Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust

After winning a tournament championship, a coach is normally in a good mood, discussing the aspects of the game.  However after defeating Oklahoma to win the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Michigan State's Tom Izzo decided to vent about the new NCAA rules in regards to defense.

"Everybody is going to think points are up. They’re up because free shots are free shots!” Izzo said. “What I’m worried about is are we going to teach [players to] just dribble in and get fouled? Is that good basketball? We had a two hour and 32 minute game tonight. Is that going to be good for basketball?”

Izzo went even further about what his new offense will be after his win over the Sooners.

“What are we going to teach? Are we going to teach the kids to just drive in there? I’m going to coach it this week. Just drive in. I’m going to put on football pads again this week. Not to rebound, but offensively. Just go in there, full back dive, three yards and a cloud of dust.” 

It's never good when a basketball coach decides that his offensive philosophy should be something out of a Woody Hayes' playbook (Google "Woody Hayes").  But is Izzo overreacting or is he on point about what the state of college basketball is with the new rules on defense, specifically the end of the hand check and more difficult to pick up a charge?

To further Izzo's point, my friend Dan Crain, author of the terrific new blog "Dragons Speak", went a little further by breaking down the NCAA rules and how it has affected teams' offenses.  In his post "The New NCAA Rules: Why Dribble Drive is Your Friend", Dan specifically points that scoring inside the arc is up ten percent from last season.  As an example, he points out William and Mary as a team that has changed it's offense from a three point driven squad to one of the better two point field goal teams in the country.   I can verify Dan's point, having watched William and Mary use the two point field goal to their advantage on Thanksgiving Eve.

However, I am going to come at this at a different angle than Dan.  I want to come at it from the angle of how it has affected teams' defensively.   Below is a list of fourteen teams with their fouls per game currently from this season and last season, along with their ranks currently from this season and last season (stats are as of 12/2 and are courtesy of Basketball State). Most of the teams listed I know for the most part play pressure or physical defense.

Team	2013-14 FPG	2012-13 FPG	FPG Diff	2013-14 FPG Rank	2012-13 FPG Rank
Niagara	27.9	19.7	+8.1	350	304
Georgetown	24.5	17.3	+7.2	332	151
North Carolina	21.2	14.6	+6.6	248	11
Stony Brook	22.1	15.6	+6.5	282	33
Wagner	25.8	20.5	+5.3	344	331
Marshall	24.6	19.3	+5.3	334	282
Manhattan	26.3	21.1	+5.2	347	340
Drexel	23.7	18.6	+5.1	321	241
Seton Hall	23.8	18.8	+5.0	322	253
Cleveland State	24.6	19.6	+5.0	334	301
Richmond	22.5	19.4	+3.1	295	287
VCU	22.7	19.7	+3.0	302	304
Ohio	22.7	19.7	+3.0	302	304
Michigan State	16.6	16.1	+0.5	28	60

Based on the above, several teams - Georgetown, North Carolina and Stony Brook have been significantly affected by the new rules based on their rankings in fouls per game from this season as compared to last season.  Others have been moderately affected, such as Seton Hall, Drexel and Niagara (who had the biggest jump in fouls on this with +8.1).  Others, such as VCU, Ohio, Richmond and Cleveland State already had a high rate of fouls per game have seen a slight uptick in fouls, though their rankings have remained relatively the same.

Even if you have a slight uptick in the number of fouls, it increases the number of foul shot opportunities. If a team such as Niagara averages 28 fouls per game now as opposed to nearly 20 last season, that averages to 14 per half.  Double bonus starts with the 10th foul, so teams could now be getting possibly at least five double bonus opportunities per half on the Purple Eagles.

Ironically, Michigan State, whose coach has most notably complained the most about the rules, has barely had any change in foul calls.  Perhaps Izzo has already adjusted his team's style of play as opposed to other teams.

But Izzo hasn't been the only head coach to comment about the rules' enforcement.  Manhattan's Steve Masiello commented on enforcement of the new rules after his team lost at Fordham in their annual Battle of the Bronx.

"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."

Bashir Mason, "the closest thing you'll find to a wallflower" head coach of Wagner, was so frustrated by the number of fouls called in the Seahawks' loss to UIC (a combined 44 fouls were called in the game, including 5 technical fouls on Wagner), he was ejected during the game after receiving two technical fouls.  Mason commented the following after the game;

"I’ve never been thrown out of a game in my life. Not in high school, not college, not as an assistant and not as head coach...I’d never even had a technical called on me.”

Hmmm. And I saw many of Mason's games vs. Hofstra when he was at Drexel, so I can vouch for him not being the type to get a technical foul.  So if you have several coaches commenting about the enforcement of the rules and one coach so frustrated that he gets the first two technical fouls of his life, there's something wrong.  During last night's Indiana-Syracuse game, commentator and former coach Dan Dakich even noted about how taking away the charge is taking away a defensive style of play.  Dakich finished with "What, you can't even touch someone now?"

Here are some more statistics for you.  Last season, 317 out of 347 Division I NCAA teams averaged less than 20 fouls per game.  This season, only 177 out of 351 Division I NCAA teams are averaging less than 20 fouls per game.  That's a difference of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY teams.

Think about that for a second.  More fouls means there's more stoppage of play, which means longer games.  I would love to know the average length in time for a basketball game this season as opposed to last.  You would think it has to be longer this season.  Izzo noted that his game vs. Oklahoma took two hours and thirty two minutes.

Three yards and a cloud of dust might be the new offense for college basketball.  A lot of people found that football offense pretty boring during Woody Hayes' time. One has to worry if it will make college basketball pretty boring too.

My Top Ten College Basketball Games of 2012 As Seen In Person

Sometimes, you need to get out of the house and just take a drive.  Such was the case Saturday night.  After staying indoors much of the day, I got stir crazy and went out for a bit.  I was supposed to have plans with a friend as well, but they fell through.  The bright side was that it forced me out of the house for a little while.  I got coffee to keep me going so I could write most of this article, money for Sunday's activities and gas for the car.  There's a bright side to everything, even failed plans.

What transpired Saturday night was that it also got me thinking on my year in review.  I had seen about sixty Division I and Division III men's and women's games in the calendar year of 2012.   I got to see several good NCAA Tournament men's teams in VCU, Iona and LIU.  I got to see the #1 women's team in the country, Stanford, play recently against a very gutty #19 South Carolina.  I saw many talented players, two of which ended up in the NBA; Kent Bazemore and Scott Machado.  Finally, I saw many exciting games and ten of them have made my Top Ten Games of 2012, one of which was a late year addition.  I also note some unique things I remember about each game.

Number 10 - St. Peter's vs. Iona -  The Gaels' Leave an Indelible Mark - I know what you're saying, what is a thirty seven point win doing in my Top Ten? Well, it's for the very simple fact that Iona went on a 31-0 run in the second half to turn a close seven point game into a blowout.  It was one of the most awesome displays by one team I had ever seen in a game.  Perhaps the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was impressed too, as the Gaels eventually got an at large bid to the Big Dance.

What I always will love and now will miss about Iona games since I am now in South Carolina for the most part, is the Iona pep band.  They are an old school band.  They are the only pep band I know that plays Steely Dan's "Peg", a bouncy version of the theme song from "I Dream of Jeannie" and several Earth Wind and Fire songs, which are excellent songs for pep bands.

Number  9 - Iona vs. Manhattan - The Gaels Gain Revenge on the Jaspers - It was the final game of a Hofstra themed tripleheader, culminating at a raucous Draddy Gymnasium.  The Gaels were trying to extract revenge for the Jaspers' amazing come from behind rally at the Hynes Center earlier in the season. Iona would pull away for a convincing 81-71 win that wasn't even that close as the final score indicated.  But the atmosphere and a close first twenty minutes made the evening fun.

That night leaves several indelible memories.  First, you always have to be at Draddy early for a game, otherwise you will end parking in another state.  Thus was the case that night.  Second, the truly bizarre configuration of Draddy resulted in the only game I had ever had a partial, obstructed view of a basketball game.  Third, my little trouper of a color analyst, my now seven year old son Matthew making it through three games on the day.  He was still very much into watching basketball at Draddy that night and was bothered that he didn't have a full view of the game.  That folks is a basketball fan.

Number 8 - Stanford vs. South Carolina Women's Basketball Game - The Cardinal Withstand the Gamecocks in a NCAA Women's Tournament Quality Game - This is the only game from the 2012-13 season that has made my 2012 Top Ten and it was a dandy.  Imagine the 2010 Butler vs. Duke national championship men's game played as a women's game. It was a physical defensive struggle and the South Carolina fans made it a great atmosphere.

Here's the kicker.  It was the second game of a twin bill with the men's game vs. Appalachian State as the first game.  There was a late arriving crowd for the women's game.  How cool is that?  Dawn Staley has slowly but surely built a strong program in Columbia.  And once Frank Martin builds his program at South Carolina, the fans will be there for the men's game too.

Number 7 - Maine vs. Stony Brook - Seawolves win the Regular Season America East Championship - Perhaps the Black Bears-Seawolves game didn't have as large of a crowd of either number 9 or number 8 on my list, but it was still a sold out Pritchard Gym on Senior Day and the game had more meaning than those two games because a conference championship was on the line.  Plus it had a national TV audience thanks to CBS Sports Network.  Seeing the Seawolves win in front of their home crowd and hoist the regular season championship trophy in front of their fans made it extra special.

One of the things I most remember about this game is that legendary broadcaster Don Criqui broadcasted this game.  If you know your basketball from the seventies and eighties, Criqui broadcasted many college basketball games for NBC on Saturdays.  Heck, I remember fondly Syracuse's Roosevelt Bowie, Louis Orr and Don Criqui.  CBS gave the Stony Brook game a very cool retro feel with Criqui there.

Number 6 - Loyola Md vs. Fairfield - In the MAAC, It's Never Over Til It's Over Part Deux -  This game is memorable for me for several reasons- One, I got to go to Frank Pepe's before the game. Two, you had the Evil Black Curtain.  Three, you had a great rally by the Greyhounds late to knock off the Stags on their home court twenty four hours after Manhattan rallied to take down Iona in New Rochelle.  And finally,you had one Jimmy Patsos, quite possibly the craziest cat to coach Division I men's college basketball.  It made for a truly entertaining night in a contest that was televised to a national audience, even if only 2,000 people showed up for the game live.

I will always remember the end of the game.  After Loyola wins, Patsos is so fired up, he's yelling at the Loyola fans. He yanks his tie off and tries to throw into the Greyhounds fan section behind the Loyola bench.  The problem is the tie doesn't go very far.  Doesn't stop Patsos.  He goes behind the bench, picks up the tie, puts it around a Loyola fan and then gives him a hug.  It was a huge win for Loyola, which eventually made the NCAA Tournament by winning the MAAC Tournament.

Number 5 - LIU Brooklyn vs. Wagner - This Isn't Your Father's NEC -  A nationally televised NEC game.  First place in the Northeast Conference on the line.  The defending NEC champs, LIU vs. Team Hurley.  A sold out Spiro Center. Yes, sign me up for that please.  Dandy of a game too as the Blackbirds held off the Seahawks to win.  I truly believe it was the springboard for the eventual second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for LIU Brookyn.

There were several things that stood out at Spiro. First they have a basketball club called the College Hardwood.  How awesome is that!  Second, the Wagner student section did a terrific job that night.  Third, the PA system didn't do such a good job.  It was waaaaaay too loud and the game so needed a pep band there.  Pep band music > Canned music every time.  More schools should take after LaSalle.  The pep band plays the entire night.  No canned music (at least that's what it was at Gola Arena back in December 2005 when I was there for a Hofstra-LaSalle game).

Number 4 - UMass vs. Drexel NIT Quarterfinals - Minutemen Rally to Take Down the Dragons at the DAC - There is nothing like a sold out DAC for a basketball game.  Drexel looked like they were going to again show the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee that they truly messed up by not taking the Dragons, as they went out to a seventeen point second half lead.  But the Minutemen rallied to give the Dragons their first home loss of the season.  It was one hell of a game.

It was memorable for several reasons.  First, obviously a huge UMass comeback down seventeen in the second half that stunned the home Drexel crowd.  Second, it was the night I found out that I didn't get a job in Colorado, which actually worked out better for me.  Third, how often do you get a parking spot literally right in front of the arena?  Yup that was the night.

Number 3 - Manhattan vs. Iona - It's Never Over Till It's Over in the MAAC -  One of the wildest games of the regular season.  The Gaels leading at home in the Hynes Center by seventeen points with seven minutes left.  Manhattan rallies late and hits a three pointer at the buzzer to win.  It was surreal.

This Jaspers-Gaels classic was unfortunately a foreshadow of a problem that Iona would have throughout the season, blowing huge leads.  The Gaels would do this again at Siena later in the regular season.  Finally, Iona blew a huge lead in their first round play in game against BYU.   The sense of "I have seen this before" dread watching the Cougars rally in the second half against the Gaels started from this game against the Jaspers.

Number 2 -  Georgia State vs. George Mason - Byron Allen's Game Winning Shot in CAA Quarterfinals -  You had your classic CAA knockdown rockfight with the Panthers and the Patriots. Georgia State rallies late to tie the game, only to lose in heartbreak fashion with Allen's basket with 3.4 seconds left, which I captured on video from my seat on press row.

What I will always, always remember is Panthers' Head Coach Ron Hunter's emotional post game press conference.  It was truly honest, raw and heartbreaking.  It's a shame that Ron Hunter was only in the CAA a couple of years (Georgia State leaves for the Sun Belt after this season).  I got to meet with him after the press conference and he is genuine, funny and was really kind to Jerry Beach and me. He even joked with us about the IUPUI - Hofstra CBI game seen by only 952 people.  Class act.

Number 1 -  George Mason vs. VCU - The Patriots Stage a Near Impossible Comeback But Fall Short  -  In the second game of the CAA Semifinals, VCU rolls out to a 22-0 lead, then actually extends it to 32-4.  The sold out "neutral" Richmond Coliseum crowd was DEAFENING.  It looks like George Mason is going to be blown out of the building.

But the Patriots didn't fold up their tent.  They actually whittle that twenty eight point lead down to six with three minutes left before eventually losing by ten 74-64.  Yes, there were closer games than this in the countdown.  But considering the raucous "neutral" crowd (yes there were a good number of Mason fans, but it was mostly a pro VCU crowd) and the huge deficit, what George Mason did was nothing less than heroic

What I will always remember is the perspective you get sitting on the court.  I had been going to the CAA Tournament for years starting in the 2002-03 season.  Until this past March, I always sat in the stands.  This time, I was on press row.  You truly don't have an appreciation of how loud a sold out crowd in Richmond Coliseum is until you are on the court.  It was truly an incredible atmosphere.  It was also the last time I would see in person VCU in the CAA.

2012 was a great season college hoops wise.  May 2013 be just as good for all college hoops fans everywhere.  Happy New Year!

When Bad Beats Worse (Recap of Wagner vs. Hofstra)

I have seen my share of ugly basketball games over the years, on TV and in person.  In December of 2009, I witnessed in person Hofstra defeat Manhattan 44-39.   It was two hours of my life that I wouldn't get back and I noted various painful statistics from that game in my recap of the game.  It was one of those nights when bad beat worse.

Tonight was another one of those nights, though this was going to be a game I would be watching online 750 miles away in Columbia, South Carolina.  It was clear early on that things were not going to go well.  First, the Hofstra video feed was having issues.  The video was working fine.  The problem was no audio.   After several minutes, which included losing the picture, the feed came back with audio.  The problem was the audio was the WRHU feed, not the play by play feed which was on 1190 AM in New York.  So instead of play by play, you heard actors playing out a scene from a play.  After a few seconds, I had to mute the feed.  Eventually that was fixed.

Unfortunately, the Hofstra AV crew couldn't fix the play of Wagner and Hofstra the first twenty minutes.  There were long stretches of play where no points were scored. At the under sixteen minute media timeout, the score was 2-2.  At the under twelve minute media timeout, the score was 8-6 Seahawks.  With 3:23 left, the two teams combined for fifty four possessions and thirty four combined total points.   Hofstra entered halftime up 24-19.

(Warning, the faint of heart should not read the next paragraph due to the gratuitous violent nature of bad first half stats).

Wagner was 8 of 27 from the field in the first half, including 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. The Seahawks also had ten turnovers compared to just two assists.  Hofstra was 2 of 9 from the foul line. Taran Buie had an ugly first half trifecta - 1 of 7 from the field, 0 for 2 from beyond the arc and 0 for 3 from the foul line. Steve Mejia didn't do much better - 1 of 6 from the field, 0 for 2 from beyond the arc and 2 for 5 from the foul line.

The two teams didn't fare any better at the start of the second half.  It took three minutes for Hofstra to hit their first field goal.  At the under sixteen minute media timeout, the Pride were still up on the Seahawks at 26-23.

But Wagner was in the middle of a 12-2 run to go up 31-26 with 13:15 left.  The Seahawks press was starting to bother the Pride as the Seahawks forced nine second half turnovers.  Steve Mejia struggled to hold onto the ball on the night.  He had seven assists but also six turnovers.

Wagner was still up five, 34-29 with about eleven and a half minutes left.  The Seahawks then couldn't score for the next two minutes.  The problem was neither could the Pride. After Eric Fanning made two free throws to give Wagner their largest lead of the game at that time, Buie scored the next six points to cut the Seahawks lead to one, 36-35.

However Hofstra never could tie the game or take the lead the rest of the way.  This was due in large part to shooting eight of nineteen from the foul line.  Mejia had an awful night.  To go with his six turnovers, Mejia shot 1 of 11 from the field and 3 of 7 from the line.

Buie had a much better second half for the Pride, scoring fourteen points in the last twenty minutes.  The problem was the rest of his teammates only scored six points in the second half.  Hofstra shot 6 of 21 from the field in the second half with Buie making four of those shots.

Wagner didn't exactly the light the world on fire from the field in the second half, shooting 9 of 26 in the second half.  But the Seahawks lit up the foul line, shooting 15 of 18 from the charity stripe in the second half.  Wagner would go onto win 52-44.

Kenny Ortiz led Wagner with 15 points and Mario Moody added 12.points.  The Seahawks had fourteen offensive rebounds which helped give them a 13-4 margin in second chance points.  Wagner won despite missing their best player, Latif Rivers, who likely won't be back until January.

Buie led all scorers with 16 points, but no other Pride player was in double figures.  Walk-on Matt Grogan had another nice night with seven points and Stephen Nwaukoni had eleven rebounds.

Hofstra has now lost four straight games after their three game sweep in the 2K Classic Subregional and will now play another NEC team, LIU on their home court in Brooklyn,   Wagner has a home game against Coppin State.

Both teams had a chance to win tonight, but in the future they will need to play a lot better.  You can win ugly, but not that often.

This Isn't Your Father's NEC (Recap of LIU vs Wagner)

The Northeast Conference, otherwise known as the NEC, started as the ECAC - Metro conference in 1981.  As the NEC website notes, originally the conference's goal was "to create a competitive NCAA Division I men’s basketball conference for unaffiliated schools on the Eastern seaboard."  It started as just a men's basketball conference, but it grew to twelve schools and twenty three sports.   There are still six original members;  Wagner, LIU Brooklyn, Fairleigh Dickinson, Robert Morris, St. Francis (NY) and St. Francis (PA).  Joining them later were Monmouth, Mount St Mary's, Central Connecticut State (CCSU), Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and this season, Bryant.

Still, the main focus of the NEC is founded on its original goal, men's basketball.  There is great history in some of the conference's teams. Legendary coach Clair Bee, inventor of the 1-3-1 zone and the three second rule, coached his LIU team to two NIT championships in 1939 and 1941.  Jim Phelan, the legendary former coach of Mount St Mary's, won 830 games as coach of the Mountaineers and currently is seventh on the all time wins list.  Both Bee and Phelan are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.  And in a recent article, I talked about my second hand knowledge of one the NEC's greatest all time players, Desi Wilson of Fairleigh Dickinson.

However, for years the NEC has been considered one of the doormat conferences of the NCAA Tournament. In its thirty year existence, the Northeast conference has won only two games in the NCAA Tournament, both play in games. In 1983, Robert Morris defeated Georgia Southern 68-54 before losing to Purdue by two points, 55-53, in the first round.  In 2008, Mount St Mary's defeated Coppin State 69-60 before losing to North Carolina in the round of 64, 113-74.  I was at the Mountaineers game vs. the Tar Heels in the Raleigh Regional.  Mount St Mary's played hard the entire forty minutes, unlike a certain team from Bloomington vs. Arkansas in the evening session.

But in the last few years, the NEC has proven itself worthy on the court, especially in the NCAA Tournament.  In the 2010 NCAA Tournament in front of a national audience, #15 Robert Morris had #2 Villanova on the ropes, up by eight points with a little more than four minutes left before the Wildcats rallied and won in overtime 73-70. In the 2011 NCAA Tournament, #15 LIU was actually tied with #2 North Carolina with five minutes left in the first half before losing by a respectable fifteen points, 102-87.

This season, NEC teams have several big wins.  Wagner won at then nationally ranked Pittsburgh, then also won the Cable Car Classic Tournament, defeating Air Force and Santa Clara.   Robert Morris defeated LaSalle at a neutral site (currently the Explorers are 14-6 and 3-2 in the A-10) and won at Ohio (currently the Bobcats are 15-4 and 3-2 in the MAC).  LIU has a neutral site win at Vermont.  The combined record of those three NEC teams going into Saturday night's Wagner-LIU game was 43-15.

That brings us to Saturday night, where Wagner hosted LIU at Spiro Athletic Center for first place in the NEC.  The game was a hot ticket because it was being shown nationally on ESPNU.  It is the first time that I can ever remember a a regular season Northeast Conference game being televised on ESPN.  The NEC truly decided to hype the ESPNU broadcast with this video.

Part of the reason I believe ESPNU was televising the game was that Wagner not only had their big wins, but they also have Team Hurley - head coach Danny Hurley, formerly a point guard at Seton Hall and assistant coach Bobby Hurley, former star point guard at Duke.  Of course, their dad is Bob Hurley Sr., the legendary coach of St. Anthony's in Jersey City.   At 15-3 overall, Team Hurley has done a terrific job of turning around a team that two seasons ago was 5-26.

But going into Saturday night's game, defending champion LIU Brooklyn had been the best team in the NEC so far this season.  Jim Ferry's Blackbirds had won eight games in a row, including a 78-73 win at home over the Seahawks.   LIU was looking to sweep the season series and have a two game lead in conference.

Due to the icy conditions by yesterday's snow/ice storm, my good friend Tieff picked me up at my house two and half hours before game time.  That's due to the fact that you never know what the Belt Parkway will be like in bad weather, even on a Saturday.  As we drove towards the Verrazano bridge, I was listening to the Hofstra-James Madison game on WRHU's IPhone App, which works quite well by the way.   The lack of traffic and the basketball game over the IPhone made for an unusually quick trip to Staten Island.

When we got to the Spiro Sports Center, it was ninety minutes before game time.  So we each grabbed a pretzel with cheese and sat on a green bench listening to the end of the Hofstra game.  Thanks to Steve Mejia's three point play, the Pride finally had their first win in conference.  As a result, two happy Hofstra fans entered the gym.

The Spiro Sports Center Arena is your classic small conference gym.  It seats about 2,400 and is strictly bleacher seating.  Just about all the seating is general admission, so it was first come first serve.  There is an administrative office above with a great view of the court.  That's where the main ESPNU cameras were filming and there seemed to be an alumni reception there as well watching the game.

In our case, amazingly we were sitting three rows up, near center court, right between the LIU bench and the scorers table.  I called my wife and told her that she should see us on the telecast.  Sure enough, when I got home later, she told me that her and my older son Matthew saw us several times.

Spiro is a very cozy environment.  Also when it's packed, it's a LOUD environment.  The Wagner student section behind the LIU basket was already filled with students wearing white.  It was "whiteout night" as everyone in attendance got free white Wagner T-shirts.  Several Wagner dance team members went through the crowd before the game encouraging those who hadn't put their T-shirts on to do so in support of the team..

LIU had their fans, apparently made up of many members of their dance team behind the Wagner basket. In a funny moment, they grabbed one of the T-shirts, tore it up, then threw it up in the air.  It ended up with the Wagner fans next to them, who threw it back at them.

The only bad thing about Spiro was the PA system. The volume was turned up way too high, as the music, even the PA announcer sounded distorted.  Also, unfortunately it kept Tieff and I from hearing some of the student chants before the game.   Wagner is not the only one that does this as far as unbearably loud PA systems; Hofstra and Iona are guilty of this too.  But in a smaller Spiro Sports Center gym, it's much more noticeable.

Memo to the Wagner Athletic Department - Please turn down the volume on your system.  Also, please get a pep band.  With a packed student section that's already quite loud, the pep band works much better than canned music. Trust me, it works well for the Hynes Center with the Iona Pep band.  Thanks.


Once the game got started and the PA music was turned off, it was the perfect college basketball atmosphere; a sold out gym, a large, loud student section complete with a giant Danny Hurley head and two very good teams squaring off in a meaningful conference game.  This was as close to hoops heaven as a fan could get.

LIU seemed unfazed by the television cameras and the mostly partisan Seahawks crowd.  The Blackbirds jumped out to a 13-4 lead after just two and a half minutes, in large part due to their big three; Julian Boyd, Jamal Olasewere and Jason Brickman.  Boyd hit two baskets and assisted on another, a three pointer by Brickman. Olasewere also had two baskets in that span.  That would be a common theme for the Blackbirds on the evening.

But Wagner came back and outscored LIU 19-9 over the next several minutes due in large part to Latif Rivers who scored nine of those points during the span.  A Josh Thompson layup gave the Seahawks their first lead, 23-22.  The crowd roared in approval.  The game would see five ties in the first half alone.

When there is such an intensive atmosphere and first place in conference riding on the game, it's normal to have players' tempers flare up. During that Wagner run, a  foul was called on C.J Garner which led to an altercation between Boyd and Jonathon Williams.  The referees went over to the scorers table to review the play, which eventually led to double technical fouls for Boyd and Williams.

While the referees reviewed the play, I took this picture of them at the scorers table.  A woman behind me stated "Look, he's taking a picture of them."

I turned around and said "I write for two college basketball sites and I am going to talk about this in my article.  It's the only reason I would take a picture of this."

She replied "I guess you heard me".  I responded "Yes, I did."  Even with a raucous atmosphere, my ears can still pick up a smarmy comment.

With Wagner up 31-29,  LIU scored seven straight points, including a three pointer by Brickman that put the Blackbirds up 36-31 before Mario Moody's dunk cut the lead to three, 36-33 at the half.  Brickman, who looks like Joey Rodriguez' younger brother, also shoots like him.  He was three of three from beyond the arc in the first half.

There were also warning signs for the Seahawks. Several of their front court players would get in foul trouble in the first half.  Thompson, Williams, Naofall Folohan and Tyler Murray each picked up two fouls.  Danny Hurley was not happy with the officiating and actually stayed on the court a few seconds after the first half ended to voice his displeasure.

The second half started with Wagner coming out strong.  Williams, Murray and Kenny Ortiz hit layups which put the Seahawks up one, 39-38 with a little less than seventeen minutes left in the game. The Seahawks' student section was now in full force.

But the Blackbirds responded with a 13-2 run due to their big three.  Olasewere started it with a three point play. He would add two more baskets.   Brickman, Boyd and Olasewere would all add foul shots to put LIU up 51-41 with 11:43 left.

By that time, Wagner was in serious foul trouble. Both Williams and Thompson  picked up their third and fourth fouls. Ortiz picked up two quick fouls to give him three total.  With most of his big in serious foul trouble, Hurley was down to the last forward in his rotation, the aforementioned Moody.

One intrepid Wagner student held a sign during the game "I'm feeling MOODY".  And Mario was feeling it too as he kept the Seahawks in the game with his inside play.  Over the span of five minutes, Moody had eight points, the last of which cut the Blackbirds lead to 56-52 with six and half minutes remaining.

The noise from the Wagner student section was now at its crescendo.  Facing an incredibly loud chant of "DE-FENSE", LIU was now at a critical moment of the game.  This is where they either rose to the occasion or wilted in the face of adversity.

Once again, the Blackbirds' big three responded.  Over the remaining six and a half minutes of the game, Brickman, Boyd and Olasewere combined would score the last seventeen points LIU scored.  Boyd's emphatic dunk with a little less than two minutes remaining put the Blackbirds up seven on their way to a convincing 73-66 win over the Seahawks.

Wagner had no answer for Boyd, who scored nineteen points and added fifteen rebounds.  Olasewere had eighteen points and Brickman had seventeen points and eight assists.   Moody had a double double for the Seahawks with twelve points and ten rebounds. Rivers led Wagner with seventeen points.  Williams added fourteen and Murray had eleven points for the Seahawks. Murray was honored before the game for scoring his 1000th career point in a previous game.

With the win, LIU is now firmly in first place in the NEC at 8-0, with a two game lead over three teams.  One of those teams is Wagner, who now has to battle out for second place with Robert Morris and CCSU. The Seahawks dreams of finishing first are likely dashed as the Blackbirds have the tiebreaker, since they swept the season series.

The NEC is one of the very few conferences that have their championship game on the highest remaining seed's home court.  Last season, Tieff and I were at LIU's Wellness Center for the NEC championship game.  After the Blackbirds' win Saturday night, there's a good chance we'll be back there in March.