College Hoops Again Provide a Welcome Respite (Recap of FDU vs Stony Brook)

Watching live college basketball games, something I absolutely love, has been an outlet for me since I really started following Hofstra in the early 2000's.  Previously, I had enjoyed college hoops for years and I attended many games at MSG.  But when I truly became a fan of college basketball and Hofstra in particular, I found an avenue for anxiety, stress, even loss.  I could completely become engrossed in a game; the nuances of ball movement and defenses, marvel at the athleticism and skill of players, and the game management of knowledgeable coaches.  Throw in an occasional yell at bad officiating and I had my two hour world of complete bliss, a welcome respite from the various things going on in my world.

This is a hectic time of season at work.  Four weeks each year, two in the spring semester and two in the fall semester, I am involved in administering exams to nearly eleven hundred students.  For students and administrators alike, it's a stressful period of time.  One where I desperately look for avenues to decompress.   Thankfully, I can rely on my old friend, college basketball.

I didn't originally plan to attend last night's Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Stony Brook contest.  But when I reviewed yesterday's college basketball schedule, I realized that I could make the game.  Thus, I jumped at the chance to drive out to the campus of Stony Brook.

The last time I was at Stony Brook, I was there in March of 2010 when they hosted a first round NIT game vs. Illinois, due to a conflict with Illinois' home court.   The game was held at Stony Brook Arena, which is now being renovated, That night, it was an entire sea of Seawolves' red,  The game was sold out with both student sections under the baskets packed with SBU fans hungry for a giant RLU.  Stony Brook jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but eventually Illinois overcame an electric partisan Seawolves crowd and won 76-66, spoiling Stony Brook's first ever Division I postseason game.

Stony Brook's opponent last night, FDU, is a school where I have some second person knowledge of their greatest all time basketball player.  Several of my Glen Cove friends, particularly my friend Mal, went to high school with Desi Wilson.  Desi, who is listed at six foot seven and about 230 pounds, was a two sport star at Glen Cove in basketball and baseball.  Mal describes Desi as laid back and very friendly.  Desi went on to star at FDU and was the NEC player of the year for the 1989-1990 season.  That season he averaged over twenty points per game and nine rebounds per game. He is also a member of the NEC's 25th Anniversary Team.

Desi left the Knights after his junior year after being drafted by the Texas Rangers.  He was traded to the San Francisco Giants with Rich Aurilia for John Burkett.  He was a career .300 hitter in the minors and played one season with the Giants in 1996, hitting .271 in 118 at bats.  Unfortunately, Desi didn't hit for much power and was back in the minors the next year.  He had a long successful minor league career and even played overseas.  Due to his ability to hit for average, he ended up becoming a hitting coach and is currently the hitting coach for the Boise Hawks, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

The attendance for last night's contest was nowhere near the 4400 people that attended the Illinois game in March 2010.  Also, due to the arena being renovated, the game was held in the intimate confines of Pritchard Gym, which holds 1700.  Still, there was a good crowd for the game.  And again, there was a good amount of red in the stands, not just from the students, but from alumni and families that came to the game.  I was impressed with the support the Seawolves were getting and they didn't let their fans down.

The teams both struggled from the field in the first half but seemingly for different reasons.   Stony Brook played tough defense on FDU and caused numerous Knights' turnovers, twelve in the first half.  Meanwhile, the Seawolves were missing several open shots.   Stony Brook was only up two, 20-18 with five and half minutes left before they finished the half on a 10-4 run due in large part to guard Dave Coley.   The score at the half was SBU 30 FDU 22.  The Knights were fortunate to be only down eight thanks to their forward George Goode, who had eight points and eight rebounds in the first half.

Surprisingly there was no halftime entertainment, so the fans were left to their own devices.  In my case, it was a celebrity sighting.  Mick Foley, WWE wrestling star, lives in Stony Brook and sure enough he was at the game.  He spoke to the Stony Brook radio crew during halftime.  Alas, there was no confirmed sighting of Mr. Socko at the game.

No doubt spurred on by the appearance of Mr. Foley, the Seawolves came out and blitzed the Knights at the start of the second half.  Stony Brook started nailing those open jumpers and when they missed, they grabbed offensive rebounds and got second chance points.  Meanwhile, FDU committed five turnovers and missed on their first nine field goal attempts.  Barely six minutes into the second half, SBU was up twenty, 44-24.

And it didn't get any better for the Knights.  They only scored five points over the next seven minutes.  The score was now 57-29 with seven minutes left in the game. Yes, a lot of this had to do with Fairleigh Dickinson not being a good team whatsoever.  Even Desi Wilson in his prime couldn't have helped the Knights to a victory last night.

But Steve Pickiell's Seawolves played really hard for the entire forty minutes.  You could see why Stony Brook won the America East regular season title in the 2009-10 season and came within an eyelash of defeating Boston University in the America East championship game last season.  They continued to play tough defense even up by twenty eight points.

Pickiell worked the referees the entire night, getting underneath their skins.  After one conversation with an official, Pickiell walked away.  The official then shook his head in disbelief.  The Seawolves' head coach was as relentless as his team was last night.

When the game is for all intensive purposes over, you look for other things to keep you interested during the last few minutes  First, during the next to last TV timeout, the dance team brought out lots of kids from the crowd to dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe".  Then a few minutes later, as Goode attempted a free throw, the Seawolves mascot, Wolfie, shook a "Shake Weight" to try to distract him.  It didn't work, but it had to be the most creative distraction and best use of a "Shake Weight" so far this basketball season.

The Seawolves would end up winning 70-46.  Coley led all scorers with sixteen points.  Goode had a double double for the Knights scoring thirteen points and grabbing eleven rebounds.  FDU had more turnovers, twenty one, than field goals, seventeen.  You're not going to win too many games with stats like that.

As I headed for the exit, Mick Foley was still sitting in his seat, shaking hands with fans.  I came up to him and shook his hand as well, an added bonus to a fun night.   Once again, college basketball was a welcome respite to a long day.
.

Humpty Causes Hofstra a Great Fall

Sometimes, there are long stretches where one team has another team's number.  When Hofstra first joined the CAA in 2001, they lost their first three games in conference with James Madison and had lost four in a row overall to JMU.  But starting in 2004, the Pride have gone on a twelve game winning streak vs. the Dukes.

Though the series record indicates one team's dominance over another, the results have been quite close.  During Hofstra's streak vs. JMU, nine of the twelve games were decided by seven points or less.  Three of the games went into overtime; a 92-90 win in January of this year, a 99-96 double overtime game in February 2009 and the all time gem, a 95-88 triple overtime game in February 2005.

So when the Dukes made the all familiar trip to Hempstead yesterday to face the Pride in the conference season opening game for both teams, it seemed one thing would be certain. It would be a close game.  And sure enough, the game lived up to that billing.

My older son Matthew was looking forward to yesterday.   For not only was there a basketball game, but Saturday was the long awaited day for putting up the Christmas decorations outside our house.  Now for me, I actually enjoy decorating for Halloween, not so much for Christmas.  But to placate a six year old boy and his four year old brother, I took down the decorations from the garage and spent the better part of the late morning and afternoon hanging Christmas lights and getting out several decorative inflatables.  Needless to say I was happy to leave for the basketball game when it was time.

The game started out with JMU's leading scorer on the season, A.J. Davis picking up two quick fouls in the first five minutes. But Madison hung in there, thanks in large part to their offensive rebounding. In the first half, the Dukes had eleven offensive rebounds which led to eleven second chance points.  JMU took a 22-17 lead with 7:45 left in the first half on a three pointer by Armon Marks, which was their only successful three point shot at that time.  The Dukes, the best three point shooting team in the CAA, would be only two of eleven from beyond the arc in the first half.

While JMU's leading scorer was on the bench with as many fouls as points, two, Hofstra's leading scorer for the season, Mike Moore, was basically unstoppable.  Moore hit four three pointers in the first half  (Hofstra was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half) and scored twenty of Hofstra's thirty one points.  After the Dukes had taken that five point lead, the Pride would go on a 14-2 run, with Moore scoring half those points.

However, JMU coach Matt Brady made a critical decision with a minute left in the half.  He went for a two for one possession.  The Dukes would miss two three pointers on their first possession and a Moore jumper would be the final points for Hofstra in the first half.  But due to the two for one possession, the Dukes got the ball back and called timeout.  Off the timeout, Humpty Hitchens, another transfer from Akron, hoisted a sixty foot prayer right before the buzzer.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...net.

The officials reviewed the play to make sure the shot came before the buzzer, which it clearly did from our vantage point.  The officials confirmed that it was good.  And due to the Dukes second only successful three pointer in the half, instead of Hofstra going into the half up seven, they were only up four, 31-27.  Hofstra coach Mo Cassara was none too pleased, as if he knew that shot might come back to haunt the Pride.

At half time, there was your classic youth basketball game for entertainment.  But Matthew was pleading for me to get him a pretzel.  And since I can't say no to my cute six year old son, we waited on a long concession line while I tweeted updates on the game.

It was clear at the start of the second half that Coach Matt Brady told his team "Whatever you do, don't let Mike Moore beat us."  And the Dukes took him out of the game.  For the better part of the last twenty minutes, Moore barely touched the ball.  He would only have five shot attempts in the second half, hitting only one of those.

But early on, it didn't seem to affect the Pride.  Hofstra actually extended it's lead using a 10-2 run.  After Nathaniel Lester hit his first three pointer since the first game of this season, the Pride were up 43-33.   The lead was still ten, 47-37 after a Stephen Nwaukoni layup with a little more than eleven minutes remaining in the game.  JMU looked off in their shot selection and the rest of the Hofstra players were chipping in despite Moore being held scoreless.

But twice already in this early season, Hofstra had similar leads, only to see them evaporate and lose the game.  Against Florida Atlantic, the Pride were up 36-27 before going on a three for eighteen shooting drought and lost 62-60.  Against Boston University, the Pride were up 42-35 before shooting two of fifteen for the rest of the game and lost 68-61.  

Unfortunately for Hofstra, history would repeat itself yesterday.   With Moore being held scoreless, the Pride would shoot one of eight from the field over the next seven minutes. Meanwhile, JMU's vaunted three point shooting came to life.  Hitchens nailed two three pointers and Julius Wells added one as well.  The Dukes went on a 13-3 run and tied the game at fifty on Alioune Diouf jumper with six and half minutes left.

The Pride would retake the lead in large part to guard Shemiye McLendon.  First McLendon gave a pretty feed to forward Moussa Kone for a resounding dunk.  Then McLendon channeled his inner Vinnie Johnson (they wear the same jersey number, 15), and buried a slightly off balance eighteen foot jumper.  Hofstra was back up 56-52 with three minutes left.

After the teams traded turnovers and Hofstra's Dwan McMillan missed an open jumper, Davis came alive for James Madison.  First, he buried a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 56-55.  Then after a turnover by McLendon, the Dukes called timeout.  My friend Mal predicted that they would call a play for Davis.  Sure enough, off the inbounds play, they got it to Davis, who hit a layup and was fouled by Kone.   He would hit the free throw for the three point play. James Madison was up for the first time since four minutes remaining in the first half, 58-56 with a minute left in the game.

But Hofstra finally got Moore involved after JMU's imposed nineteen minute sabbatical.  Moore hit two free throws for his first points of the second half and the game was tied at fifty eight.  But Hitchens, the proverbial thorn in the Pride's side, nailed a jumper to put Madison up two, 60-58 with thirty nine seconds left.

To Hofstra's credit, they didn't waste time with the ball and went after a good shot immediately. That good shot was a Moore layup that tied the game at sixty with twenty six seconds left.   JMU wound down the clock and with about three seconds left, Hitchens hit another jumper over McMillan's outstretched hand.  The Dukes were up 62-60, but Moore had one last chance.  He hoisted a sixty footer from almost the same exact location Hitchens hit his three pointer at the end of the first half.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...backboard.

James Madison had won 62-60.  Hitchens' sixty footer at the end of the half did come back to haunt Hofstra.  He led JMU with twenty points, while Davis had ten of his twelve points in the second half.  Moore had twenty four to lead all scorers, but the Dukes holding him in check in the second half was huge.  David Imes was the only other double figure scorer for Hofstra with ten points.

For once, a Humpty caused someone else's great fall.  All the Hofstra players and all the Hofstra fans couldn't keep the streak alive again.   After twelve straight losses, the Dukes finally had a win against the Pride.

James Madison vs. Hofstra Preview

As noted in my previous post, it's the first day of CAA conference play.  Outside of VCU and UNCW, all ten other teams are playing against each other today.  And in Hempstead, we have a rematch of the classic overtime thriller from last season where Hofstra rallied in regulation against James Madison and won in overtime 92-90.  When the Pride joined the CAA in the 2001-02 season, the Dukes won the first three games in the series.  Since then, Hofstra has won twelve straight.   Here are seven things to look for in today's game.

1. Expect a High Scoring, Close Game - First you have JMU who leads the CAA in scoring and is next to last in scoring defense.  Second, you have Hofstra who is third in the CAA in FG percentage at 44.3, but is also next to last in the CAA in FG percentage defense at 46.6 percent.  The Pride are allowing a stunning 54.6 percent of two point field goals attempted.
   
   Third, when the Dukes and the Pride get together at the Mack Center, there is a history of high scoring, overtime games.  There have been three overtime games in the past six years where the winning team, Hofstra, has scored in the 90's; the aforementioned game from January, a 99-96 double overtime game in February 2009 and the all time gem, a 95-88 triple overtime game in February 2005.
2. JMU Star Transfer Part Deux - Matt Brady has lots of success with transfers.  First Denzel Bowles, now A.J. Davis. Davis, a transfer from Wyoming, is averaging 22 points per game. Hofstra's best player, Mike Moore will likely be responsible for guarding Davis.  Should be an interesting matchup.
3. Rise and Fire - Two of the top three point field goal shooting teams in the CAA play today.  The Dukes hit as many three pointers, ten, as the Pride attempt in a game (sixty nine three point attempts in seven games).  James Madison leads the CAA, shooting nearly 47 percent from the field, while Hofstra is second at 43.5 percent.  The Dukes have four of the top ten three point percentage shooters in the Colonial; Davis at a ridiculous 59 percent, Humpty Hitchens at 51.7 percent , Andrey Semenov and Julius Wells.
   
   Mike Moore is third in the CAA in three point FG percentage, shooting 48.4 percent (15 of 31). But, as noted by John Templon earlier this week, Hofstra should try attempting more three point attempts.  In fact, the Pride are averaging seven less attempts per game than last season. Hofstra is actually very good at defending the three, allowing only 32 percent of three point field goals attempted.
4. Charity Begins at the Line - As mentioned in my CAA Notes from earlier today, Hofstra is averaging twenty nine free throw attempts per game, more than double what Drexel averages per game.  The Pride have 204 free throw attempts.  Georgia State is next with 161 free throw attempts.  When you are hitting seventy percent of those attempts, you tend to stay in games.
   
   Meanwhile, James Madison is only ninth in the CAA in free throw attempts, with one hundred less attempts than Hofstra. This may be due in large part to their three point shooting prowess.  The advantage goes to Hofstra in this category.
5. Paging Nathaniel Lester - In two games vs. LIU and Rhode Island, Lester scored a total of fifty five points.  In his other five games combined, Lester has scored a total of forty five points. Though he is averaging a respectable 14.3 points per game, he is struggling from the field, shooting 36 percent from the field and 21 percent from beyond the arc.  In fact, after going 3 of 4 from three against LIU, he has missed his last ten three point attempts.  Against Florida Atlantic and Boston University, in the two games combined, he only hit one field goal in twenty two attempts.  Simply put, Lester has to be more consistent.
     
6. Ball Possession - James Madison is first in the CAA in assists, averaging 14.2 per game with Hitchens leading the CAA at 6.0 assists per game, as well as assists to turnovers per game at 2.1.  Hofstra's Dwan McMillan is third at 4.0 assists per game and fifth with .6 assists to turnovers per game.  The problem is Steve Mejia is the starting point guard for the Pride and he is not in the top fourteen in either category in the CAA.  In fact, Hofstra is tenth in the CAA in assists per game at 9.9.  Advantage James Madison.
7. Pride Must Avoid a Shooting Drought - The Pride had two substantial leads in their games vs. Florida Atlantic and Boston University.  In both games, they went cold from the field in the second half and lost both games.  Against the Owls, after being up 36-27, the Pride shot 3 of 18 from the field over an eleven minute period in the second half.  Against the Terriers, after being up 52-45 with ten minutes left, the Pride shot 2 of 15 from the field for the rest of the game.  They can't afford that against the Dukes.

How willl this game turnout?   Well, using lines from TV shows and movies: 

• If Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara yells "THEM DUKES! THEM DUKES!" like Boss Hogg from "The Dukes of Hazzard", it's a good day for James Madison.  
• If  James Madison Coach Matt Brady yells "Come on Julius, get in front of the damn ball! Don't give me this "olé" bulls___" like Lou Brown from "Major League", then it's a good day for Hofstra.

Either way, expect a very close, high scoring game.  History often repeats itself in this series.

CAA Notes Heading into First Day of Conference Play

Today marks the first day of CAA conference action in the 2011-12 season.  There are five conference games on tap - James Madison vs. Hofstra, George Mason vs. Towson, William and Mary vs. Georgia State, Drexel vs, Delaware, and Northeastern vs. Old Dominion.  On December 17, UNCW will play at VCU to even up the conference schedule.  Mike Litos has a good preview of all the games.

What conference play holds for the Colonial teams is still to be determined.  But so far, it's been a crazy non conference season for the Colonial teams.  Here are a few highlights.

• Florida Atlantic is 3-0 vs. the CAA. Yes, Georgia State, George Mason and Hofstra are all victims of Mike Jarvis' Owls.  Unfortunately, FAU is 0-5 in the rest of their non conference schedule.
• George Mason has the best overall record in the Colonial with a 5-2 record.  But the Patriots could easily be 3-4.  They needed overtime to win at home vs. Rhode Island, whose only win on the season so far came at the expense of Hofstra, and had to rally at home to defeat Bucknell. 
• One of the Patriots' losses came in overtime at the hands of Florida International.  Yes, the same Golden Panthers' team that lost by TWENTY SIX at Georgia State.
• Speaking of Georgia State, after losing three games in a row, they have won five straight by an average of twenty one points.  The Panthers are 3-0 at home, with their average margin of victory being twenty two points.  Guess where William and Mary plays today?
• Speaking of William and Mary, has there been a bigger disappointment so far than the Tribe? William and Mary is 1-7, with their average margin of loss being nearly seventeen points a game. Their lone win was a one point squeaker at Liberty, a team that lost at Georgia State by twenty two points. Ruh Roh.
• Despite eventually losing to the Wildcats, Old Dominion (4-3) dominated inside again Kentucky.  Then the Monarchs followed that up by getting outrebounded 45-36 at home by the Catamounts in a loss to Vermont.  The Monarchs have already lost two games at home this season. They only lost two games at home the entire 2010-11 season.  
• Hofstra followed up their loss to Rhode Island by giving Cleveland State their first loss on the season up at URI.  If not for two second half shooting droughts against Florida Atlantic and Boston University, the Pride could be 5-2 instead of 3-4.
• Northeastern dominated St John's at Carnesecca Arena, beating the Red Storm by fourteen.  The Huskies followed that up by losing by seventeen points at LaSalle, who also beat James Madison by nine points.
• Speaking of Big East teams, two of South Florida's three losses are against ODU and VCU, while the Bulls have won five of their other six non conference games.  Forget the Big East vs. SEC challenge.  Give us the Big East vs. CAA challenge.
• VCU used to be a member of the Sun Belt conference.  I am sure Western Kentucky is glad that VCU is no longer in that conference.  The Hilltoppers have lost two games to the Rams this season, including a twenty three point drubbing on WKU's home court. 
• Delaware is 0-3 on the road and 2-0 at home.  Drexel comes calling today.  Devon Saddler has hoisted 103 of the Blue Hens 288 FG attempts on the season.  Yes, that's more than twenty field goal attempts per game. The next closest, Jamelle Hagins with forty three FG attempts.
• Drexel, the preseason favorite to win the CAA, is a disappointing 2-3.  It simply comes down to FG percentage for the Dragons.  In their three losses, Drexel has shot 38 percent, 26 percent and 31 percent respectively.  The Dragons are 311th in the country in FG percentage at 38 percent.
• The scary thing is the Dragons don't get to the line either.  In five games, the Dragons have attempted sixty four free throws.  That's not even thirteen a game.  Huh?
• In comparison, Hofstra has attempted two hundred and four free throws in seven games. That's twenty nine free throw attempts a game. 
• James Madison is first in the CAA in scoring offense at 77.6 points per game.  They are next to last in the CAA in scoring defense at 74.8 points per game.  At least they are exciting to watch.
• Towson is last in the CAA in scoring defense at 79.2 points per game.  Unfortunately, they are also last in the CAA in scoring offense, averaging 50 points per game.  Yup, they lose by an average of twenty nine points per game.  And they get to host Mason today.  Enjoy.
• UNCW is last in the CAA in rebounding margin and dead last in defensive rebounding percentage. If you can't keep teams off the glass, you have hard time winning.  Thus, the Seahawks are 0-5.

Six Years, Seven Seasons, A Man's Life - It's All Relative

Saturday evening after Hofstra had defeated Cleveland State, I was presented with a choice.  Originally, I had planned to stay and cover the Boston University vs. Rhode Island game for the 800 Games Played Project on the Mid Majority Site.  But I was very tired, under the weather, lonely for my family and I had my nephew's baptism the next morning.  So instead of watching and recapping a game on my wish list, I took the three hour drive back to New York.  

For someone who has driven ten hours to Wright State for a basketball game, staying two extra hours in Kingston seemed like child's play.  And normally, it would have been.  But there wasn't just the cold I that I had and my nephew's baptism involved in my decision to head back.  Driving home, I knew I had to be back in Mineola for sure for Monday morning.  

For the past two plus weeks starting on November 14 until this past Tuesday morning, I have been on jury duty in Mineola.  Specifically, I have been a member of a twelve person jury deciding the fate of a man charged with murder in the second degree, three counts of robbery and two other counts of criminal possession of a firearm.  We had a break over Thanksgiving weekend, so I was able to go up to Rhode Island to watch the tournament.  But I was mentally beat from the week's proceedings and still trying to recover from a cold that I had for the better part of a week.

That's why I when I wrote my recap of LIU vs. Iona, I couldn't go into details of why I was exasperated on Monday.  I was exasperated by the slowness of the proceedings, the wheels of justice.  It wasn't our jury deliberations whatsoever.  Our jury actually did an excellent job deciding the counts and there was no acrimony whatsoever. It was all the other processes, the long delays to find an open courtroom and jury room every morning.  The delays to hear testimony replayed.  When a man's life is at stake, justice should be a lot more streamlined and not have the person have to wait out their fate due to overlengthy procedures.

On December 4, 2011, it will be exactly six years that I have written this blog.  What began on a dare has become a wonderful journey to various gyms and arenas in the United States.  I have seen parts of the country that I might never have gone to had it not been for college basketball.  In the past six years, I have been to places such as Worcester, Massachusetts; Lawrence, Kansas; Charleston, South Carolina; Dayton, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina to name just a few to watch basketball games. It's been a lot of fun, but at times, like the trip to Dayton, it's been a long and winding road.  I still don't know how Kyle Whelliston did it all these years

For eight of the past nine years, I have taken a pilgrimage to Richmond every first weekend in March to watch the CAA Tournament.  I got to see an unforgettable NCAA regional in Raleigh in March 2008.  And this past March, I got to see live my first conference championship game since 2001.   

More importantly, I have made so many friends along the way.  I consider Defiantly Dutch, aka Jerry Beach one of my good friends, even if he still won't get back to me with his answers for my blog post (yeah, Jer, I am calling you out!).  And he's a damn good writer too.  I consider Kyle Whelliston a mentor, friend and the best college basketball writer there is, outside of John Feinstein.  His work has inspired me beyond measure.

And there are others.  There's Joe Suhoski, Mr. ODU.  It turns out also he is a very good college football writer as well. Brian Mull and Mike Litos are two very good college basketball writers and I have been following their work for years.  John Templon is as good a writer as Kyle told me he was and his Big Apple Buckets site is awesome. I even have two Mid Majority mentees in Julia Prior and Michael Hadley, Mr Red Zone IUPUI, both terrific, hilarious people.

And there's good people I have got to know somewhat like Travis Mason Bushman (you are a legend and a leader, so to speak), Garrett Wheeler, Mike Greiner, Dominic Pody, Kraig Williams, Matt Cerilli, Brendan Loy (the man behind #PANIC), Guy Falotico of IonaHoops.com, the folks at CAAZone and last but not least, Gheorghe The Blog. If you are one of my followers on Twitter, I truly appreciate the support.

Writing about college basketball has opened up an entire new world for me. Though I am not accredited media, I no longer just watch games.  I cover them.  And when the official Iona Gaels twitter account acknowledges your game tweets along  with Jon Rothstein's. Matt Norlander's and Adam Zagoria's tweets, all terrific college basketball analysts and writers,  I consider it a great honor.

Six years ago, I had no idea that I would be doing any of this today.  I still don't know how long this will continue, as I noted in November of last year.   But this is now my seventh college basketball season. And this season is special.  I am now writing for two sites.   And when that 800th game recap is written, I will celebrate with everyone else who is contributing to the Mid Majority Site.

And so far, I have written nine game recaps for the 800 Games Played Project, which have been posted here as well due to Creative Commons license.   I figure I have another thirty five to forty to write this season, if all goes well. 

But last Saturday,  my better judgment overruled staying to recap another live game.  There were bigger obligations.  Deadlines and commitments as I noted last year.  

On Tuesday, we found the defendant not guilty of murder, guilty of three counts of robbery and not guilty of two counts of criminal possession of a firearm.  I truly believe our jury was thoughtful, measured and certainly unanimous in our judgment.   We epitomized the term "civic duty".

As much as I love it, college basketball is just a game.  In the grand scheme of life, six years and seven seasons pale in comparison to the past two weeks.  It was an experience that everyone should have once in their life.  And one I won't ever forget.

The Paul Westhead Invitational

Yesterday was an exasperating day.  I can't get into details, but I was agitated when I got home.  Thankfully, salvation was only ninety minutes away, for I had this game between LIU and Iona circled on my calendar.  I knew I was going to see a game that "The Guru of Go" would truly love.

Westhead is the creator of "The System".  It's based on simple math - More Possessions + More Shot Attempts = More Points.  And there are no two better examples of  "The System" than LIU and Iona, led by their proponents, Blackbirds' coach Jim Ferry and Gaels' coach Tim Cluess.. Last season, LIU was fourth in the nation in scoring at 82.7 points per game and fifth in the country in possessions per game at 70.6.  Meanwhile, Iona is currently first in the country averaging 94 points per game and second in assists at 21.3.  

"The System" has worked for both teams.  LIU made the NCAA Tournament after winning the NEC championship.  Meanwhile Iona made the MAAC Conference Tournament finals, then the CIT finals and are the heavy favorites to win the MAAC this season.  This was going to be the basketball version of the Penn Relays (Google it).  I had the over/under for points scored for last night's game at 180.

I was hoping to bring my basketball buddy, my older son Matthew to the game last night, knowing he would love this fast pace, high scoring game.  But he had homework to do, so daddy went off by himself to New Rochelle.  As I got there, there was another good crowd on hand at the Hynes Center.  Not as good as the game vs. St Joseph's last Wednesday, but the one side of bleachers was basically full.

As expected, the game got off to a rip roaring, albeit sloppy start.  The Gaels went out to an 11-2 lead.  But the Blackbirds came back and cut the deficit to four, 23-19.  By this time, both teams had a combined nine turnovers, but of course forty two points.  After Jermel Jenkins hit a three pointer to make it 26-19, the Gaels had eight possessions where they used 10 seconds or less of the shot clock.

The game was still close, 33-29 with a little less than six minutes left when Iona when on a 21-9 run to end the half.  It was led by their two best players, Michael Glover and Scott Machado, who combined for twelve of the twenty one half ending points.  The Gaels were up 54-38 at the half.

The halftime entertainment consisted of two of my favorite things.  One, a local catholic school boys team played at the half.  And they emulated the two college teams by playing end to end action.  The other was hearing the always terrific Iona Pep Band playing songs like "Peg", "Brickhouse" and some Stevie Wonder and KC and the Sunshine Band tunes.   While all this was going on, I honestly thought I might see more points scored in the second twenty minutes than the first twenty minutes.

And at the start of the second half, Iona came out with the intention of doing exactly that. Within barely the first eight minutes, the Gaels outscored the Blackbirds 33-17.  During this time, Iona forced eight LIU turnovers.  Meanwhile, Glover was terrorizing the Blackbirds, scoring at will inside while Jermel Jenkins scored at will from the outside with three point bombs.  With twelve minutes left, Iona was up 87-55.  The  game for all intensive purposes was over and the question was, when would the Gaels score one hundred points?

Someone though forgot to tell the Blackbirds the game was over.  LIU outscored Iona 19-3 over the next nearly eight minutes.  The Gaels actually went scoreless for about four and a half minutes during that stretch. The score was 90-74.  But a layup by who else, Glover, made sure the score didn't get any closer.

Iona finally scored one hundred points on a layup by Machado 2:19 left. At that point, the crowd started to file out.  The Gaels would not score again, but they already had done enough damage.  LIU managed to score their season average from last season, eighty two, but lose by eighteen, 100-82.   Had Iona not had that scoring drought in the second half, the teams would have easily eclipsed the point total for the first half.  But ninety points in the second half certainly wasn't bad.

Glover had another double double with twenty eight points and fourteen rebounds. Machado had another double double as well with fourteen points and ten assists.  Jamal Olasewere led LIU with twenty points.  The two teams combined for forty two assists and forty turnovers.  Iona now heads out on the road for the entire month of December. Meanwhile, LIU already has to start defending its NEC conference championship on Thursday against an improved Wagner team.  No rest for the weary.

As I left the Hynes Center and headed to my car, I thought of one thing.  Someone should send Paul Westhead a plane ticket to New York.  He should catch a couple of Iona and LIU games.  He would be so proud.

Thoughts from TicketCity Legends Classic in Rhode Island

Though I only attended three of the six games that were played this weekend up at the Ryan Center on the campus of URI,. I saw more than enough to make the following observations;

• Had it not been for a mistake by the timekeeper in their game against Cleveland State, Boston University would have swept the entire subregional.  The Terriers played really inspired basketball all three days and rallied twice to beat Rhode Island and Hofstra. They also controlled most of the action against Cleveland State.
• The reason the Terriers are now my favorite to win the America East is that they have a terrific trio in Darryl Partin, Patrick Hazel and D.J. Irving.  
• Partin had a terrific three games.  He averaged twenty three points and five rebounds per game in the subregional.  He needs to work on his free throw shooting; 16 of 25 from the charity stripe. But considering he averaged eight attempts per game means he is not just a jump shooter (though he was 4 of 10 from beyond the arc vs. Hofstra).
• Hazel and Irving also had a good three games for the Terriers.  Hazel averaged thirteen points, nearly nine rebounds and three blocks per game in the subregional.  Irving averaged sixteen points, four assists and nearly three steals per game.
• One of the keys for Hofstra this season was whether Mike Moore would step up his game after the graduation of Charles Jenkins.  He certainly proved it this weekend.  Despite being taken out of the game vs. Cleveland State, Moore had a terrific rest of the subregional.  He poured in twenty seven vs. BU and twenty five vs. Rhode Island.  He also averaged nearly eight rebounds per game in the subregional. 
• Moore has fifty two free throw attempts on the season, shooting seventy-seven percent which is under his average of last season (eighty five percent).  But still he is averaging over seven free throw attempts per game.  In his last five games, Moore has averaged nine free throw attempts per game.
• Speaking of free throw attempts, Hofstra averaged twenty six free throw attempts in three games.  When you get to the line that many times and you average 73 percent from the line (as they did this weekend), you will stay in games.
• Outside of the first ten minutes vs. Rhode Island and the last ten minutes vs. Boston University, Hofstra played very well in the tournament.  With the addition of Bryant Crowder, the Hofstra rotation now goes nine deep. 
• So far, Crowder seems to be a nice find for Coach Mo Cassara.  He might be the most athletic big man Hofstra has had since Adrian Uter.  He has energy, attitude, very good leaping ability and even a nice touch around the basket.
• The rebounding continues to be solid for the Pride.  The Pride out-rebounded the Terriers yesterday, dominated the physical Vikings on Saturday and hung in there vs. the taller Rams. They are much improved from last season.
• The Pride have a nice bench now with Crowder, Stephen Nwaukoni, Dwan McMillan and Shemiye McLendon. 
• With ten minutes left in the game yesterday up 52-45, Hofstra was shooting 17 of 32 vs. Boston University.  They ended the game shooting 2 of 15.  It's hard to win when all your points come from free throws when the other team is hitting baskets.  
• Nathaniel Lester missed all nine of his field goal attempts.  The Pride need Lester to be Moore's wingman to be consistently successful.  
• Outside of those ten minutes against BU, Hofstra shot the ball well. Fifty one percent vs. Cleveland State, which I think is remarkable considering their defense, and forty six percent vs. Rhode Island.  The Pride are shooting forty four percent on the season.
• Cleveland State just manhandled Rhode Island.  They forced twenty turnovers on the Rams, and URI missed all eight of their three point attempts.
• D'Aundray Brown is a very good all around player for the Vikings.  He is not only their leading scorer but their best defender.  He just has to stay out of foul trouble. 
• URI's Jonathan Holton is a dynamic talent, but as a freshman he is a work in progress.  After scoring twenty points vs. Hofstra, he only scored a combined sixteen points in his next two games. 
• After a good first fifty minutes, Rhode Island had a bad last fifty minutes in the subregional.  They blew an eleven point lead against Boston University and got hammered by Cleveland State.  Heck, they nearly blew a nineteen point lead against Hofstra.  They are a better team than their 1-5 record indicates, but they need to find consistency.
• I think I saw the best team in the America East and I certainly saw the best team in the Horizon this past weekend.  I also think that Hofstra will be right in the mix in the CAA.   I love URI's length and athleticism.  But again, the Rams have to play a full forty minutes game in and game out.

Hofstra Beats Cleveland State at Its Own Game

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in Rhode Island.  The temperature was around sixty degrees as I left my hotel and took the short drive down to Newport.  I spent part of the morning sightseeing, first around town, then I visited the Newport Shipyard.   I had never seen so many large expensive boats in one place in all my life.

As I walked back from the shipyard past the Marriott where the Hofstra team was staying, an older gentleman came up to his wife by the dock and said "The Hofstra University basketball team was having a team meeting in one of the rooms...". I didn't hear the end of the conversation, but I smiled as I made my way back to town.  It was nice to hear your home team making an impression on someone in Newport.

I got to the Ryan Center about an hour early before game time. When I sat down in my seat, the Pride were practicing on the floor.  Hofstra assistant coach Patrick Sellers was working with reserve Matt Grogan about defensive positioning.  After watching the game between Cleveland State and Hofstra, it definitely felt that the entire team was listening to Sellars.

When I watched Cleveland State play Boston University in the first game on Friday afternoon, I could see why the Vikings knocked off Vanderbilt and Kent State.  They play an aggressive man to man defense and every shot, pass and move are contested.  Watching two rows from the court yesterday, I can honestly tell you that Cleveland State is literally in your face.  They are literally on their man and it creates a very intense atmosphere.  You need to bring your lunch and be up to the task of playing them.

In the first half, it was clear that Cleveland State's had two game plans on defense.  The first was to come out with a press defense similar to the one that Rhode Island did so effectively against Hofstra.  The Pride were somewhat affected by the press, but not to the degree it was against the Rams.   The second was to take Hofstra's Mike Moore out of the game. D'Aundray Brown was assigned to Moore and he stuck to him like glue.  Moore attempted only three shots in the first twenty minutes, missed them all and only had one point.

However, the Pride found another scoring option in the first half and it came from an unlikely source. Reserve sophomore forward Stephen Nwaukoni came off the bench and sparked Hofstra with eight points, several of which came from offensive rebounds.  Nwaukoni had a career high with twelve points on the game.

The teams played evenly for the first twenty minutes as the largest lead by either team was four points.  The Pride took a late three point first half lead on two free throws by Nathaniel Lester.  But Jeremy Montgomery buried a long three pointer just before the buzzer and tied the game at twenty nine at the half.

Hofstra came out and took its biggest lead of the game at that time, 33-29 on two layups by Lester and Steve Mejia.  But the Vikings came back with a 13-4 run and took their largest lead of the game, 42-37 as Brown, their leading scorer on the season, scored the last two points of the run on a layup.

But the Pride followed back with a huge run of their own.  Over the next seven minutes, Hofstra outscored Cleveland State 20-4.   The Pride were mostly lead by their reserves Nwaukoni, Dwan McMillan and Bryant Crowder,  They combined to score sixteen of those twenty points.  Hofstra was up 57-46 with six and half minutes remaining.

The Vikings were frustrated on offense, as the Pride held them to 37.5 percent shooting on the field.  And when Cleveland State missed, Hofstra cleaned up on the glass.  In the second half, the Pride outrebounded the Vikings 20-8.   Cleveland State had only two offensive rebounds in the last twenty minutes of the game.

Cleveland State's frustration boiled over on one play late in the game.  On a fast break, Crowder was going in for a dunk attempt.  The Vikings' Aaron Pogue clearly intentionally fouled Crowder, who crashed to the floor and then was writing in pain on the court.  As the fans booed Pogue, Crowder was helped off the court.  Lester hit one of two free throws.   Hofstra would go on to win 63-53.

The bench came up huge for Hofstra.  Besides Nwaukoni's career high twelve points, McMillan matched him with twelve points and Crowder added eight.  The Pride Bench outscored the Vikings bench 32-14.   Lester and Mejia each had ten points.  Moore was held to five points overall, fifteen less than his season average. Hofstra shot 51 percent for the game, including 57 percent in the second half.

As for Cleveland State, they were led by Montgomery who had twelve points and Brown, who fouled out, had ten points.  The Vikings only had eleven free throw attempts as opposed to thirty one for the Pride.   Cleveland State was held to four of nineteen shooting from beyond the arc and scored their lowest point total of the season.  The Vikings had twenty nine fouls on the game and coach Gary Waters was clearly not happy with the officiating.

After a tough loss against the Rams on their home court, the Pride rebounded with their best effort of the season against a team many think could be the favorite to win the Horizon League.   And they did it in large part on the defensive end.   Hofstra truly beat Cleveland State at its own game yesterday.

Pride Fall to the Rams

The last time I was in Rhode Island for a Hofstra basketball game was eight years ago when the Pride traveled to Providence to take on the Friars.  How long ago was that?  NBA player Ryan Gomes was still in college, playing for the home team.  Meanwhile Loren Stokes and Carlos Rivera were freshmen playing their third games for Hofstra.  The Friars defeated the Pride 69-56 in a game that wasn’t really indicative of how dominant Providence was in the second half of the game.

So here I was sitting behind the Hofstra bench hoping for a much better result at the Ryan Center last evening.  After barely anyone showed up for the first game between Cleveland State and Boston University (they missed a really great, wild ending), the crowd filled in for their hometown Rams.  Having suffered some close losses, Rhode Island was 0-3 and looking for their first win of the season.  Meanwhile, Hofstra was looking to bounce back from a tough two point loss at home to Florida Atlantic.

The game was also very important to one Steve Mejia.  Mejia played his first two seasons at Rhode Island before transferring to Hofstra and sitting out a year.  He had played his best game of the season against Florida Atlantic, scoring fourteen points.  There was no doubt Mejia wanted to play well here, especially when the Rhody faithful booed his name every time it was announced during the game.

The start of the game did not go well for the Pride.  The very long, very athletic Rams came out in a full court press and that seemed to bother Hofstra to no end.  Rhode Island forced several turnovers in the backcourt.   As a result, the Rams jumped out to a 27-9 lead ten minutes into the game.  Jonathan Holton, a six foot nine inch freshman who looked like he should be playing for North Carolina, scored fourteen of those first twenty seven points for Rhode Island.

The lead had swollen to nineteen, 37-18 with about eight minutes left in the first half and it looked like the Pride were going to get blown out of the Ryan Center.  But as this Pride team has shown early on in the season, it has a lot of talent and heart.  And one Hofstra player decided to go on his own run.   Mike Moore scored twelve straight points over the next couple of minutes.  Suddenly it was a game, 37-30 with a little less than five minutes left in the half.

The Pride cut the lead even further to four on a three pointer by, whom else, Moore.  But the Rams got a basket from Nikola Malesevic and the score was 45-39 at the half.   All things considered, for Hofstra to only be down six at the half was a moral victory.  They were very much now in this game.

The halftime entertainment consisted of a very unique version of musical chairs.  Several people dribbled around the chairs.  When the music stopped, they had to go hit a layup, then dribble back and sit in the chair.  I thought it was a pretty neat game and Hofstra should try that at their games in the future.

The second half saw the teams go back and forth.  Every time it looked like Rhode Island would pull away, Hofstra would come back and keep the deficit within four to five points.  Moore was getting help from his usual dynamic duo partner, Nathaniel Lester.  But he was also getting help from a new source.

Bryant Crowder was playing in his first ever game for the Pride and the six foot ten athletic forward felt right at home in this game.  He showed his leaping ability with two monster dunks, plus showed energy and a nice touch around the basket. Between Moore, Lester and Crowder, the Pride kept the game close.

After Moore hit two free throws, the Pride had got within three points, 61-58, their closest margin since five minutes into the first half.  But over the next six minutes, the Pride could get no closer than that.  However, after a layup by Crowder, the score was still within reach at 74-69 with just about four minutes left.

But Hofstra would not get any closer.   Senior Jamal Wilson, who entered the game averaging twenty points per game, was huge down the stretch from Rhode Island with his all around play.  He scored five points, including a huge jumper to put the Rams up nine, 80-71 that basically sealed the game for Rhode Island.    The Rams would end up winning 85-73.  Holton lead URI with twenty points, while Malasevic added eighteen points and Wilson had fifteen points.

For the Pride, Moore had another fine game leading all scorers with twenty five points.  Lester added twenty two points and Crowder, in his first ever box score had thirteen for Hofstra.  The Pride shot 20 of 25 from the line but had way too many turnovers, seventeen as compared to eleven assists.

For Hofstra, there are still two games to play in this “tournament”.  Today the Pride face undefeated Cleveland State and tomorrow it's Hofstra vs. Boston University.  They can still leave Rhode Island on a high note.

The Rhode Island Less Traveled

A few months ago, when I first started planning  to see four basketball games in two days in Rhode Island, it was supposed to be my first ever road trip with just my older son, Matthew, and me.   Matthew loves basketball, especially Hofstra basketball.  So he was very excited about the prospect of seeing two Hofstra games in two days.

Then about three weeks ago, we adopted a new dog.  Walter is a pug that was a rescue dog from a puppy mill.  We saw him at a Halloween dog parade and noticed he was up for adoption.   He might be the calmest dog I have ever met and quite friendly.  Matthew and my younger son, Jonathan, were smitten.

So about ten days ago, shortly before I was going to make reservations to stay at a hotel, I asked Matthew "Are you still going with me to Rhode Island for the basketball trip?"  Matthew's response was "No, I want to stay home and be with Walter."

Needless to say I was stunned.  Then I decided to follow up with a question that turned out to very much humble me.   I asked, "So, you would rather be at home with Walter than be with your dad on a basketball trip?"

His response was a soft, yet very short and to the point.  "Yes."  I realized right there that my six year old son definitely had a lot of my wife in him.  He's very sweet, but very honest and direct. I couldn't blame him.  Our dog is pretty cute.

So I alone went out this morning on my trip to the Ticket City Legends Classic Subregional at the Ryan Center on the campus of the University of Rhode Island.  The trip was actually a quick one, about three hours. Apparently too many people were at the mall early today to be out on I-95.

Since I was saving my trip to Newport for tomorrow morning, I hung around Kingston before the game. Kingston is your typical sleepy New England town that you would find in a Stephen King novel.  Speaking of novels, I went into a new/used Kingston bookstore.  The owner greeted me as I walked in to the place.  They were having a 50% off sale due to their landlord forcing them to downsize their bookstore.  I found a good children's book for $3.25.

As I got to the Ryan Center, it's located in the back of URI.  You have to drive down Plains Road, which is aptly named, and loop around to the back of the campus.   It's a very nice facility that seats about 7,700.  Unfortunately, Cleveland State and Boston University are not much of a draw.  From my vantage point, there are maybe about one hundred spectators in the building at the tipoff of their game..

The Ticket City Legends Classic "Tournament"  is run by the Gazelle Group, the same folks that bring you the 2K Sports Classic "Tournament".  As I wrote in an article on my College Hardwood site last year, these so-called tournaments are not real tournaments. The top four Power Six conference teams that were chosen are guaranteed to play in Madison Square Garden or the Meadowlands.  They play a "regional" on their home court, which guarantees them two home games against mid major foes.  Then they play the last two rounds of "the tournament" at either MSG (2K Sports Classic) or in this case,. the Meadowlands.

Meanwhile the mid major teams that played in the TicketCity Legends Classic regionals play round robin in subregionals.  One is in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, on the home court of Bucknell.   The other is here in Kingston, Rhode Island, home of URI.  Four teams in each subregional and each team plays three games.

If this had been a real tournament, one of the two teams I saw in the first game, Cleveland State, would have been at the Meadowlands.  Cleveland State upset Vanderbilt 71-58 on the Commodores home court in the "regional".   Instead of the opportunity to play in New Jersey, the Vikings got to play in Rhode Island.  All things considered, I'd rather be near Newport myself.

The Vikings have had a terrific start to their season.  They are 4-0 and have the win over Vanderbilt, plus another impressive road win over Kent State, who had defeated West Virginia on the road prior to that contest.  Cleveland State is an experienced team.  Their four leading scorers are seniors who went to the NIT last season.  Now minus Norris Cole, who was taken in the second round of the NBA draft, the Vikings were looking to sweep the subregional and enhance their non-conference resume for a potential NCAA at large bid.

Cleveland State's opponent, Boston University, made the NCAA tournament last season.  Their best player from last season, John Holland, also graduated.  But unlike the Vikings, the Terriers have struggled, losing their first three games of the season.  They were hoping to leave Rhode Island with at least one win and they would have three chances this weekend.

The first half saw Cleveland State jump out to an early 9-4 lead.  But the Vikings quickly got into foul trouble as their two leading scorers on the season, D' Aundray Brown and  Trevon Harmon, each picked up two fouls.  Meanwhile, Darryl Partin was leading the way for Boston University.  He scored ten first half points as the Terriers went into the locker room up 24-21 at halftime as both teams had a hard time finding the basket.

Cleveland State scored the first two baskets of the second half and went up 25-24.  But just as it appeared the Vikings were going to gain control of the game, the Terriers responded.   For most of the second half, BU controlled the action.  The Terriers were up by as much as eleven, 45-34 with nine and half minutes left.

Partin continued terrorizing Cleveland State, as he would actually score more points in the second half than he did in the first.  Hardin had help in the second half as Patrick Hazel and D.J. Irving contributed from the field.  BU was playing really hard and maintained a nine point lead, 52-43 with six and a half minutes left.

However, the Terriers had numerous opportunities to put the Vikings away, especially from the free throw line.  But BU wasted a lot of those charity stripe opportunities, missing sixteen of forty four free throw attempts on the game.  Partin scored twenty four points on the night, but missed half of his twelve free throw attempts.  If you were watching the game, you had the feeling in the pit of your stomach that this might come back to haunt the Terriers.

And sure enough, Cleveland State's Brown caught fire and scored ten straight points for the Vikings, including a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 54-53.  After BU went up by four again, again Cleveland State got a three pointer, this time by Harmon, to cut the lead to one, 57-56.   Again, the Terriers went up by four 62-58, but again, Harmon buried another three, and again the lead was one, 62-61 with 5.6 seconds left.

What happened in the last few seconds of the game was simply unreal.  BU's Matt Griffin struggled to inbound the ball, but appeared to finally do so when the whistle blew.  The game clock was started before the Terriers could inbound the ball.  The referee ruled that the play had to be done over.  And sure enough Griffin again had problems inbounding the ball.  This time he lost the ball and fouled Cleveland State's Jeremy Montgomery during the scramble for the ball.  Montgomery calmly nailed both free throws with three seconds left.  The Vikings won 62-61 and absolutely broke the heart of the Terriers.

In large part due to a mismanaged clock, one team, Cleveland State, remained undefeated, while another team, Boston University, remained winless. The outcome truly seemed unfair to the Terriers. This was proof positive that this game will hurt you.

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.