most of them came in the final few minutes of the game.  Manhattan had much more balance as Beamon had fourteen points, while Brown had a double double with fourteen points and eleven rebounds. Andujar and McCabe Moran each added ten for the Jaspers.

Matthew and I made our way over to commiserate with Defiantly Dutch after the game. The Dutchman and I were both at a loss for words.  The Pride had now lost four in a row and both of us had to think about what good came out of the game. Finally, I said my goodbye to the Dutchman as Matthew and I had to head home to meet up with my wife and younger son to get a Christmas tree.

Two weeks ago, I was driving home, enjoying a delicious meal, looking forward to what seemed to be a hopeful season.  Tonight, I drove home dismayed and speechless.  Hofstra got outworked, out-shot, out-defended and out-rebounded by Manhattan.   I was left wondering if my team was going to be able to turn their season around.

It's amazing how one's perception can change in the span of fourteen days.