Miscellaneous Thoughts on Iona/Manhattan, Siena, Wichita State, Duquesne and Fordham

If you're a college basketball fan and you didn't watch Iona/Manhattan on ESPN2 last night, you missed an absolutely terrific game between two long time MAAC rivals.  The Jaspers won in overtime 80-77.  It was exciting, action packed, end to end, three point drilling (on Iona's side), small gym, capacity, loud crowd fun.  You could hear the crowd loud and clear on your TV.

Having been at Draddy for Iona vs. Manhattan previously for a SRO crowd between these two rivals, I can tell you how intense the Gaels-Jaspers rivalry is from a spectator's standpoint. And if you don't think this is a hot ticket, two years ago, tickets for the Iona- Manhattan game were going for $100, which is usually unheard of in NYC mid major basketball.  Jaden Daly of Daly Dose of Hoops was there last night and here's his writeup.

It's quite possible that Iona and Manhattan will face each other again in the MAAC Tournament.  Despite the loss, Iona has clinched the MAAC regular season championship and the #1 seed for the MAAC Tournament.   Manhattan is tied for second with both Quinnipiac and Canisius.  The Jaspers host the Golden Griffiths on Sunday for at least third place. 

Oh, one last thing.  If Iona wins at home over Rider on Sunday, it will be the fourth time in the four seasons Tim Cluess has coached in New Rochelle that the Gaels have won twenty games.  Four years ago, I gave a New York metro college advice on who to take as their head coach.  Iona took the advice instead and two NCAA Tournament later, with a possible third on the horizon, the Gaels must be quite happy with the decision.

Speaking of MAAC coaches, how about the job Jimmy Patsos is doing with Siena.  The Saints are now over .500 in the MAAC at 10-9 and with a win over Monmouth, will be the fifth seed in the MAAC Tournament.   Siena has already won six more games than all of last season and six more games in conference from last season as well.  Not surprising, given Patsos' history of success with Loyola Maryland.

One last MAAC note.  With Cluess, Steve Masiello, Patsos and Jimmy Baron, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has become a premier coaching conference.  MAACTION!

Wichita State has been getting a lot of flack lately on whether they are a #1 seed for the NCAA Tournament .  Several basketball "pundits" have questioned their non conference schedule (Yes, Jeff Goodman of ESPN, I am talking about you in particular).   Mark Adams, ESPN analyst, put this into excellent perspective on Twitter by stating that the eight power conference teams ranked in the top ten played eighty six percent of their non-conference games at either neutral site or home.   As I pointed out to Mark in a reply, I noted Wichita State only played seven of its twelve non-conference games at home (two were neutral site).  Saint Louis, the other non power conference team in the top ten played only six of its eleven games at home (two were also neutral site).

Furthermore, compare Wichita State's team to the last Missouri Valley team that went so far into the season undefeated, the 1978-79 Indiana State team.  That team of course was led by Larry Bird and went to the NCAA Championship game undefeated vs. Michigan State before losing to Magic Johnson and the Spartans.  

That 78-79 Sycamores team only played one NCAA Tournament team during the regular season, New Mexico State, which Indiana State beat twice in that season in conference.  In fact, the Sycamores had to have a 50 foot shot by Bob Heaton to force overtime on the road vs. the Aggies.  New Mexico State ended up getting an at large bid, losing to Weber State in a first round game.  At that time, only forty teams made the NCAA Tournament.  

Despite their lack of a signature non-conference win, Indiana State received a #1 seed.   Perhaps having Bird helped their chances of getting a #1 seed.  Still, Indiana State justified their seeding by making the NCAA Championship game.

This season, Wichita State has played two definite NCAA Tournament teams in their non conference; BYU and currently #10 Saint Louis.  The neutral site win over the Cougars was the championship game of the CBE classic and the win over SLU came on the Billikens home court.  Until their loss at home to Duquesne this week, Saint Louis had been undefeated in Atlantic-10 play, which is quite impressive considering there is a very good chance that there will be five A-10 teams in the NCAA Tournament (SLU, VCU, UMass, George Washington and St Joseph's).

Wichita State has also won over bubble team Tennessee, along with wins over Davidson, the Southern Conference regular season champion, who knocked off the current #2 team in the SEC, Georgia and NC Central, who won at North Carolina State and who at 22-5 and 13-1 in the MEAC, is the likely MEAC regular season champion (the Eagles have a two game lead over Hampton).  Throw in the fact that with basically the same team from last year's Final Four team, if the Shockers can make it through the rest of the Valley regular season and the MVC Tournament undefeated, they should definitely be a #1 seed and have serious consideration as the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Gregg Marshall is my coach of the year (and Jaden Daly, I knew about Marshall for years even before his Winthrop team knocked off Notre Dame).

On Thursday night, I watched on TV two bottom A-10 teams play, Fordham and Duquesne.  Both teams played good first halves against their respective opponents, VCU and St Louis, as I noted, two definite NCAA Tournament teams.    In their respective second halves, only one team maintained their composure and heart.  The road team Dukes withstood the Billikens and gave St Louis their first loss in A-10 play.

Duquesne at one time was tied with Fordham in the A-10 standings.  Yet, Jim Ferry's 12-15 team has not given up and won two of its last four games.   Of their four conference wins, three of those are on the road, including a win over the Rams.  The Dukes have lost fifteen games on the season, nine of those fifteen losses have been by nine points or less, including six A-10 conference games.  Duquesne's scoring margin on the season is - 0.3.  You can certainly say the Dukes have been competitive for the most part this season.

I'm not surprised by Ferry's Dukes playing so hard.  His successful LIU teams were high scoring, yet very gutty.  I was there when the Blackbirds won over Wagner at a hostile, sold out Spiro Center two years ago in what was quite possibly, given the game was on ESPNU on a Saturday night, the biggest regular season game in the history of the NEC (see picture of the game on the left).

Ferry's LIU teams made the NCAA Tournament two years in a row before he took the Duquesne job. Already the Dukes have a four win improvement from last season.   Given his ability to recruit nationally (several of his LIU players came from Texas), Duquesne is in good hands.

Meanwhile, VCU went on an early second half run and Fordham looked like they got run over by a truck.  They looked clueless on defense, showed no fundamentals on boxing out as VCU got offensive rebound after offensive rebound (in fact VCU had twenty four offensive rebounds) and basically showed no heart the last twenty minutes of the game.  VCU scored FIFTY ONE second half points beating Fordham 85-66.   One team looked Ram Tough and another looked Rammed.

Then to top it, Fordham Coach Tom Pecora just torched his team's effort after the loss, as per another great Jaden Daly writeup.   Yet not anywhere in the post game press conference notes does Pecora accept any blame for his team's failures that night.  He even notes that "Teams that win find ways to win, teams that lose, they know how to lose".

Well who's responsibility is for that demeanor and play?  It's the coach. 

I have already written about Fordham's struggles this season, in fact, it's been my most read article of the season, and taken Pecora to task.  So yes, it's like beating a dead horse.  But after his VCU post game press conference comments, the dead horse needs to beaten some more.

Fordham has lost five straight games, all by double digit margins.  In their last nine A-10 conference losses on the season , the Rams have lost each game by double digits and by an average margin of NINETEEN POINTS.  In fact, in Fordham's seventeen losses on the season, thirteen have now come by double digit margins.    

Think about that.  In only four of their seventeen losses was Fordham even close to winning.  

And even the defensive intensity that Pecora's Hofstra teams used to have is now gone.  He now goes with a four guard lineup, yet laments that "You can't let them beat you up on the offensive glass".  The Rams are DEAD LAST in the A-10 in scoring defense, allowing seventy nine points per game.  They are also dead last in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot forty six percent from the field.  The Rams also allow teams to score fifty two percent of their two point field goal attempts.

I think this last quote about Pecora when there is a question about his team's effort sums it up best  

"Oh, without a doubt, and I think that's been an issue for us throughout the season. There's been two major issues in my mind: One is getting that kind of team effort for 40 minutes consistently..." 

That comes down to one person and one person only.  The coach.

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!

Doubleheader Day in New Rochelle (Recap of Loyola-Md vs. Iona)

The Hynes Center hosted a doubleheader on Sunday.  The women's game was first at 1:00 PM, followed by the men's game at 3:30 PM.  Both conference games were important.   The women's game between Manhattan and Iona was for third place in the conference and to stay above a .500 conference record.  The men's game was for sole possession of first place in the MAAC.

Yesterday, I brought both of my kids with me to the doubleheader since my wife works on Sundays.  Matthew, my older son, loves basketball.  He was excited about the prospect of watching two games.  Jonathan on the other hand did not fare as well.  The women's game he was fine.  But since the gym was so warm yesterday, he needed some hugs in the second game.  Towards the end, he fell asleep on the seat.

In the women's game, Iona rallied from a first half 22-11 deficit and held on to defeat Manhattan 65-60.  It was the Gaels fourth win in their last five games and gave them a 4-2 record in conference.  What makes that even more impressive is that Iona has done all this without their best player, all conference forward Kristina Ford, who has been out with a knee injury.  It's just another example that All of Us is greater than Each of Us.

In the second game, you had two men's teams whose last game involved major second half comebacks.  In Iona's case, they were outscored by twenty points in the last seven minutes and forty eight seconds of their loss to Manhattan on Thursday night.  Meanwhile, Loyola-Maryland rallied from fifteen points back and defeated Fairfield on Friday night.  Having been in attendance for both of those games, I was wondering what these two teams would do for an encore.

The start of the game saw one team building on it's momentum from their win Friday night, Loyola, while the other team was hungover from their stunning loss on Thursday, Iona.  The Greyhounds came out with a lot of confidence and stormed off to a 22-15 lead as they hit five shots from beyond the arc.  Robert Olson, the subject of a lot of Coach Jimmy Patsos' tongue lashings on Friday night, hit two of those five three pointers.

Momo Jones would get Iona back in the game.  He scored seven straight points and nine of the Gaels' eleven points in a 11-1 run as Iona would go out in front 26-23 with nine minutes left in the half.  Jones stepped up in a big way since Michael Glover and Scott Machado each had two fouls in the first half.

Loyola responded with a half ending 13-5 spurt.  Justin Drummond and J'hared Hall combined for nine of those thirteen points. Loyola would go into halftime leading 36-31.  Patsos left with a smile on his face at the end of the half, seemingly pleased with his team's first half performance.

Scott Machado has received a lot of national press for his amazing assists totals and rightfully so.  But the player that makes Iona successful is Michael Glover.  He averaged a double double last season and though he is not averaging a double double this season (averaging 19 points and 8.6 rebounds per game), his field goal percentage is up to sixty seven percent this season. His free throw percentage is also up to seventy percent this season.    When the offense runs through Glover, the Gaels are almost unstoppable.

While he was in foul trouble for a good part of the half, Glover only had four points.  It was clear in the second half what Iona needed to do in the second half.; feed the beast.

Quickly, Glover hit two dunks on assists by Machado and Kyle Smyth.  Loyola though maintained a five point lead, 46-41 as Olson continued to impress with his scoring ability, hitting a layup and a jumper.  But then Iona went on a 9-0 mini spurt as Jones, Machado and Glover combined for all the points to put the Gaels up 50-46 with a little over twelve minutes left.  Loyola came back with four straight points and the game was tied at fifty with about ten minutes left.

Then Glover took over.  He proceeded to score eight of Iona's next fifteen points over a span of four minutes.  The Gaels jumped out to 65-55 lead with six minutes left.  Iona finally seemed to have energy as Machado was piling up the assists and Jones was playing attack point guard for a good part of the game.

The ten point Gaels' lead would have been larger had not Olson scored all five points for Loyola in that span.  Olson was not done yet as he buried two three pointers over the next thirty plus seconds to cut the deficit to six, 69-63 with three and a half minutes left.

But Olson would foul out with a little less than three minutes left and Loyola had no one to pick up the scoring after he went to the bench.  Iona's big three; Glover, Jones and Machado would score the final five points of the game and the Gaels won 74-63.  With the win, Iona had sole possession of first place in the MAAC.

As we left the Hynes Center, I had to wake up Jonathan and carry him out to our car in the parking garage.  On our way home, Matthew fell asleep in the car.  It was a long day for a six year old and a four year old.  But they got to see the home team win twice.

It's Never Over Till It's Over Part Deux (Recap of Loyola vs. Fairfield)

A few days ago I was looking at the empty Friday the 13th on my calendar.  I said to myself there has to be a Division I game that I can attend that evening. Then I looked at ESPN's entire college basketball schedule for January 13th and noticed they had originally listed two ESPNU games for 7:00 P.M.; Cleveland State vs. Butler and Loyola Md vs. Fairfield.

I knew that had to be a misprint.  I figured since the Niagara-Iona game was the 9:00 P.M. game, it was probably the MAAC game that was the late game.  But I got caught up in work, home life and miraculous comebacks and forgot about checking the Fairfield game.   Then late yesterday morning at work, I decided to check again and sure enough, the Loyola vs. Fairfield game was the 9:00 P.M. game.  And I verified this by going to the Fairfield athletics site.

On a hunch, I called my dear friend Tony, aka Tieff, to see if he was available.  And I knew what would seal the deal. Dinner at Frank Pepe's in Fairfield, only a few minutes from Webster Bank Arena.  Tieff was all for it. I called my wife at home and told her of  the tentative plans.   The deal was that I had to bring back a pizza for her.  Done.  My older son was aboard for the game as well, since he has seriously caught college basketball fever.  And the only prescription is not more cowbell, but live college basketball.   I picked up Matthew from home and then Tieff from his house.  Then it was on our way to Fairfield.

I first learned about Frank Pepe's from my good friend Bob, who is the equipment manager at C.W. Post and also works Hofstra games.  He came about Pepe's years ago in his travels from Post and Iona games.  He immediately made two Pepe's disciples out of Tieff and Me.  Pepe's has been making wood oven pizza since 1925.  There is the original one in New Haven near Yale University and six other locations, including the one in Fairfield.

We surprisingly made good time on I-95 and made it to Frank Pepe's around 7:20 PM.  There was a line of course for tables, but it went very quickly.  Matthew, Tieff and I had a corner table.  The waitress came by and we ordered one small cheese pie for Matthew, one large oven roasted chicken, bacon and mozzarella for us, and two pies to take home;  one large mushroom for the Mrs. and one garlic pie for Tieff's wife.

To describe Pepe's pizza, well it's just plain delicious.  The bacon in a wood fire pizza is just downright perfect.  As you can see, the large pie is huge.  Matthew wasn't very hungry, or so he said, and had one piece of his pizza (later he had his standard pretzel at the game0.  When we were done, we had four boxes we were taking out.  Then it was on our way to Webster Arena.

It was a very cold night in the tri state area, with wind gusts around forty miles per hour.  Earlier in the day, a wind gust blew down a giant billboard on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway causing massive delays in the area.  Thankfully, our worst wind issue was standing outside on line for tickets for the game.  It didn't take long to get tickets and that should have been an indicator to me of the crowd for the game.

Fairfield has for some time now decided to play many of its home games at Webster Bank Arena at the Bridgeport Harbor Yard.   It was a strange decision because it is not near the campus of Fairfield and to be honest, the Stags don't draw enough to fill even half of the arena.  Let me put it to you this way. I was able to get three third row center court seats right before game time. There were no students in the student section under the basket and the size of the arena overwhelmed the two thousand fans in attendance.

This wasn't my first game at Webster Arena.  I was here with Tieff a couple of years ago for a Bracketbuster game between Fairfield and Hofstra.   One thing stood out to me the last time I was here; that god awful curtain that Ray Curren mentioned in his recent Eight Hundred Games Played article about Fairfield.   It's a reminder that some programs should just stick with their on campus gym instead of playing in a hockey arena.  Every time a basket was made by Fairfield, you heard what amounted to a polite clap at a golf tournament.

It was disappointing to see only a couple of thousand people for a game that actually meant a lot.  With a win over Fairfield,  Loyola would be tied with Iona for first place in the MAAC. And the Greyhounds play the Gaels on Sunday.  Meanwhile, a win by the Stags would create a three way tie for second place.

Jimmy Patsos certainly knew how important the game was to the Greyhounds.  The head coach of Loyola is one of the most animated coaches I have ever seen (and I've seen Bruiser Flint many times and twenty minutes of Ron Hunter).  The best way to describe him is that he always seems anguished, maybe even tortured.  Also, he has no qualms in yelling at his players or taking them out on a moment's notice after a bad play.

This trait showed immediately after tipoff.  With the Greyhounds on offense, point guard Dylan Cormier expected Robert Olson to be in certain place and passed the ball.  Olson went the other way and the ball went out of bounds.   Patsos wasted no time benching Olson and giving him quite a tongue lashing.   It seemed like for much of the game when a player did something he didn't like, Patsos immediately took the player out of the game. Olson was the recipient of multiple tongue lashings on the night

As for the start of the game, both teams played sloppily.  When the Stags tried to put up a shot, Shane Walker, a 6 foot 10 forward from England swatted them away.  The teams struggled to score.  Patsos kept shuttling players in and out, desperate for a combination that worked.  The Stags led for the first eight plus minutes until a three by T.J. Williams gave the Greyhounds their first lead at 14-12 with about eleven minutes left.

The rest of the half the teams traded the lead back and forth.  Finally, one of the teams made a run.  Fairfield scored ten of the last twelve points in the first half.  Keith Matthews had six of those point and the Stags entered the locker room up 35-29 at halftime.

Fairfield picked up right where they left off at the start of the second half.   The Stags outscored the Greyhounds 10-1 in the first three plus minutes.  The score was 45-30 Fairfield and Loyola needed to find a way to get back in the game.

Patsos seemed to be on the verge of a meltdown as he tried to get his team to do the little things to get back in the game.  At one point he yelled "GRAB THE BALL" several times after his team couldn't corral a loose ball.  During a timeout, he repeatedly screamed "TAKE A CHARGE" while his players were on the bench.  Later on there was one point where he yelled at everyone on his team, the team managers, the Greyhounds' fans in the first row, anyone within range.  He was trying to get his team and fans riled up.  

It worked.  Little by little, Loyola chipped away at Fairfield's lead.  Erik Etherly started getting layups inside.  Patsos' whipping boy, Olson, started drilling jumpers from the outside.  Loyola cut the lead to three, 50-47 with eight and half minutes left.  But Fairfield responded by scoring eight of the next ten points and pulled back out to a 58-49 lead with a little less than six minutes left.

By now, the fans were now fully into the game.  Both teams' faithful had something in common, a complete dislike for the officiating on the night.  I can honestly say that the officials were consistent...consistently bad for both teams.  Where I was sitting, there was a mix of Loyola and Fairfield fans, going back and forth with each other on foul calls.

Meanwhile, the Greyhounds refused to go away.  Again Etherly and Justin Drummond's inside work resulted in points.  Then with the Stags up seven, 62-55 with two minutes left, Olson took over.  He scored the next seven points on jumpers, the last being a three point jumper.  The Greyhounds had tied the game at sixty two with 1:20 left.  The Loyola fans were ecstatic.  The Fairfield fans furious at the referees.  

The officials would play a major part down the stretch.  Fairfield's Desmond Wade was fouled and he hit one of two free throws to put Fairfield up one, 63-62.  But in the next possession, Cormier got fouled. He hit his two free throws to put Loyola up one, 64-63 with exactly one minute left.  

Fairfield had two chances at a basket on their next possession, but Walker grabbed a rebound and was fouled.  He made one of two free throws and the Greyhounds were up 65-63 with twenty six seconds left.  Again, Fairfield had an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but Rakim Sanders missed a shot.  Again Loyola got the rebound and was fouled.  Anthony Winbush made one of two free throws, the second of which it almost seemed like he purposely missed.   The Stags had one last chance to tie, but Sean Crawford's three pointer missed.  The Greyhounds won 66-63.

For the second night in a row, I witnessed a team comeback from a substantial double digit deficit in the second half in a MAAC Conference game.  Loyola had rallied from fifteen points down to win the contest.  The Greyhounds were now tied with Iona for first place in the MAAC.  Sunday's game at the Hynes Center is now for sole possession of first place in the MAAC.

No one was happier with the result than Patsos.  After the teams shook hands, the Greyhounds came back to their side of the court.  Patsos turned to the Loyola fans and started pumping his fist repeatedly.  Then he reached up and pulled his green tie off and threw it towards the direction of the Loyola fans, but it didn't make it that far. He picked it up and proceeded to go to the first row of fans and tied it around a Greyhounds' fan's neck and then gave the fan a hug.

I had never seen a coach show such emotion at the end of a regular season game.  Patsos with all his yelling, screaming and cajoling had somehow willed his players to not only comeback but win the game as well.  He may be absolutely nuts, but he's incredibly fun to watch.  And Patsos got a huge win last night.  He deserved to celebrate with the fans. Too bad it wasn't in a smaller, more appropriate venue.

I have a suggestion for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference - Make your slogan "In the MAAC, It's Never Over Till It's Over".  The last two nights have truly shown me that.