Machado's Rare Feat Gives Iona A Needed Win

Friday night, Iona traveled down to Maryland to play Loyola.  The Greyhounds went out to a twenty five point second half lead before the Gaels rallied to cut it to four.  But time ran out on Iona and Loyola Maryland won the game and took over sole possession of first place in the MAAC.

While I was out having dinner with a friend on Friday night,  my son Matthew watched the game at home on TV.  Saturday morning, Matthew told me all about the game and the Iona comeback that fell short.  He was looking forward to taking the trip up to New Rochelle to see Iona back on the winning track.  Somehow, in the past year, my six year old has become a college basketball maven, just like his dad.

Sometimes, a team after a huge, emotional victory will often feel a letdown in the next game.  Such was the case yesterday for Loyola as they hosted Fairfield.  The Greyhounds got routed at home by the Stags, losing 68-51.

Since it was doubleheader day at the Hynes Center, members of the Iona mens' team were waiting around for the end of the women's basketball game to finish.  One of the players asked out loud what was the update in the Fairfield-Loyola game. I told him that Fairfield won by seventeen and obviously he was pleased with the result.   So after the women's game finished, the Iona men's team took the court knowing a win would put them back in a tie for first.

At the start of the game, Iona came out determined to run Marist out of the building.  After eight and half minutes, the score was 23-7 Gaels.  Michael Glover, Taaj Ridley and Sean Armand combined to score twenty one of the twenty three points.  With about seven and half minutes left in the first half, Iona still held a comfortable 30-16 lead.

But as has been the case a few times this season, the Gaels cannot seem to stand prosperity.  The Red Foxes outscored them 22-12 the remainder of the half.  Marist was able to burn Iona for easy layups or Devin Price scorched the Gaels with a couple of three pointers.   Iona limped into the half up 42-38.

I often tweet about how great the Iona Pep Band is during the men's home games.  Well, when there is a doubleheader of women's and men's games, the Pep Band plays for both games.  If you were there for both games like me, you were treated to several Earth, Wind and Fire songs; "September" and "Fantasy", Santana's "Evil Ways", "BrickHouse", the"I Dream Of Jeannie" and The Wild Wild West:" TV show theme songs, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "The Immigrant Song" and many others.  But the best was hearing Steely Dan's "Peg" both during the women's game and the men's game.  Good stuff.

The Red Foxes started the second half picking up right where they left off from the first half.  Marist outscored Iona 16-7 and held a 54-49 lead with fourteen and a half minutes left.  The Gaels' fans who had seen large leads evaporate against Manhattan at home and Siena on the road were getting quite antsy.  They didn't want to see the home team blow a chance to get back into a tie for first place.

Enter Glover and Momo Jones.  The duo basically took over the game from there as Iona went on a 13-1 run over the next three minutes.  Glover, Jones and Randy Dezouvre combined to score all the Gaels' points during that time frame as Iona went up 62-55.

However, Marist refused to go gently into that good, good night.   They cut the lead to three, 68-65 with about seven minutes left.   But the Red Foxes would not get any closer as Glover and Jones continued to score at will.  The Gaels' lead would extend to double digits, 79-69 on a Sean Armand three pointer with three and half minutes left.

As it became apparent that Iona was going to win the game, the buzz through the crowd and on Twitter was that Machado was only four points away from a triple double.  He already had ten assists and ten rebounds. The question was could he get those remaining four points.

It was his second time on the season that he was close to a triple double.   Late in the game in their win over Rider, Machado was just one rebound short of the rarely seen feat.  But coach Tim Cluess took him out before he could get that tenth rebound.  He was on the sidelines when Glover's free throw bounced off the rim right to the spot he would have been on the line had he still been in the game.

This time Machado was not going to be denied. First, he hit a layup with a little under three minutes left for his seventh and eighth points.  Then with time winding down on what would have likely been his last chance at the basket, Machado drove strong into the lane and  hit another layup to score his ninth and tenth points.  The public address announcer proudly proclaimed Machado's triple double and the fans roared in approval.

There also happen to be a couple of members of the San Antonio Spurs front office in attendance last night that likely approved of that as well.  Machado has received a lot of attention from NBA scouts and personnel in the past couple of months.  His stat line of ten points, ten assists and eleven rebounds from last night will only add to his ever growing resume.

Not to be outdone,  Glover had a double double with twenty five points and eleven rebounds.  Jones had twenty three points and Ridley had a double double as well with ten points and eleven rebounds.  Pride and Chavaughn Lewis each had twenty for Marist.

With their 83-74 win, Iona was back in a tie for first with Loyola.  Machado finally had his triple double, Glover and Jones combined to score forty eight points, a young Marist team showed a lot of heart and the Iona Pep Band had another great performance.  There was something for everyone last night.

Unless you were a Loyola Maryland fan. 

Recap of Hofstra vs Marist Women's Basketball - Best Game. Of Season. So Far.

Once in a while, I actually have a good idea.  Realizing that my brain was running on fumes, I took a half day off last Thursday and started my Hofstra Holiday Break early.   I used that time to head over to the Mack Center to watch the championship of the New York Life Holiday Invitational Women's Basketball Tournament between Marist and Hofstra.

I got to my seat in the Mack Center during late in the second half between Central Connecticut State and Auburn consolation game, won by the Lady Tigers.  The crowd was small, not surprising for a Thursday afternoon right before the holidays.  But as usual, the Marist Lady Red Foxes brought a good contingent.

And it wasn't surprising to me, since I know full well the success of Brian Giorgis and his program up in Poughkeepsie.  Since they play in the same conference as Tony Bozzella's Iona Lady Gaels, I have seen Marist play Iona many times.  And without fail, though often very close games, the outcomes were always the same, with the Lady Red Foxes winning.

As I noted, the Lady Red Foxes have a large following.  I remember well seeing the Iona play Marist at the McCann Center back in February 2010 for "Pack the House" night.  It was right out of an Indiana high school basketball game.  Three thousand fans packed into a wood paneled gym.  I wrote an article about that night called "Hoosiers on the Hudson".

Over the past eight seasons, Marist has won the MAAC Women's Basketball Championship seven times and thus have been in the NCAA Tournament seven out of the last eight seasons.  They have won four NCAA Tournament games during that stretch, and the Lady Red Foxes made the Sweet Sixteen in 2007.  They have finished undefeated in MAAC conference play twice during that stretch as well.

The Pride certainly were no slouch entering the game at 8-2.  Their only losses were at nationally ranked Gonzaga and at Hartford, who won the America East Championship last season.  They have wins over St John's and Seton Hall as well as defeating Kansas State and Drake in the Cancun Challenge.

The game started out with Marist jumping out to an early 6-0 lead as the Lady Red Foxes used their staple, the the three point shot as Corielle Yard and Leanne Ockenden buried shots from beyond the arc.  Both three pointers came off offensive rebounds as Marist had an early 7-1 rebounding edge on Hofstra.

But then the Pride's Shante Evans and Candice Belloccchio took over, scoring ten of Hofstra's first twelve points, as they cut the lead to 13-12.  A Candace Bond three pointer put the Pride in front 16-15, a lead they would not relinquish until late in the game.

If there is one word that aptly describes Evans, it is "relentless".  On each of her first two baskets, she grabbed two offensive rebounds with Marist players hanging all over her.  Evans is probably the strongest player in the CAA and she also has a nice shooting touch which she displayed in the game by hitting several jumpers.

Bond's three pointer was part of a 12-2 run that saw Hofstra extend their lead to 27-17 over Marist.   By this time, the Pride caught up to the Lady Red Foxes on the boards, thanks in large part to Evans.   With a little over five minutes left in the first half, Evans already had a double double.

But Marist would cut the lead down to three, 35-32 by halftime, due in large part to a couple of three pointers.  It was an entertaining first half, though neither team shot the ball well (Marist 33%, Hofstra 31%), but Hofstra dominated the boards in the first twenty minutes with a 37-18 rebounding advantage.  Evans had twelve of those rebounds, while Bond added seven boards of her own.

During halftime, I went and got lunch.  As was the case when I entered the arena, there was a New York Life agent by the concession stand trying to get me interested in life insurance. With my hunger in full force, I respectfully declined, got my food and went back.  I have no qualms against New York Life and actually appreciate that they sponsored the tourney.   Just college basketball and nourishment take precedence for me over speaking to life insurance agents.

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The start of the second half saw the teams trade points back and forth for the first minute.  Marist had two chances to take the lead but missed both.  Hofstra made them pay for those missed chances by going on a 12-0 run over the span of a little more than three minutes.  Katelyn Loper was responsible for most of the run, scoring eight of the twelve points.  And Evans had the other four points for the Pride.

The score was 49-36 Hofstra with 15:56 left in the game.  The Lady Red Foxes were on the ropes.  But teams with a long recent history of success like Marist have a deep confidence in them.  A confidence that they are never out of any game.

And the Lady Red Foxes would respond to the challenge.  Kristina Danella would score eight points to lead her team on a 20-8 run over the next seven minutes.  Hofstra was now up only one, 57-56 with a little less than nine minutes left.   We now had the setup for an exciting finish.

The Pride maintained the lead for the next several minutes and were actually up six, 64-58 with five minutes left.  Then Corielle Yarde took over for the Lady Red Foxes.  She hit two of the next three Marist baskets, both on layups to tie the game at sixty four.  Then Casey Dullin hit a layup and the Lady Red Foxes had their first lead, 66-64 since 12:37 left in the first half.  The pro-Hofstra crowd was stunned.

But the Pride went back to the person mainly responsible for their success for most of the game - Evans.  She had not scored over an eight minute span which mainly coincided with the Lady Red Foxes' rally.  But she was determined to not leave the Mack Center without a win.  She hit two foul shots to tie the game at sixty six.  Then after Marist took the lead, again Evans went to work.  She rebounded a Yarde miss, then hit a layup to tie the game at sixty eight with thirty two seconds left.   We had the setup for an exciting finish.

Marist wasted no time in getting the ball into the hands of Brandy Gang for an open three pointer, but she missed.  The Pride got the rebound and Bellocchio went in for a layup and missed.  But there was Evans for the offensive rebound.  She got fouled as she hit the putback.  Evans completed the old fashioned three point play and Hofstra was up 71-68 with twelve seconds left.

The game now came down to coaching.  Hofstra made the first move as Krista Kilburn-Steveskey had her team foul Marist's Ockenden with four seconds left.  Ockenden hit the first free throw and then Giorgis called timeout to setup the old missed free throw rebound attempt.  Ockenden did just that on the second free throw and on the rebound scramble, Evans was called for traveling.   Marist had one more chance to tie or win the game with a three.

Kilburn-Steveskey called timeout to setup her defense, likely trying to deny Marist's three point staple.  The Lady Red Foxes got the ball to their best player, Yarde, who missed a jumper.  On the ensuing rebound, Dulin put up a shot as the buzzer sounded that went in.  Originally the referee called the basket good.

As they usually do on field goals at the buzzer, the officials went to the scorers table and reviewed the replay.  They ruled the shot came after time had expired and then after some confusion, the game was ruled over.  Hofstra won the New York Life Invitational 71-69.

And they won in large part due to Evans.  She scored the last seven points for her team.  She had game highs in points, twenty nine and rebounds with eighteen.  But statistics can't aptly describe the game Evans had last Thursday.  She literally willed her team to victory.

Evans wasn't the only Pride player with a double double.  Bond had fifteen points and fourteen rebounds. Loper added fourteen points for Hofstra.  Yarde led four Lady Red Foxes' players in double figures with fourteen points.  Dulin had fourteen points as well for Marist.

Having seen many women's basketball games over the years, which includes a Women's First Round NCAA Regional in Storrs, I can tell you this was a first round NCAA Tournament game.  It was that good and it was the most exciting game of the college basketball season, and yes folks, that includes the St Joseph's vs Iona overtime game I saw in New Rochelle the day before Thanksgiving.

It was that good of a game. Best game.  Of season.  So far.