Iona Drubs St Peter's Twice (Recap of St Peter's - Iona Doubleheader)

After we watched Stony Brook win the America East Regular Season Championship, my older son Matthew and I exited Pritchard Gym while the players were still hoisting the America East Regular Season Championship trophy.  We made our way to the car and headed out for the long trip to New Rochelle for the last regular season games for the women's and men's teams.  The trip took a little more than a hour, thanks to lighter than usual Sunday traffic and a little bit of a lead foot by yours truly.

Matthew was wise enough to have slept the entire trip. I had to wake him as I parked our car in the Iona garage. After Matthew stretched, we walked to the Hynes Center.  Iona was hosting St Peter's in a Senior Day doubleheader.  The women's game was first and the men's game would follow a hour later.

When we walked into the gym, the women's game was already in the second half with the Gaels up eight, 39-31 with about sixteen minutes left.   But as basketball is a game of runs, the Peahens went on a 11-4 spurt in the next four minutes.  Iona was only up one, 43-42 with about twelve minutes left and Iona Women's Head Coach Tony Bozzella was not too pleased.

But what was going to be a microcosm of the men's game, the Gaels outscored the Peahens 31-7 the rest of the way, which included a game ending 16-0 run.  St Peter's missed their last eight shots and committed two turnovers in that span.  Meanwhile, Iona hit eighteen of their twenty free throw attempts in the second half.   The Gaels' Women's team won the first half of the doubleheader 74-49.

Matthew and I joined Coach Bozzella, his family, my friend Mal and his friend Emilie for the Senior Day Dinner at a reception room in the Hynes Center.  It was a nice event where Coach Bozzella briefly spoke about  how his group of seniors were such helpful mentors to the freshmen and sophomores on the team,  He spoke how this team was a family and he thanked all the parents and people who have supported the team during the season.  It was a nice reception.

We left the reception and headed back into the Hynes Center Gym several minutes after what was supposed to be the start of the game.  Much to my surprise, the Senior Day awards ceremony for the six seniors on the Iona Men's Basketball Team was still taking place.   When we got to our seats, all the way up in the top rows of the general admission side of the gym, Scott Machado was being introduced last to the packed crowd.

After Machado was given a standing ovation by nearly the entire crowd, the six Iona players; Machado, Michael Glover, Randy Dezouvre, Kyle Smyth, Jermel Jenkins and Trinity Fields all raised their framed jerseys while photographers snapped picture after picture.  Then the Iona Bagpipe Band came out, which was a nice treat for this Irishman.   Finally, to top it off, Scott Machado's brother sang a wonderful rendition of the national anthem.

The Gaels spotted the Peahens a 4-0 lead.  A Glover dunk and a Momo Jones three put Iona up to stay 5-4.  But St Peter's kept it close throughout the first half.  The score was only 17-14 when Jenkins hit three consecutive three pointers in a row to give the Gaels a 26-17 lead.  But the Peahens refused to go away in the first half and actually cut the deficit to five, 40-35 at halftime.

As I noted earlier, Matthew and I were in the upper rows of the general admission seating opposite the Iona bench.  One of the perks though of sitting in that section was being directly behind my favorite pep band in New York college hoops, the Iona Pep Band.   The pep band was killing it at halftime playing "Sussudio", "Brickhouse", some Led Zeppelin, then "Frankenstein" and more Led Zeppelin.  Later on, they made my day by playing the theme song to the old TV show "The Wild, Wild West".

The first four plus minutes of the second half saw very little change.  Iona had pulled out to an eleven point lead.  But St Peter's was able to cut the lead back to seven, 50-43 with a little less than sixteen minutes left.  At the under sixteen media timeout,  the pep band played the James Bond theme song.  Perhaps the pep band knew that the Gaels were about to use their "License to Kill" on the Peahens.

It started innocently enough with two Sean Armand free throws.  Then it was a three point play by Machado, followed by layups by Dezouvre and Glover.  Jones followed up with a three point play, then an Armand went back to back with a three pointer followed by an old fashioned three point play.  Before you knew it, Iona was up 68-43.

But the Gaels weren't done yet.  Another three point play by Jones was sandwiched between two Glover layups.  Jenkins once again found his three point shooting touch and buried another two shots from beyond the arc. It was a 31-0 run before Lamin Fulton ended it with a three pointer.  The Gaels were up 81-46 with still eight and a half minutes to go in the game.

It turns out that many fans, knowing that the game was over, actually left at this time.  Matthew and I were able to move down several rows and get a better view of the last few minutes of the game. All that was left was for Iona Coach Tim Cluess to take his seniors out one by one.  Then I just needed the pep band to play "Peg"  to make my night complete.  Sure enough, late in the second half, the band cued up my favorite Steely Dan song.

Iona took its foot off the throttle down the stretch, despite pleas from Matthew for the Gaels to score one hundred points.  Iona just missed, winning handily 98-61.  In a rarely seen nice touch, Cluess let Smyth, a key player and a starter for most of the season, stay on the court and dribble out the last few seconds of the game.

The beat down of St Peter's was perhaps a little payback for the Peahens knocking the Gaels off in the MAAC Championship game last season.  But that was a much better St Peter's team than the 5-25 team I saw Sunday evening.  In the college basketball world, things can turn around quickly in a year.

Jenkins, in his last regular season home game scored a career high twenty one points on seven three pointers. Jones led Iona with twenty four points, while Glover and Armand each had fourteen.  Machado nearly had another double double with nine points and twelve assists.  Darius Conley led three St Peter's players in double figures with twelve points.

As Matthew and I made our way out of the Hynes Center for perhaps the last time this season, I wondered two things.  One, I thought about whether Iona could not only win the MAAC Championship but also make a run to the Sweet Sixteen this season.  Second, I wondered if the Iona Pep Band hires themselves out to play at parties.

It's Late Night With Scott Machado (Recap of Rider vs. Iona)

A couple of days ago, when I went on Iona's web site and saw the game time for last night's home game was 10:00 P.M., I did a double take.  But when you are dealing with the wonderful people in Bristol, Connecticut and their ESPNU channel, anything is possible.  Yes, the World Wide Leader thought it was a brilliant idea to put a MAAC women's game at 6:00 PM; Loyola - Maryland vs. Marist, then a Horizon League game at 8:00 P.M; Green Bay vs Cleveland State, then finally the Rider vs. Iona  MAAC game at 10:00 PM.

So as a result, two east coast teams were playing at a time that's normally reserved for West Coast Conference games (based on Eastern Standard time).  Most sane, normal people would have decided to stay home and watch the game on television.  But basketball fans like you and me are not most sane, normal people.  We like to see good live college basketball at any time.

When I first got home last night, I prepared for the late start...by taking a nap.  Yes, when you're nearly forty six years old and you get up at 6:00 AM to walk your dog to start your day, to stay up late, a brief nap is a requirement.   When I woke up from my nap, it was that exhausted feeling that you get when you didn't get the proper sleep time.  I worked that off with an evening walk with my dog.

Then it was off to New Rochelle.  Well, not exactly.  When I got on the Southern State Parkway, I realized I better check to see if I have my EZ-Pass.   No, it was in my wife's Honda CRV.  So I went back home, got the EZ-Pass from the other car and headed back out.  I made excellent time to the campus of Iona and was there about forty five minutes early.

Once I got my ticket, I went into the Hynes Center.  Since I was there so early, there were few people there.  Maybe I was just tired, maybe because it wasn't crowded yet, but the gym had an early morning glow.  As the Iona Pep Band played a seemingly slower version of Earth Wind and Fire's "Fantasy", which they normally play, I felt like I needed to have eggs and mimosas.  Too bad they don't let food and drink into the gym.

But as it got closer to tipoff, the crowd filled in nicely, especially the students' section.  Oh, to be twenty one again.  Apparently the students loved the idea of a10:00 P.M. start.  It certainly wasn't too late of a start  for them based on their attendance.  Chances are this was only the beginning to their night. The entire general admission/student section would be packed by game time, so much so that the gym entrance ushers started sending students over to our side of the gym.  It made for a very lively atmosphere

I sat with Guy Falotico, otherwise known on Twitter as @IonaGuyF. Guy is an Iona alum and is the moderator for IonaHoops.Com.  He is also a fellow member of John Templon's Big Apple Buckets New York City Power Poll and he knows his basketball. Guy would also provide the funniest moment of the night at the end of the game.

Neither Rider or Iona were phased by the late start as both teams put on a show in the beginning of the game.  In the first three and half minutes, each team scored eight points.  Novar Gadson buried two three pointers.  Unfortunately for the Broncs, Gadson would only score four more points the rest of the night.

Now if you are going to have a late show, you need a late show host.   Sure enough, Scott Machado would fill the Letterman role last night.  Machado, the nation's leader in assists per game at 10.3 assists per game, got off to a hot start as he assisted on the Gaels' first three baskets.  His fourth assist of the game, a layup by Momo Jones ended an Iona 9-1 spurt as the Gaels went up 14-8 with 15:28 left in the half.

The Broncs responded and came back to tie the game at sixteen with eleven minutes left.  The Broncs were scoring most of their points on drives to the baskets.  It looked like Rider was equal to the task of staying with the fourth highest scoring team in the country.

But every good late show not only has a good host, but also superstar special guests. And in Iona's case, they would be Sean Armand, Momo Jones and Michael Glover. Armand came off the bench to perform his specialty; hitting three pointers.  Armand would hit four shots from beyond the arc over the span of five minutes to put the Gaels out in front 32-23 with five and half minutes left in the half.

When Armand wasn't hitting threes, it was Glover working hard inside for layups or getting to the line as the result of fouls, as he had nine first half points. And if it wasn't Armand firing a three pointer, or Glover being the hardest working man on the court, it was Momo Jones knifing his way through the Broncs' defense to the basket.  He had ten first half points, eight of which came on layups.  Meanwile, Iona clamped down on Rider defensively and the Broncs main scoring weapon, the layup, was taken away.

The end of the first half came as a result of good coaching.  After Eddie Mitchell on Rider hit two free throws with three seconds left, Machado dribbled the ball to half court.  Iona Head Coach Tim Cluess called timeout with 2.2 seconds left in the half.  Off the timeout, Machado found Sean Armand who buried his fifth three pointer of the first half.  The Gaels entered the locker room up 46-32.

As the second half started, it appeared that Rider left their perimeter defense back in the locker room. Momo Jones immediately hit two shots from beyond the arc. Then after Jones hit another layup, Machado buried a three pointer.  Not even four minutes into the second half, Iona had gone up by twenty, 60-40.

Things didn't get any better for the Broncs.  Machado hit an old fashioned three point play, then setup Glover for their typical lob and dunk.  In this case, Glover did a nice job corralling the ball and slamming it  home to give the Gaels a 65-40 lead.  But as he dunked the ball awkwardly,  Glover hung on the rim to try to balance himself.  He was called for a technical foul.   Unfortunately for Rider, Jonathan Thompson missed both of their technical foul shots, which was probably his best chance at scoring all evening, as he was scoreless in twenty nine minutes of action.  It just wasn't the Broncs night.

Things would actually get worse for Rider, as Iona would actually extend the lead.  A three point barrage by Jermel Jenkins and Kyle Smyth put the Gaels up 85-56 with over seven minutes remaining.   The game had been no longer in doubt for several minutes and the fans knew this.  Several of them actually started leaving. Guess it was either past their bedtime or they were going on to the next activity for the evening. They had seen enough of a successful Iona show.

But the show always come back to its host.  In fact, Machado was the focus at the end of the game.  Machado had much earlier in the game achieved double digits in assists, as he would have fifteen on the night (with only two turnovers, which is amazing).  He also reached double figures in scoring early in the second half as well.   But Guy had been checking the live statistics and noticed Machado was getting very close to double figures in rebounds.  That would give him the rarely seen triple double, double figures in assists, points and in this case, rebounds.

With fifty one seconds left, Machado grabbed his ninth rebound.  Now the triple double watch was on.  With twenty six seconds left, Glover was at the line shooting a one and one. Machado was at the line on the left hand side of Glover, ready to get the rebound.   But Cluess decided to replace Machado. You could tell on Machado's face he knew about the triple double.  He wanted to stay in and get that tenth rebound.

Now we were only a few rows behind the Iona bench,  and it was quiet enough that Cluess and the players on the bench could hear the fans if they were loud enough.  On cue, Guy started yelling at Cluess "He's got a chance for the triple double, Tim!  Put him back in the game!  Give him the rebound!"   Many of us in our section started laughing hysterically as Guy continued to plead loudly with Cluess to get Machado back in to the game.

Sure enough, Glover missed the free throw and the ball bounded to the left side, right where Machado would have been.  Machado gave an "Aww, man!" look on the bench as the chance for the triple double went away.  Still, eleven points, fifteen assists and nine rebounds was quite an impressive night for Machado, whose reward was to do the post game interview with ESPNU.

Iona won the game 91-71.  Glover had twenty one points and Momo Jones had twenty points to lead Iona. Armand added fifteen points and Smyth chipped in with thirteen to give the Gaels five double digit scorers on the night.  The Gaels shot seveteen of thirty nine from beyond the arc and fifty five percent overall.  Jeff Jones led Rider with seventeen points, one of four Broncs in double figures in scoring.

After I said goodbye to Guy, I headed out back to the parking garage.  Due to many people leaving early, it was actually relatively easy to get out of the Iona lot, which normally is not the case for a men's game.  As I made my way driving back down the Hutchinson River Parkway at 12:30 A.M. in the morning, I had one thought.

Is it too early to stop at a diner for breakfast?

Finally, Home is Where the Gaels Are (Recap of Niagara vs. Iona)

Iona spent the entire month of December on the road.  The Gaels went 6-2 on their road trip.  They went as far west as Denver (an overtime win over the Denver Pioneers), as far north as Burlington (a win over the Vermont Catamounts) and as far south as Williamsburg (a win over the William and Mary Tribe).  And on Tuesday night, Iona had a neutral site conference game at Madison Square Garden.  Wearing the home whites, the Gaels gave the Garden crowd a 95-59 crushing of the Siena Saints.

But Iona finally played their first true home game at the Hynes Center last night since November 28 as they hosted Niagara in a MAAC conference game.  It was a later start than usual for a Gaels night home game, 9:00 PM.  This was to accommodate the folks at ESPNU who wanted Butler-Wright State for the 7:00 PM start time.   The later start time didn't affect the crowd, as the Hynes Center was filled to near capacity.  When the Gaels took the court a few minutes before tipoff, the PA announcer stated "Welcome home your Iona Gaels!"   You know you have been away a while when you get a greeting like that.

The Gaels opponent, the Purple Eagles of Niagara, came in with a 6-9 record.. But they had won their last game, a 66-61 road upset over Loyola, Maryland, who was previously undefeated in conference.  This was already the second game this season against Iona for Coach Joe Mihalich, who is coaching in his thirteenth season for Niagara.  The Purple Eagles lost handily at home to the Gaels 98-75, one of the eight games on Iona's road trip.  Considering how Iona destroyed Siena Tuesday night, it looked like it would be another long evening for Niagara.

However, the Purple Eagles showed why they knocked off the Greyhounds earlier in the week.  They came out with intensity and purpose and the scoreboard reflected that.  They held the nation's fourth highest scoring team without a field goal over a three minute span in the first half and eventually took a 22-17 lead with less than nine and a half minutes left in the half.  The home crowd starting getting restless.

But the Gaels' staple, the three point shot, would get them going.  Jermel Jenkins and Sean Armand combined for three shots from beyond the arc, and the game was tied at twenty six with seven minutes left in the half.  Armand, who had a record breaking three point shooting performance Tuesday night at the World's Most Famous Arena, was rewarded for his efforts by starting over Kyle Smyth.  Unfortunately, he did not have anywhere near the success of Tuesday night.  Armand only shot two of eight from beyond the arc and had six points on the night..

The rest of the half saw only fourteen points scored as both teams struggled from the field.  Iona would go into halftime up 35-31.  The Gaels leading scorer on the season, Michael Glover only had four points.  It would seem that Coach Tim Cluess' game plan in the second half was for Iona to get it inside to their best player.

And sure enough, that's what happened at the start of the second half.  Glover scored the first six points for the Gaels. A few minutes later, he assisted on two straight layups by Taaj Ridley.  Finally he capped a 19-10 spurt with a layup and hitting one of two free throws in a later possession to put Iona up 54-41 with a little over ten minutes remaining in the game.  It looked like the rout was on.

But Niagara, a young team with six of their seven players in their rotation being freshmen or sophomores, again showed resiliency.  An old fashioned three point play by Juan'ya Green and a three point jumper by Marvin Jordan resulted in a Purple Eagles' 6-0 spurt.  The lead was cut to seven, 54-47.  After a free throw put the Gaels up eight, 55-47, Niagara had several chances to cut the lead further but couldn't capitalize.

Then Randy Dezouvre, a reserve for Iona, gave the Gaels some huge minutes.  He hit two layups in a row, grabbed a rebound and took a charge.  As a result, Iona went back up by double digits, 63-49 with less than four minutes left.

But Niagara refused to quit and they didn't let the lead get any bigger.  In fact, they cut the deficit to single digits, 63-55 with ninety seconds left.  But the Purple Eagles would not get any closer.  The Gaels had a hard fought 73-61 win and their homecoming was a happy one for their fans.

Glover scored fifteen of his nineteen points in the second half.  Scott Machado had thirteen points and eight assists for Iona (12-3, 4-0 MAAC) while Jermel Jenkins added twelve off the bench for the Gaels.   Green, Jordan and Malcolm Lemmons each had fourteen points for Niagara (6-10, 1-3 MAAC), while Antoine Mason had twelve for the Purple Eagles.  If that last name sounds familiar to New York City hoops' fans, it should.  He is former New York Knick forward Anthony Mason's son.  His dad was there last night, and he is as big as ever.

As I left the Hynes Center with my older son Matthew, the PA system played "Back in the New York Groove". Yes, the Gaels are back in the New York groove.  But I think the Gaels were just happy to be back home.

Sean Armand's Virtuoso Solo (Recap of Siena vs. Iona)

Having attended many concerts at Madison Square Garden in my lifetime, there is often an opening act before the headliner.  The opening act is usually not that good, but the headliner more than makes up for that fact.  And often, the headlining band has a solo performance, usually a virtuoso guitarist, who has the crowd buzzing in amazement.  Such was the case in last night's Siena vs. Iona game.

Last night was a college basketball doubleheader at the World's Most Famous Arena.  The opening game/act was Louisville vs. St John's, who both decided to put on a brickfest for the first twenty minutes.  The Red Storm shot five of thirty five from the field in the first half (fourteen percent), while the Cardinals only shot thirty four percent to lead 29-18 at the half.  Louisville would win handily by fifteen, 73-58.

Thankfully the headliner game, started shortly thereafter.  As the public address announcer noted, the game featured "two mid major powers".  And the crowd, mainly made up of red for that local Power Six conference team, decided to stick around to see what the mid major fuss was all about.  After witnessing the headliner game myself, I am sure many in the audience were glad they stayed.

Two seasons ago, Siena was truly a "mid major power".  In 2009-10, the Saints would win their third straight MAAC conference championship and thus make their third straight NCAA appearance.  During this period of dominance, the Siena would win two NCAA Tournament games.

But the nucleus of that team graduated after that 2009-10 season.  Sensing that a rebuild was going to be in order,  Fran McCaffery decided instead to grab a huge payday and take the Iowa head coaching position. Mitch Buonaguro got the head coaching position and struggled in his first season as the Saints went 8-10 in conference, 13-18 overall.  This season Siena has been about the same, 0-2 in conference and 5-7 overall entering the contest.

They were playing an Iona team coming off a surprising loss to Hofstra, 82-75.  In that game, the Gaels had an uncharacteristic eighteen turnovers in the first half as they were down fifteen at halftime and never could recover.  Coach Tim Cluess took the responsibility for the loss and they were looking to rebound in front of a large crowd on perhaps the world's largest stage.

The fans in attendance were actually pretty quiet at the start of the game.  Siena actually came out on fire, taking an early 16-14 lead with about fourteen and half minutes left.  The Saints hit seven of their first ten shots.  But the pace clearly favored their opponents, the Gaels, the team that is fourth in the country in scoring offense, averaging 85.5 points per game.

Iona would take advantage of that pace as they went on a 21-9 run, powered by five three pointers, three by Jermel Jenkins and two by Momo Jones.  The score was now 37-23 Gaels with 7:15 left in the first half. The audience was now fully into the headlining act.  And they were about to get the virtuoso solo performance.

Iona's Sean Armand was one of Tim Cluess' highly touted recruits entering the 2010-11 season.  He played about eleven minutes per game last season, averaging slightly over six points per game.  With the graduation of Rashon Dwight, Armand appeared to be in line for a starting position this season.  But Jones transferred from Arizona to Iona to be near his ailing grandmother and received a hardship waiver to be able to play this season.

As a result, Armand was relegated to the bench again.  He has averaged thirteen minutes per game this season.   However, Armand has improved his three point shooting from 42 percent last season to 44 percent this season going into last night's game.  And he improved on that shooting percentage last night, as he got to show off that shooting talent in a big way.

After the Saints cut the lead to twelve, 37-25 with six and a half minutes left, Armand took over.  He would score the next TWENTY Iona points by himself.  He warmed up first with a layup.  Then like a great guitarist, Armand nailed two sweet riffs in a row, or in his case, buried two three pointers.  And like a great performer who knows his abilities and how to please the audience, Armand kept firing away.  He would hit six three pointers in total over those final six and a half minutes.

Armand by himself outscored the local Power Six conference team in their first half., 20-18.  Iona was up 57-31 at halftime.  As impressive as Armand was, the more impressive fact might have been that the Gaels scored fifty seven points and their leading scorer on the season, Michael Glover only had two of them.

With the game over for all intensive purposes, there were only two things left on the mind of the fans watching the game.  One, would Iona scored one hundred points again?  And two, what would Armand do for an encore?

Well, Tim Cluess knows how to keep the audience happy and had Armand start the second half.  And he didn't disappoint.   Three minutes in, Armand buried his second attempt of the half.   Not even two minutes later, another one, which was his eighth of the night.  The Armand watch was now officially on as the Iona record for three pointers in a game and the MAAC conference record for three pointers in a game were on the line.

After Glover briefly interrupted his performance with a layup, Armand hit his ninth three pointer to put the Gaels up thirty one, 70-39 with a little less than thirteen and a half minutes left in the game.   That broke the previous Iona record of eight by Kyle Smyth, the man he replaced in the lineup at the start of the second half.  It also tied the MAAC record of nine, previously held by five players.  Now all that remained was the record breaking tenth three-pointer..

The fans didn't have to wait too long for that record breaking tenth one.   Armand hit that with ten and a half minutes left to put the Gaels up thirty five.  He attempted three more shots from beyond the arc on the night, but missed on all three.  No doubt he was tired from going ten of nineteen from the three point line. Plus, thirty two points is a pretty good night.

Iona would actually go up by as many as forty one points before they settled for a 95-59 win.  They didn't get their one hundred points.  But the designated home team dominated Siena in front of a large New York City hoops loving crowd that was starving for made baskets after the first game of the evening.

The Gaels were a mind boggling seventeen of thirty nine from beyond the arc.  The nation's leading assist team had twenty one assists on the night, nine by Scott Machado and seven by Jones, who had fourteen points. Jenkins had sixteen points and Glover ended up with ten.  Siena was led by Evan Hines, who scored twenty two points and OD Anosuke had twelve points and thirteen rebounds.  After hitting seven of their first ten shots, the Saints only hit sixteen of their last fifty three shots.

As the crowd exited the Garden late last night, they witnessed another record breaking performance.  But it wasn't by a Power Six conference team player.  It was the "mid major power" who had the three point virtuoso who broke two records on the night.   Quite a feat in the World's Most Famous Arena.

Revenge is a Dish Best Served in Hempstead (Recap of Iona vs. Hofstra)

Exactly a year ago, Mo Cassara's Hofstra Pride traveled to New Rochelle to take on Tim Cluess' Iona Gaels.  It was the first season for both as head coaches in Division I Basketball.   On that night, it was all Iona, as they dominated Hofstra, winning 87-62.  It was the second worst loss of the season (next to a forty two point drubbing by eventual Elite Eight member North Carolina) for a Pride team that won twenty one games and finished third in the CAA.  It was also a Pride team that featured three time Haggerty Award winner and two time CAA Player of the year Charles Jenkins, who now plays for the Golden State Warriors.

So when Iona rolled into town last night sporting a 10-2 record, having won six of their seven previous games on an eight game road trip to face a Hofstra team that has struggled this season at 5-7, things did not look too good for Pride fans.  Throw in the fact that starting point guard Steve Mejia was again out due to a hamstring injury against a Gaels team that loves to press and create turnovers, it seemed like a perfect storm.

Iona is one of the best offensive teams in the country this season. Fourth in points per game at 85.9 points per game. Second in assists in 20.2 per game.  Fifth in field goal percentage at 50.9 percent.  They are ranked eighth in Ken Pomeroy's effective field goal percentage at 56.8 percent , fifth in two point field goal percentage at 56.2 percent and thirty third in the country at offensive turnover percentage at 17.9 percent.  And having seen them in person put up one hundred points twice in home wins over LIU and St. Joseph's in overtime, simply put, they are an offensive juggernaut.

The Gaels were going to be a tall task for a Pride team that had won two in a row after losing their four previous games prior to that.  But Hofstra had faced a similar challenge during this season when they met undefeated Cleveland State, another team highly talked about as potentially getting an at large NCAA bid due to their non conference wins. The Pride handed the Vikings their first loss of the season in Rhode Island, so the potential was there to pull off another upset.

This was the second game of a doubleheader.  The first game was a women's basketball game, where a fundamentally sound Princeton team held off a Hofstra team that had won nine of its first eleven games.   My older son and I had been there for the entire first game, so we were now entering hour three of our hoops festival.

Due to Iona receiving a lot of publicity on the local and national levels because of their high octane offense and their 10-2 record, a large late arriving crowd started filling the Mack Center.  Included in the crowd was New York radio show host Mike Francesca, who sat in the first row of the section next to me.  He was there just like everyone else, wanting to see two of the better New York City metro area college basketball programs square off in the final scheduled non conference game for both teams this season.

Hofstra came right out and made a statement to the crowd of 4,200 plus in attendance. David Imes and Nathaniel Lester combined to score the first eight points as the Pride took an early 8-4 lead.  But Michael Glover had three monster dunks and Kyle Smyth's three pointer gave Iona its first lead at 13-12 with about twelve minutes left in the first half.

Over the next couple of minutes, the teams exchanged leads back and forth.  The game was tied at twenty two with eight and half minutes remaining in the first half.   Hofstra fans had to be pleased that the Pride were going toe to toe with the Gaels, unlike their matchup last season.  What they were about to see in the next fifteen minutes of game action was stunning and completely unexpected.

The warning signs were already there for Iona.  In the first eleven and a half minutes, the Gaels had committed an uncharacteristic eight turnovers for one of the better teams that statistically holds onto the ball.  A lot of credit goes to the Pride defense for their inspired play.  But for the rest of the first half, Iona would actually top that total.  Over the last eight and a half minutes, Iona would commit another ten turnovers.

And Hofstra took full advantage of that.  The Pride would outscore the Gaels 21-6 in that span.  That was due in large part to Imes and Mike Moore, who combined for fifteen of the twenty one Hofstra points.  Imes was particularly impressive as he was very aggressive on the boards, with eight rebounds, three on the offensive end, as Hofstra had nine offensive rebounds in the first half.  

The Pride entered the half up 43-28 much to the delight of the Pride faithful in the crowd. Statistically, it was as if the world had turned on its axis.  The team that prides itself on ball possession, Iona, had turned the ball over eighteen times.  That allowed Hofstra twelve more shot attempts and seven more baskets.than Iona.   Plus Hofstra was outscoring Iona on second chance points nine to one, as a result of Hofstra's nine offensive rebounds.

You could tell Coach Tim Cluess was not happy with his team at the half, because the Gaels came out of the locker room several minutes early.  The team anxiously awaited on the sidelines for several minutes as the halftime CYO game was still being played.  It seemed like Iona was ready to make a run at the start of the second half.

However, inline with the last part of the first half, the Pride continued their onslaught on the Gaels.  The lead actually swelled to nineteen, 57-38, with fourteen and a half minutes left in the game.  Iona had no answer for Moore, who scored eight of the first fourteen Hofstra points in the second half.

But a team doesn't win twelve out of its first twelve games without the ability to rally.  Sure enough, the Gaels finally made their run.  First it was Glover, Momo Jones, and Rashad James who combined for a 11-1 spurt to cut the lead down to nine, 58-49 with a little more than ten minutes left.  The large Iona fan contingent in the arena had finally come to life in support of their Gaels.

Then came the three point barrage.  First it was Nathaniel Lester, who had a huge second half for Hofstra, trading three pointers with Iona's Smyth.  Even Moore got in on the act with Smyth, hitting his own shot beyond the arc.  But Smyth got the final long range shot in, as his third three pointer in the span of two and a half minutes cut the deficit to seven, 67-60 with less than six and a half minutes left.

But Iona would never get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.  Try as the Gaels might, Imes, Lester and Dwan McMillan would combine to score thirteen of the last sixteen points Hofstra would score on the night.  As John Templon, the author of the terrific Big Apple Buckets website noted to me at halftime, fifteen points is a large hole to dig out of as far as comebacks.   Hofstra came away with a hard earned, well deserved 83-75 victory.

The Pride had a balanced attack with four scorers in double digits.  Moore again lead the way with twenty four points, but he had a lot of help.   Lester had a double double with twenty one points and ten rebounds.  Imes had his own double double with sixteen points and fifteen rebounds.  And McMillan nearly made it three double doubles on the night with ten points and nine assists.  He outplayed his more highly touted high school teammate, Iona's Scott Machado, who had ten assists, but only six points before fouling out.

Glover led the way for Iona with his usual double double, twenty points and thirteen rebounds. Jones added twenty points as well.  Finally Smyth added twelve points, all on three pointers.  But the Gaels shot 42.6 percent from the field, well under their season average.  The turnovers killed them, as Hofstra had an eight point advantage on points off turnovers, which was the margin of victory.

So one year later, the tides were turned.  It was Hofstra that dominated most of the game last night, similar to what Iona did to them the year before.  Just like last year,  many fans shook their heads in disbelief as they headed for the exits not expecting the outcome they just witnessed.  The Pride will be ringing in the New Year on a high note. A three game winning streak should fill them with confidence for the battle with VCU on Monday.  Meanwhile the Gaels will have to regroup for conference play on Tuesday at MSG vs. Siena.

That's the wonderful thing about college basketball.  Expect the unexpected.

Catholic School Shootout

This article is also on the Mid Majority 800 Games Recap Site.

Before last night, the last time I saw an Iona Men's Basketball game was March 30 of this year, when the Hynes Center hosted the championship game of the CIT as Santa Clara played Iona. With the recent advent of the College Insider Tournament (CIT), the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), as well as the seventy three year old NIT, which was won this season by Wichita State, some mid major teams' seasons now don't always end in loss.   The home team had a chance to end their season with a win.  Alas for the Gaels, it was the Broncos' season that didn't end in a loss, as Santa Clara downed Iona 76-69 to win the CIT championship.

The Gaels expect a lot more than a CIT berth this season.  With the addition of  Lamont "Momo" Jones, a transfer from Arizona, to a team that is returning Michael Glover and Scott Machado, Iona is the favorite to win the MAAC.  And if not for one Robbie Hummel, they might very well be undefeated.  The Gaels, who entered the contest with a 3-1 record, have averaged ninety one points per game, which is second in the country in scoring.  Iona is also second in the country in assists per game, averaging an incredible twenty two assists per game.

Iona's opponent, St Joseph's was also 3-1, with their sole loss being to Seton Hall.  St Joe's was looking to improve on last season, their second season in a row with twenty plus losses.  The Hawks have their own star in Carl Jones, who is averaging over twenty three points per game, shooting fifty six percent from the field and a ridiculous fifty seven percent on his three point attempts.

When I left my house in North Bellmore last night at 6:00 P.M., I was sure that I would not make it to New Rochelle until well into the first half.  The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest travel days of the year as well as the biggest party night of the year.  I expected a lot of traffic on my route to Iona, especially on the usual traffic spots like the Northern State/Grand Central  Parkway, the Cross Island Parkway and the Hutchinson River Parkway.   Much to my amazement, the only traffic I encountered was on the will call line at the Hynes Center for my ticket.

After I got my ticket, I entered the gym shortly after tipoff.  Glover made two free throws to put the Gaels up 4-3.  I noticed the Hynes Center was pretty much full, which was somewhat surprising considering the school was on break for the long Thanksgiving weekend.. However, Iona had received a lot of local press as perhaps the best team in the local New York City Area.  Going into the game, the Gaels were the top ranked team in John Templon's Big Apple Buckets NYC Power Poll.  And given St Joseph's long history as a mid major basketball power, it made sense that the gym was near capacity.  And the 2,611 that were in attendance were treated to one hell of a game.

St Joseph's showed early on that they had about as much talent as Iona had on offense.  Langston Galloway's three point barrage and C.J. Aiken's all around play riddled the Gaels defense early on in the game. The Hawks had a 33-20 lead midway through the first half.  Up to that point, Iona's defensive play was seriously lacking.

The Gaels called timeout and then turned up the pressure defense.  As a result, Iona went on a run, forcing a lot of Hawks' turnovers and actually tied the game at thirty nine with a little less than three minutes left.  Iona's offensive plan was a simple one.  First, it was Machado driving the lane, often "Feeding the Beast", as in get the ball to Glover, who scored at will on the Hawks.  However if Machado saw St Joe's trying to concentrate on Glover,  Machado would either hit the layup or kick it to Kyle Smyth for an open three pointer.

St Joe's would regain the lead and entered halftime up 45-43.  Both teams got a rousing ovation from the fans as they left the court together by the Gaels bench for the locker room.   The halftime entertainment started off with the typical dance team performing with lousy canned music.

After that mercifully ended,  the fans were treated to the Iona Pep Band's terrific renditions of popular songs.  The Iona pep band is made up of  older gentlemen and plays only at men's games.  They play during most timeouts, at halftime and at the end of the game.  Their renditions of Steely Dan's "Peg", Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein", Rick James' "Brickhouse", and George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic's "We Want the Funk", among others, are absolutely terrific.  After the game, my friend Mal and I actually went over and thanked them for playing.

The second half was a back and forth affair. It was very close for the last twenty minutes of regulation, with no team getting a lead larger than five points. For Iona, Glover and Machado continued to score at will, but Smyth was now added to the mix, as he contributed several three pointers. But Galloway, Aiken, Carl Jones and Ronald Roberts kept St Joe's right there.

With 30 seconds left, the Hawks were up two, 83-81.  Machado was fouled and had a chance to tie.  But he only made one of two free throws and Iona was forced to foul.  However, Carl Jones returned the favor and missed his second free throw.   Machado found Taaj Ridley for a layup to tie the game at eighty four with eight seconds left.   With the fans stomping and chanting defense, Iona forced a turnover and the game went into overtime.

In overtime, Iona was up two 93-91 and had the ball on an inbounds play with about thirty seconds to play. Momo Jones was trapped by the Gaels bench, but the ball appeared to be knocked out of bounds by a Hawks' player.  However, the referee ruled St Joe's ball and Iona's coach, Tim Cluess was livid.  The Hawks would tie the score at ninety three and we went to a second overtime.

During the break before the start of the second overtime, Cluess had to be restrained by his assistant coaches and his players from going after the referee who made the call.  As the fans booed the referee's call, Cluess was fortunate that he wasn't called for a technical foul.  But his senior point guard wouldn't let him down.

Machado took over from there.  He would score seven of the Gaels' nine points in the second overtime.  The Hawks, who only really had a seven man rotation, seemed gassed at the end.  Iona would make the fans' holiday drive home a happy one, winning 104-99.  Glover had a huge double double with 34 points and 15 rebounds, while Machado's double double was 33 points and 10 assists.  Carl Jones led St Joe's with 25 points while Roberts had 20 points for the Hawks.

As we left the Hynes Center, I knew I would be back here soon.  Iona plays their next home game Monday night vs. LIU.  The Blackbirds were one of the top scoring teams in the country last season, averaging eighty two points per game.

Just the kind of tempo the Gaels like to play.