Machado's Rare Feat Gives Iona A Needed Win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unless you were a Loyola Maryland fan. 

Cheesesteaks, Bungee Jumpers and Basketball (Recap of Hofstra vs. Drexel)

Life is like a group of weather forecasters.  You never know what you're going to get and apparently neither do they.  Based on the forecasts that I heard on Friday, travel to Philadelphia for yesterday's Hofstra- Drexel game was going to be hazardous with snow and rain. I even warned my son Matthew that he was likely to stay home with his mom and little brother due to the weather reports.

But I should have known better.  When I woke up yesterday morning and looked outside, there was barely any snow on the ground and the snow/rain was basically going to end in a couple of hours.  My friend Joe Suhoski, otherwise known as @VaBeachRep on Twitter, was going to be at the game, since he was covering it for CAAZone.  He noted that the precipitation had basically ended by him as he was making the trip up from Baltimore.  

So, Matthew and I picked up our third member of the trip trifecta, Tieff, and headed down to Philly.  The roads were a little wet, but nowhere near the conditions the "weather forecasters" had predicted.  Our plan was to get to Philly by 1:00 PM, meet up with Joe for lunch to talk basketball, then head to the game at Drexel.

I had a revelation while we were crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge. "Why haven't I gone to more mid major basketball games in Philly?"   It's only two hours away from where I live on Long Island.  All the games I could have seen at the Palestra or on the campuses of St Joe's, Temple and Penn.  Hell, all the games I could have seen at the DAC, otherwise known as the Daskalaskis Athletic Center (more than just Hofstra games).  Note taken, note received.

We got to Philly by 1:00 PM and parked right outside, Slainte, a restaurant that Tieff, our friend Mal and I went to last year when we were at the last Hofstra vs. Drexel basketball game in Philly.  Joe was waiting for us at the bar and we ended up getting a table/booth by the window.  Once side had a nice cushy couch/booth, the other side had tables.  Matthew and Tieff wanted the comfy chair, while Joe and I were fine sitting at regular chairs.


I already knew the Sliante menu, which is online, so I already knew my choice; philly cheesesteak with cheese whiz and a side caesar salad.  Tieff had his cheesesteak with provolone instead.  Joe had a chicken salad and my son had his standard plate of french fries.  We basically talked CAA hoops the rest of the time.  Joe, Tieff and I went over a lot of recent Colonial Athletic Association basketball history in that ninety minutes.  Matthew soaked it all in.

After a delicious lunch, Joe walked over to the DAC since his car was already parked there.  We drove and found a spot on the street across from the DAC and paid for three hours of time at the kiosk.  Then we took a short walk on a brisk day to the gym entrance.   We sat behind the Hofstra bench, which turned out to be close  to the Drexel Pep Band.  The pep band started out with "We Want the Funk" and it was a very good rendition. They were sharp all day.

Last season, I sat mid court at the DAC as the Pride knocked off the Dragons in the second conference game of the season for both teams.  At that time, you didn't know how good either team was at the time.  Both teams would finish in the top half of the CAA; Hofstra finished third, while Drexel finished fifth.

This season is a lot different.   Drexel came into the game tied for first with George Mason and VCU.  The Dragons have the tiebreaker on both teams, having defeated the Patriots and the Rams at the DAC (and they don't play either team again in the regular season).  Meanwhile, Hofstra has struggled with only two conference wins and came into the game tied for tenth in the CAA with William and Mary.

The game started out as a microcosm of the season.  Hofstra struggled to score from the field as Drexel's defense forced the Pride to use most of the shot clock on their possessions then have to settle for contested shots.  The Dragons jumped out to a 16-6 lead.  

But despite their record, Hofstra has played hard all season and have not quit in any of their games.  The Pride responded with a 15-7 run and cut the deficit to the two, 23-21.   But Drexel would score nine of the last twelve points in the half and entered halftime with a 32-24 lead.

Then came the surprise of the day. It wasn't the surprise appearance by DefiantlyDutch and his better half, who originally weren't coming to Philly but yet, there they were sitting right next to us.   The surprise was a group of young kids, known as the Bucks County Bungee Jumpers, a jump rope team that came out as the halftime show.  Many of us didn't know what to expect.  But what we got was stunning.  These kids were incredibly talented as they showed off their various jump rope skills.

The crowd, especially the Drexel student section, got louder and louder with their applause after each trick the team performed.  The Drexel Dragon mascot was in disbelief of how good these kids were.  The best trick was the group jumping rope while on pogo sticks.  Yes, jumping rope while on pogo sticks.

It was simply the best halftime show I had ever seen at a college basketball game.  They have a video on Youtube, which doesn't even do them justice. You can find them at this site.  Note to all the colleges in the Philadelphia metro area - You want these kids performing at halftime of your athletic events. They are awesome.


After they finished their show, the Bungee Jumpers were given a well deserved standing ovation from the crowd at the DAC.  I didn't think anything could top that halftime show.  But two players, Chris Fouch of Drexel and Nathaniel Lester of Hofstra, did their best to put on their own memorable second half performances.

The Pride came out with a quick 8-2 spurt, to cut the lead to two, 34-32.  Lester was responsible for most of those points as he would for the rest of the second half.  He would score ten of Hofstra's first sixteen points in the second half.   But unfortunately for Lester and the Pride, a familiar thorn in their side, Fouch, would be equal to the task.

Earlier at lunch, the topic of Drexel came up and I talked with Joe about how Fouch had not been a real factor for the Dragons this season.  Until yesterday, that had been the case.  Fouch, who was the leading scorer for the Dragons last season, is fourth on the team in scoring this season coming into yesterday's game averaging 8.9 points per game, which is down six points from last season.  With the emergence of freshman Damion Lee, he is averaging seven less minutes per game than last season.

But Fouch has had a history of torching the Pride. Coming into the game yesterday, Fouch had averaged nearly sixteen points per game vs. Hofstra with eleven career three pointers. When he was a freshman, he burned the Pride for twenty nine points on six shots from beyond the arc, in a 75-62 win over Hofstra on January 23, 2010.

Fouch decided to channel that performance from two years ago in the second half and make me eat my lunchtime words.  He would score twenty of his twenty five points in the last twenty minutes of the game.  Fouch was six of seven from beyond the arc on the game.  He was a big part of Drexel's 10-0 run that made a two point game into a 44-32 lead.  Fouch also scored his 1000th career point in the second half and as fellow Hofstra fan Lee Warner put it, seemingly 936 of those points came against the Pride.

Drexel extended the lead even further to nineteen, 61-42.  But again, Hofstra refused to quit. Behind Lester and Mike Moore, who had eighteen points, the Pride went on a 10-0 run.  Lester probably had the best second half of his career.  He scored twenty two second half points. twenty seven overall and he had seven offensive rebounds on the game.  The Pride had cut the lead down to eight, 67-59.

But Hofstra could get not get any closer.   Drexel would win 78-67.   The Dragons were truly fire breathing from the field as they shot nearly sixty percent in the game, including a blistering ten of seventeen from beyond the arc.  Frantz Massenat had twenty points, while Lee had fifteen.  That was the difference in the game; Drexel had three double digit scorers that combined for sixty points.  Hofstra had Moore and Lester who combined for forty five points, but were the only two double digit scorers on their team.

Since we had a two hour ride back to Long Island, we said our goodbyes to DefiantlyDutch and Joe and made our way back to the car. Sure enough, as we walked on Market Street, it was lightly raining. The rain turned to wet snow as we traveled across the Ben Franklin Bridge.  While we drove the entire way up the New Jersey Turnpike, it was coming down at a pretty good clip and made the drive a little more adventurous.  But the weather meteorlogists on WCBS AM and WINS AM seemingly had no clues of this.  They only talked about possible flurries in the area.

Just another surprise in a day full of surprises.

Wolfie Celebrates His Birthday With a Win (Recap of UMBC vs. Stony Brook)

Seventeen years ago, Wolfie made his debut as the mascot of the Stony Brook Seawolves. Seventeen years ago, Stony Brook wasn't even a Division I basketball team at the time.  The Seawolves weren't Division I until 1999 and didn't join the America East until 2001.  But here we were on a Thursday night, seventeen years later celebrating Wolfie's birthday and also celebrating the fact that Stony Brook was leading the America East heading into their game against UMBC.

The night started with Matthew and I barely getting to the game on time due to having to drop off my younger son at my in-laws, since my wife was coming back from a work meeting in New Jersey.  But before we could get into Pritchard Gymnasium, Matthew had to have his pregame ritual; a pretzel and a bottle of water.

When we got to our seats, it wasn't long before there was a timeout on the court.  The Stony Brook cheerleaders then rolled out a red carpet for several guest mascots and then for the guest of honor, Wolfie Seawolf.   Matthew and I only recognized one mascot, QuackerJack, the intrepid mascot of the Long Island Ducks Atlantic League baseball team.   They might be now the best professional baseball team on Long Island, since that major league team in Queens is seemingly getting worse by the minute.

In their first matchup of the season, the Seawolves traveled down to Maryland and drubbed the Retrievers by forty points, 89-49.   So you would think that Matthew and I would see a similar result last night.  Well, that's why they play the game.

In the first half, UMBC shot the lights out, hitting on fifty nine percent of their shots (sixteen of twenty seven).  However the Retrievers only led by one at the half, because the Seawolves had six three pointers in the first twenty minutes to keep the game close.  Considering UMBC came into the game with a record of 3-20, I kept saying to Matthew, this might be the best the Retrievers have shot from the field in a half for the entire season.

At halftime, everyone was invited to the concourse to have cupcakes in celebration of Wolfie's birthday.  However, Matthew and I chose to stay in the gym and watch the halftime CYO game.   Matthew had also brought with him my younger son's Wolfie Seawolf doll to the game.  I have to admit, the doll's facial features make it more imposing than the real life Wolfie.

The start of the second half saw Stony Brook briefly take the lead on a layup by Bryan Dougher.  But Ryan Cook and Chase Plummer responded with two three pointers to put UMBC back up by five, 41-36.  Seawolves' coach Steve Pikiell immediately called up timeout.  The fans near me couldn't believe how well the Retrievers were shooting on the night.

But Stony Brook would respond with a run and it was due in large part to their heart and soul; junior forward Tommy Brenton.  Brenton sat out most of the first half with two fouls and if you have seen enough Seawolves' games this season like I have, you know that he gives his team so much energy.

Over the course of eight minutes, Stony Brook would outscore UMBC 19-6.  During that run, Brenton played a major part.  He had five assists, three rebounds and a layup.  He also drew a pivotal fourth offensive foul on Plummer, the Retrievers' leading scorer, which sent Plummer to the bench.  With eight minutes left, the Seawolves were up eight.

During a media timeout, they had a Price is Right game with several Stony Brook students.  The question was "Tommy Brenton has the all time Stony Brook record for rebounds in a game.  How many rebounds did he have?"   The answer was seventeen.  It was very appropriate that the question was based on Brenton.

Much to their credit, UMBC refused to quit.  They kept the game within single digits and after a Brian Neller three pointer, the Retrievers were only down four, 64-60 with just less than three minutes left.  UMBC certainly did not look like a 3-20 team last night.

But eventually Stony Brook wore them down.  The Seawolves would outscore the Retrievers 16-8 the rest of the way.  At the end of the game, it was only fitting that Brenton again was involved.  He grabbed his sixth rebound of the game with six seconds left.  After he had grabbed the ball away from UMBC's Chandler Thomas, Thomas took offense and pulled away his arm.  Thomas drew a technical foul and Dougher hit two free throws for the final score of 80-68.

For UMBC, Plummer led all scorers with eighteen points.  Neller had eleven points and Ryan Cook added ten points.  The Retrievers played hard all night and they seemed a lot better than a 3-20 team.  They were certainly better than four teams that I had personally seen this season, two of whom UMBC beat; Binghamton and Towson (the other two teams are FDU and Colgate).  If they keep playing like this, I could see the Retrievers surprising some team in the America East tournament if that team isn't ready for them.

For Stony Brook, Anthony Jackson was the leading scorer with seventeen points for Stony Brook.  Dougher added sixteen, while Marcus Rouse and Dallas Joyner had fourteen points each.  Brenton only had three points on the night, but he had seven assists, six rebounds and a lasting impression on my six year old son.  Brenton is one of Matthew's favorite players.

As for Wolfie, he got lots of presents and adulation from his fans and his fellow mascot friends.  And of course, Wolfie led the way during the "Cotton Eye Joe" kids' dance.   Happy Birthday, Wolfie!

Hopefully Wolfie enjoyed the birthday present from his Seawolves;  their eighth straight win overall and their thirteenth straight home win.   Stony Brook is now 17-7 overall and 12-1 in the America East.   Too bad ESPN doesn't know how good the Seawolves are, since they were shunned from a televised BracketBuster game.

Hopefully soon enough, everyone will know how good the Seawolves really are.

The Colossal Colonial Ratings (CCR) for the Week of February 6th

With three weeks and five games left in the CAA regular season, there is now a clear line of delineation between the top four teams in the Colonial and the rest of the teams that will likely be battling out on Pillow Fight Friday, as @VCUPav puts it.  Two games separate fourth place Old Dominion from fifth place Georgia State.  So with that in mind, lets go "Down on the Corner" to get this CCR started.

1. Drexel (19-5, 11-2 CAA) - There is a three way tie in the CAA standings but the Dragons have the tiebreaker having beat VCU and George Mason (they also don't play either team again this season).  Drexel's also seems to have the easiest remaining schedule; at James Madison, home to Hofstra and William and Mary, BracketBuster game at Cleveland State, home to James Madison and at ODU.
   
   The Dragons, the hottest team in the CAA with eleven straight wins, are there usual defensive selves; first in scoring defense, third in field goal percentage defense, first in three point field goal percentage defense with a scary 25.9% three pointers allowed and of course, first in rebounding margin.  But what has made Drexel so effective this season is their offense is so much better than last season.  They are second in field goal percentage, first in three point field goal  percentage, third in assist to turnover ratio and still first in free throw percentage at 73.7 percent.  
2. VCU (20-5, 11-2 CAA) - The Rams are the second hottest team in the CAA, winners of nine straight and are tied with the Dragons and the Patriots for first place.  However, their remaining schedule is the toughest of the three teams; home to Towson, then at ODU and George Mason, home BracketBuster game vs. Northern Iowa, at UNCW, then home to George Mason to finish the season.
   
   The Rams commitment to forcing teams to turn the ball over has been what's most impressive to me.  In the two games I saw them play vs. Hofstra and Delaware they won the turnover battle in both games by a combined +12 margin (31-19).  Not surprisingly, the Rams are first in the CAA in turnover margin at +5.44 per game.  They are also first in assist to turnover ratio.
3. George Mason (19-6, 11-2 CAA) - The Patriots fell into a tie for first place after losing at Delaware, but they bounced back at home to knock ODU out of a four way tie for first.  Their schedule is not the easiest as well; home to Hofstra, at UNCW, home to VCU, home BracketBuster game vs. Lamar, then at Northeastern and at VCU to finish the regular season.
   
   George Mason has been equally as balanced as Drexel.  They are first in field goal percentage at 45.4% per game while second in field goal percentage defense at 38.6 percent.   But to me, here is the most impressive stat.  They lead the CAA in scoring at 70.7 points per game despite being tenth in three point field goals made per game with 4.6 per game. The Patriots are averaging over fifty percent on their two point field goals.
4. Old Dominion (15-10, 10-3 CAA) -  Despite the road loss to the Patriots, the Monarchs have won eight of their last ten games.  The rest of their schedule is not exactly easy; away at William and Mary, home vs. VCU, home to UNCW, road BracketBuster game vs. Missouri State, road game at Georgia State, home to Drexel.  The game against the Panthers  may very well have a #4 seed on the line.
   
   The Monarchs are second in the CAA assists and third in steals. So it's not surprising they they are third in turnover margin in the Colonial.  Those categories make up for the fact they are tenth in field goal percentage and allow them to be fifth in scoring margin in the CAA.
5. Georgia State (16-8, 8-5 CAA) - If there is any team that has a shot of breaking into the top four of the CAA, it would be the Panthers. Their remaining schedule favors them; home to Northeastern and Delaware; away at James Madison, home BracketBuster game vs Texas San Antonio, home vs. ODU and away at William and Mary.  As previously noted, that home game against the Monarchs may be huge.
   
   The Panthers were impressive in their win this past Saturday vs. Hofstra.  Georgia State, behind Eric Buckner's league leading 3.3 blocks per game, leads the CAA in blocks per game.  The Panthers also lead the CAA in field goal percentage defense, second in steals, second in turnover margin and assist to turnover ratio.  
6. Northeastern (11-12, 7-6 CAA) -  The Huskies were right in the thick of things until losing their last two games against two of the top tier teams, Drexel and VCU.  Their schedule makes it unlikely for them to finish any better than fifth; road games at Georgia State and William and Mary, home to Towson, then BracketBuster home game vs. Stony Brook, home to George Mason, then at Delaware.
   
   What also doesn't bode well for the Huskies is that statistically they are in the lower half of the CAA in most categories.  They are fifth in the CAA in field goal percentage, third in three point field goal percentage, yet the Huskies are tenth in scoring offense at 61.3 points per game.  Perhaps it's because Northeastern averages the second most turnovers in the CAA next to Towson (15.5 per game). 
7. Delaware (11-12, 7-6 CAA) - The Blue Hens have righted themselves, winning their last two games including a home win over then first place George Mason.  Delaware's schedule also favors them for a late season run; home to UNCW, then road games at George Mason and Hofstra; BracketBuster home game vs. Hampton, then a road game at Towson and home game vs. Northeastern.
   
   The Blue Hens are statistically strong in several CAA categories; third in scoring offense, fourth in free throw percentage, fourth in field goal percentage defense, third in blocked shots.  Unfortunately, they struggle in assists and creating turnovers.  They are dead last in assists and steals, tenth in turnover margin and eleventh in assist to turnover ratio. 
8. UNCW (9-14, 5-8 CAA) - The Seahawks ended a four game losing streak by defeating William and Mary at home.  Hopefully the win will give them confidence with a tough remaining schedule; road game at Delaware, home game vs. George Mason, road game at Old Dominion, then BracketBuster road game at Manhattan, home game vs. VCU and road game at Hofstra.
   
   UNCW is fourth in the CAA in field goal percentage at 42.5%, fifth in three point field goal percentage at 33.3% and third in three point field goal percentage defense. The problem is they are only eighth in field goal percentage defense as they allow teams to score fifty percent of their two point field goal attempts.  
9. James Madison (10-15, 3-10 CAA) - The Dukes have lost six of their last seven games. However, there may be two wins on the horizon since they play the Tigers twice. Their remaining schedule is home to Drexel, at Towson, home to Georgia State, BracketBuster road game at Detroit, road game at Drexel, then home to Towson.
   
   It's the same old problem for James Madison; lack of defense. The Dukes are fourth in the CAA in scoring offense, first in assists and fourth in assists to turnover ratio and turnover margin.  Yet JMU is  eleventh in scoring defense, tenth in field goal percentage defense, eleventh in three point field goal percentage defense, eleventh in rebounding margin and eleventh in block shots.
10. Hofstra (8-17, 2-11 CAA) - The Pride couldn't keep the momentum after defeating Towson as they lost at home to Georgia State.  The first two games on their remaining schedule are the hardest; road games at George Mason and Drexel, home to Delaware, home BracketBuster game vs. Siena, at William and Mary, home to UNCW.
    
    The best indicator of how many close games Hofstra has lost is scoring margin, as the Pride are -1.1.  Hofstra is third in free throw percentage, fourth in steals, fifth in turnover margin and fifth in offensive rebounds.  Where they are struggling is next to last in three point field goals made at 4.3 per game, field goal percentage, ninth at 40.9 percent and ninth in field goal percentage defense at 43.9 percent.
11. William and Mary (4-21, 2-11 CAA) - The Tribe have lost eight games in a row.  However, they have a chance to improve their record as they have four of their five remaining conference games at home; home games vs. ODU and Northeastern, road game vs. Drexel, road BracketBuster game vs. VMI, home games vs. Hofstra and Georgia State.
    
    Statistically, it's been a very bad year for the Tribe.  They are ranked in the 300's in the nation in several categories, 321st in points per game - 59.6, 322nd in rebounds per game 30.4, 329th in assists per game - 10.0 and 312th in field goal percentage at 40 percent.  However, they can shoot their free throws as they are 2nd in the CAA at 72 percent and they are third in the CAA in three pointers per game at 6.7.
12. Towson (1-24, 1-12 CAA) - The Tigers ended their NCAA record winless streak when they defeated UNCW at home.   It will be tough for them to get another win since four of their remaining six games are on the road; at VCU, home to James Madison, at Northeastern, at New Hampshire, home to Delaware and at James Madison.
    
    As bad as it has been statistically for William and Mary, it's been worse for Towson; dead last in the NCAA in points per game, 49.8, next to last in assists per game at 8.0, second to last in field goal percentage at 36.8 percent.  They also average about 19 turnovers per game.  The bright side is they can rebound their misses.  They are second in the CAA in offensive rebound percentage and 28th in the country in that category.

Six Degrees of Hofstra Separation - Part 3 - Cluess' Gaels Gain Revenge on the Jaspers

After watching Hofstra suffer another tough loss at the hands of Georgia State, Matthew and I bid adieu to Tieff, who couldn't make our last part of the Hofstra influenced tripleheader.  My six year old color analyst and I raced up north to the Bronx.  Our destination was Manhattan College, who were hosting Iona in a big MAAC conference game on Saturday night.

I have been to several games on the campus of the Jaspers.  Very simply put, you need to get there early, otherwise you will be taking a significant hike from your car to Draddy Gymnasium.  Sure enough, the small parking lot for Draddy was already full.  There was a sign in front of the entrance that said "No parking".  This game was the hottest mid major ticket in New York.  Tickets to the game were actually going on Stubhub for about $100.

Think about that for a second.  Iona vs. Manhattan going for scalper prices that you would only see in this area for St John's teams in their prime.  Needless to say, I was glad I had tickets waiting for me at Will Call.

But to get to those tickets meant parking several blocks down on Tibbett Street.  Matthew and I made the long walk to Draddy Gym to the Will Call for our tickets.  As we got close to the street entrance for the gym, we passed the Marist Red Foxes bus.  

It turns out that this was a doubleheader, with a women's game between then undefeated in conference Marist and Manhattan.  I asked one of the Marist players how they did and in a matter of fact but demoralized way she said they lost.  Marist now had one loss in conference and the Manhattan fans must have been giddy about the fact they could knock off another first place team on Saturday night.

Once we got our tickets right at game time, we found that the choice of seating was limited since many people were there early for the women's game.  Also, Draddy's bleacher seat configuration is quite, well, bizarre.  First, only half the gym is used for basketball.  When you walk in for a basketball game, it's a large open concourse. That's because the gym is also used for indoor track.

As for the basketball court itself, a section of the bleachers behind the Manhattan basket is offset from the court.  So if you are sitting low in this section, your view is that of the corner of the Jaspers bench.  You need to sit high in this section to get the whole view of the court.  If I were overseeing facilities at Manhattan, I would push back the season ticket section bleachers thirty feet and give it a better squared off view.

Unfortunately for Matthew and me, the only seats available were in the second row of this offset section.  Thus the pictures you see of the game are from our end of the basket.  Luckily for Matthew, there was a large projection screen that hung high above the one section of general admission seating opposite the team benches.  That was showing the game action and Matthew and I could follow along there when we needed it.

Like other school gyms, Draddy Gymnasium is quite warm with no AC.  If you are a single guy in college, you take appreciation in the fact that this means the female students in attendance prepare for this by wearing tanktops and t-shirts.  This was little comfort to a married man wearing a hoodie sweatshirt and his equally warm six year old son.  Throw in the fact that people often were standing in front of you blocking the view, and the result was a slightly dampened experience as a whole.

Still seeing a loud, full house of green clad students and other Manhattan fans made this a great atmosphere. A good number of Iona fans also made the trip and I happened to be sitting with a number of them.  It was quite possibly the biggest regular season college basketball game in New York City this season

You had two teams tied for first place in the MAAC, Iona and Manhattan, squaring off in a rematch of their first game, won on a buzzer beater by the Jaspers.  I was at that game in New Rochelle, where Manhattan rallied from a seventeen point deficit with eight minutes left, winning on a three point shot and stun the Iona home crowd..

So for some of you, you are probably wondering where the Hofstra Six Degrees of Separation comes to play in this game.  It's very simple.  Iona Head Coach Tim Cluess is an alum of Hofstra.  Cluess went to Hofstra after transferring from St John's and got his degree.

After a very successful career as a high school coach at St Mary's on Long Island, he later became the head of coach of Division II C.W. Post, where he took the Pioneers to the Elite Eight.  And yes, someone made a very strong case that Cluess should be the head coach of Hofstra before Tim Welsh was hired and eventually Mo Cassara became head coach.  Ultimately, Cassara becoming head coach turned out to be a very good move for Hofstra.

Likewise, the move by Iona to hire Cluess turned out just as well.  In his first season, Iona was 25-12. They lost in the MAAC Tournament finals to St. Peter's and made it to the championship game of the CIT.  This season, entering last night, the Gaels were tied for first in the MAAC with the Jaspers and the Greyhounds of Loyola Maryland with a 10-2 record.  Entering the game, Iona's overall record of 18-5 has given it serious consideration for an at large bid and they have a televised home BracketBuster game vs. Nevada.

The game got off to a roaring start for the home Jaspers as they quickly went out to a 5-2 lead on a three pointer by George Beamon.  The Gaels scored the next six points to take an 8-5 lead. From there both teams would exchange the leads and the game was very close for most of the first half.  Manhattan did most of their damage on the outside, while the Iona's Scott Machado really focused on getting the ball to Michael Glover or Lamont Jones driving in for layups.  The Gaels would score twenty four points in the first half in the paint and Machado was his usual self with six assists.

Iona would go on a 9-3 spurt to end the half up 44-38.   Manhattan hit six three pointers in the first half with  Beamon hitting three of those as he had seventeen first half points. But the Gaels countered by hitting ten of twelve free throws.  It looked to be another barn burner with the two teams.

However, Iona came out and scored the first seven points of the second half to make the score 51-38.  But Manhattan responded with an 8-0 spurt  to cut the lead to five, 51-46 with exactly fifteen minutes left.  Draddy Gym was rocking now.

But once again, the Gaels responded.  They proceeded to go on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes.  Glover scored eight of those ten points as the Jaspers had no answer for him,.  Iona was up 62-46 with about twelve minutes left.

The lead actually swelled to eighteen and hovered around that for the next four minutes.   A Lamont Jones layup made the score 71-53.  Manhattan again was staring down the barrel of a large deficit with eight minutes left.

But just about everyone in the crowd knew that the Jaspers had rallied from seventeen points down with the same amount of time remaining at the Hynes Center to defeat the Gaels, so surely hope was not lost yet.  The Manhattan fans implored their team on for one more run.

However, this time the Jaspers couldn't make their shots.  Over the next four minutes, Manhattan missed eleven of the next fourteen shots.   The deficit was still eighteen as Iona was ahead 80-62 with three and half minutes left.  

The Jaspers did force a couple of turnovers and went on a 9-1 run to cut the lead to ten, 81-71.  But there was only a minute left and not enough time for Manhattan to pull off another comeback.  The Gaels would end up winning 85-73.  Iona was now one game ahead in the MAAC standings, tied with Loyola Maryland.

Glover, Jones, Machado and Sean Armand combined to score sixty nine of Iona's eighty one points.  Machado had nine assists, one off another double double.  Beamon led all scorers with twenty six points but no other Jasper scored in double figures.

Coach Tim Cluess had to be pleased with the big road victory.  There is still a long road ahead for him and his team.  There is the first place game vs. the Greyhounds on Loyola's home court on February 10, then the game against Nevada on national television, followed by the rest of the conference regular season with the MAAC Tournament as the cherry on top.   And oh yeah, if the Gaels get through all that unscathed, there's that little thing known as the NCAA Tournament.  

That's Cluess' ultimate goal.  It would be quite a feat in your second year of coaching Division I basketball.

Six Degrees of Hofstra Separation Part 2 - Pride Continue to Play Hard Despite the Results (Recap of Georgia State vs. Hofstra)

When the CAA Tournament is over and I look back on this Hofstra season, I will remember all the incredibly close games that ended in loss; the last second losses to Florida Atlantic, James Madison, Delaware, Northeastern, Drexel and George Mason. There were the large second half leads that evaporated vs. Boston University and Old Dominion.

The most frustrating thing to all this is that there weren't just losses.  You could perhaps accept this team's fate had there not been glimmers of hope. However, there was the potential this team showed in wins over LIU, Cleveland State and Iona, three teams that are currently in first place in their respective conferences.  At one time, Hofstra was 6-7 until they lost nine of their last eleven games.  That's what has made this team so mind numbing for its fans and probably for Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara as well.

On Friday night, ESPNU showed a graphic of Cleveland State's NCAA Tournament resume.  The good wins included a road win over Vanderbilt, a likely team in the NCAA Tournament.  The bad losses included their loss to Hofstra at the Legends' Classic in Rhode Island.  Having been one of the few fans in attendance for that game, including one of the few people to see former Pride player Bryant Crowder, nicknamed Bigfoot by DefiantlyDutch, actually play in a regular season game, I can tell you that it was a good win for Hofstra.

But when I do a retrospect on this team's season, I will also know that this team always played hard and never quit.  They even showed togetherness when they weren't on the court.  I was at a Hofstra women's basketball home game vs. James Madison a few weeks ago.  As I sat behind the Hofstra basket with my older son Matthew, I could see to the right of me, sitting in Section 110 the entire men's basketball team rooting on the women's team.

They were all in for this season and lately the results were starting to come together. They got their first conference win two weeks ago, rallying late on the road to defeat James Madison 71-69.  Then on Wednesday, they drubbed Towson 74-49.   Yesterday seemed like a golden opportunity to get their third win in conference against a Georgia State team that had struggled lately, losing four of its last six games.

After watching Fordham lose to Charlotte in our first game of our tripleheader on the day, Tieff. Matthew and I raced over to Hofstra.  Along the way, I dropped Tieff off at his car at a friend of mine's house where we had met before traveling to Fordham.  We then got to the Mack Center with time to spare before the start of the game.

It was Staff Appreciation Day at Hofstra.  Staff, faculty and administration could get up to four free tickets and vouchers for pretzels and drinks. It was also Mardi Gras Day at Hofstra as there was a big party with music for the students after the game.  Thus there was a good crowd of about 3800 people and the Lions' Den student section was in full force.

Since I have my season tickets already, I gave my two of my four extra free tickets to someone waiting on line, then grabbed four pretzels and three drinks from my free vouchers.  Needless to say, Matthew was happy with his bounty of pretzels.  Now we were ready to see how good this Georgia State team now was under with new coach Ron Hunter.

Overall on the season, the Panthers have been so much better with Coach Hunter at the helm.  Basically taking over the same team that went 12-19 last season, Hunter, one of the main supporters of Samaritan's Feet, already has Georgia State with fifteen wins on the season and 7-5 in the CAA, good for fifth in conference.  They are first in the Colonial in field goal percentage defense, second in scoring defense, first in blocked shots and second in steals and turnover margin.

Hunter has a take no prisoners kind of approach to coaching.  Watching him on the sidelines yesterday, I can tell you that he is demonstrative, demands excellence of his team at all moments.  He spent most of the game yelling at his team during the action and during timeouts.  He makes Bruiser Flint seem mellow in comparison.  My favorite Hunter moment this season was after a poor effort in a win over Towson, he tweeted " I love my basketball team, but tomorrow practice will be epic. Bring your lunch pail."

The Panthers are now a reflection of their coach.  As I watched the first few minutes unfold on the court, I was really impressed with Georgia State. They are very active on the defensive end with a matchup zone and they challenge shots frequently.  Within the first four and a half minutes, the Panthers had three blocks.  As a result, Hofstra struggled to get good shots off against Georgia State. The Panthers did a really good job focusing on Mike Moore, as he did not score his first two points of the game until late in the first half.

Meanwhile, Georgia State was getting good looks from the perimeter.  They would hit six of their nine three point attempts in the first half as Devonta While and Rashard Richardson each connected on three of their shots.  The Panthers would shoot forty seven percent from the field in the first half.

The Panthers went out to a 16-5 lead with nine minutes left in the first half.  As Georgia State was putting on such a dominating defensive performance, one of the fans in my section that I am friendly with said to me "What's the NCAA record for fewest points in a half?"   Fortunately, the Pride scored thirteen more points to avoid such a fate, but the Panthers scored another fifteen to take a 33-18 lead at the half.

While a New Orleans style brass band played terrific halftime music, I was perusing stats with Defiantly Dutch and our good friend, Joe Suhoski who was covering the game on press row.  Interestingly enough, Hofstra had more field goal attempts than Georgia State, 29-21 due in large part to nine offensive rebounds.  But the Pride were an awful one of twelve from beyond the arc.

The start of the second half saw the Panthers maintain their large lead as they were up sixteen, 43-27.  But Hofstra was starting to solve Georgia State's defense, while they forced turnovers due to a trap they implemented at the beginning of the second half.   They would outscore the Panthers 12-3 over the next five minutes to cut the lead to 46-39.

Three times Hofstra had a chance to cut the lead even further.  But Moore missed an open three point look, then turned the ball over.  Then after a steal, Steve Mejia drove in for a layup against defensive pressure.  But as a symbol to the Hofstra season, the layup bounced on the rim a couple of times then went off.  Georgia State would respond with a 5-0 spurt to put the lead back up to twelve, 51-39 with a little less than six minutes left.  

From there, the Panthers clamped down on the Pride.  Hofstra would only score four more points the rest of the way and Georgia State went on to a convincing 59-43 win.  Four players scored in double figures for Georgia State who shot 55 percent from the field.  White led all scorers with fifteen points, while Jihad Ali had fourteen points, Richardson had twelve points and Eric Buckner had twelve points and six blocks.

Despite having seventeen more field goal attempts, in large part due to eighteen offensive rebounds, the Pride shot just 29 percent from the field.   Nathaniel Lester had a double double with fourteen points and ten rebounds, while Moore had eleven second half points to finish with thirteen.  Moore and Lester had to work for their points though, as they combined to shoot eleven of thirty one from the field.

It was again another tough loss for the Pride.  They battled the Panthers basically even during the second half, but they had dug themselves too big a whole in the first half.   They just need to keep plugging away and try to get a couple of wins down the stretch before the CAA Tournament.   It doesn't get any easier with two road games at George Mason and at Drexel, two teams tied for first in conference.

Nothing ever comes easy in the Colonial.  You have to keep playing hard and refuse to quit.

Six Degrees of Hofstra Separation - Part I - Growing Pains for Pecora's Rebuild of Fordham

I wanted to do something crazy for the 800 games Played Project.  An opportunity arose a few weeks ago to be able to see three games in one day; Charlotte vs. Fordham, Georgia State vs. Hofstra and Iona vs. Manhattan.  The time schedules were perfect; 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 7:00 PM.  With a little luck and a lead foot, I thought I could make all three games.


When I planned out my triple header for yesterday, I noticed that the three games all had something in common; Hofstra.  Thus the theme for all three stories is the "Six Degrees of Hofstra Separation". The first of the three games involved Charlotte at Fordham at Rose Hill Gym.  Fordham is coached by Tom Pecora, the former head coach of the Pride.

Pecora was first an assistant at Hofstra under Jay Wright, whose teams made back to back NCAA Tournaments in 2000 and 2001, as well as a NIT appearance in 1999.  When Wright left for Villanova, Pecora was hired as the coach.  Under Pecora, the Pride had three straight NIT appearances in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  Yes, we all know about 2006.  Let's not go there. Hofstra also had four twenty plus win seasons under Pecora as a head coach.

He is also known for being a strong recruiter, especially when it comes to guards. Speedy Claxton, Norman Richardson, Rick Apodaca, Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio, Carlos Rivera and Charles Jenkins were all very successful Hofstra guards that were recruited by Pecora.   Three of those players; Claxton, Richardson and Jenkins have played in the NBA.  Apodaca played for Puerto Rico in the Olympics.  Jenkins was three times the Haggerty Award winner for the best player in the New York City metro area.  Stokes and Jenkins were both CAA Players of the Year (Jenkins twice).  Agudio and Stokes were each two time First Team All CAA players.

That brings us to Pecora's latest talented guard, Branden Frazier.  Frazier originally was recruited for the Pride in Pecora's final season as head coach of Hofstra.  But when Pecora left for Fordham, he took Frazier with him.  Last season, Frazier averaged eleven points per game in his freshmen season while playing mostly point guard for the Rams.  His best game was his sixteen point effort in Fordham's home upset of St John's, where he  went three of four from beyond the arc and added five assists.

In his sophomore season, Frazier has moved to the two guard as the Rams have Devon McMillan playing the point.  While sitting in the Xavier section for Fordham's game against the Musketeers,  I was very impressed with Frazier's improvement.  Against one of the best teams in the Atlantic Ten, he had twenty two points, five steals, five rebounds and three assists.  It was the classic stat sheet stuffer performance I have seen from so many Pecora guards over the years.

When my son Matthew, my friend Tieff and I got to our seats up in the balcony of Rose Hill Gym yesterday a few minutes before another Saturday Mass, the gym was surprisingly nowhere as filled as it was for the Xavier game. Yes, I know the 49ers are not quite the Musketeers, but Pecora has brought an energy to the Rams' fan base.  As I suspected, it turned out it was a late arriving crowd for the game that was on the YES network.  Once we were a few minutes into the game, Rose Hill was filled pretty well as the listed crowd was near 2,500.

One of the more frustrating aspects about college basketball nowadays is teams' over-reliance on the three point shot.  The early action in the Charlotte-Fordham game was an excellent example of that.  Players on both teams were camped out on the three point line, while the ball movement and player movement off the ball were lacking.  In the first seven minutes, of the twenty shots taken, twelve or sixty percent of those shots were three pointers.  Fordham missed five of their seven three point attempts in the first seven minutes.

But after those first few minutes, both teams realized that they had a inside presence on offense.  For Charlotte, that was Chris Braswell.  Braswell actually scored the team's first four points but was a key in their 9-0 run late in the first half to put the 49ers up 27-16 with five minutes left.  Braswell would have nine first half points for Charlotte.

As for Fordham, the Rams started going to their double double machine, junior forward Chris Gaston.  Gaston is simply relentless inside. He scored ten first half points to keep Fordham in the game as they were only down 32-28 at the half.

At the start of the second half, Fordham quickly outscored Charlotte 6-0 to take a 34-32 lead.  But Jamar Briscoe buried two long three pointers to put the 49ers back up 38-34.  The teams would exchange the lead a couple of more times and the game was very close for the first ten minutes.  Charlotte was only ahead by one, 48-47 with ten minutes left.

But the 49ers extended that lead with a 8-0 spurt as a result of five offensive rebounds in the span of five minutes.  This was due in large part to Braswell and DeMario Mayfield.  The duo combined for thirty seven points and twenty six rebounds as each had a double double on the game (Braswell 20 and 12, Mayfield 17 and 14).  The 49ers outrebounded the Rams 53-36 with eighteen offensive rebounds.

Gaston did his best to keep Fordham in the game as he scored fifteen second half points to score twenty five for the game.  He shot ten of seventeen from the field and added fourteen rebounds as well.  He hit a layup to cut Charlotte's lead to four, 60-56.  With the under four minute media timeout, the Rams were still down only four, 62-58 and the Rose Hill crowd was soundly into the game now.

Despite Gaston, the problem was the rest of the team was ice cold from the field.  The Rams shot only twenty seven percent in the second half.  This was due to the previously mentioned over reliance on the three pointer.  Subtracting Gaston's field goal attempts, the Rams had fifty one other field goal attempts on the game.  Over half, twenty six of them were three point attempts.  Of those twenty six, Fordham hit only six, including going two of fourteen in the second half.

And no one was colder than Frazier.  Frazier hit his only two three pointers in the first half.  In the second half, Frazier was one of six from the field and two of nine overall from beyond the arc. A series late in the game highlighted Frazier's struggles on the day.  With a little over one minute left in the game and the Rams down five points, 65-60, Frazier had an open look for a three pointer. He missed the three, then right afterwards committed his fifth foul.  Frazier only had eight points on the day, four under his average on the season.

Charlotte would go on to win 69-62.  It was only their third win in the Atlantic Ten this season. But the 49ers evened their overall record at 11-11.

As for Fordham, 9-13 overall, it was only their third loss at home on the season in eleven games at Rose Hill Gym.  Considering that they only had two overall wins in the 2009-10 season, that's definitely an improvement.  Pecora has to be somewhat pleased with their home record and that his team already has more wins this season, nine, than last season, seven.  They also have already two conference wins, more than last season.

But for a coach that's used to having several twenty plus win seasons, Pecora knows that he still has a lot of work to do.   Fortunately for him, he has Gaston, Frazier and Bryn Smith, who had fourteen points yesterday, all returning next season.  The Rams will continue to improve.  But as yesterday showed, there will continue to be growing pains along the way for a rebuilding Fordham program.

Turnovers, Blown Whistles and Bill Murray (Recap of Towson vs. Hofstra)

When Towson defeated UNCW last Saturday, the Tigers ended their NCAA record forty one game losing streak. With the win, Towson entered a tie for eleventh place in the CAA with Hofstra.  The Pride had just lost earlier in the day at Northeastern.  Both teams entered last night's game with a 1-10 conference record.

One team at the end of the night would be in eleventh place and the other team would be in the cellar.  As my older son and I walked toward the Mack Center entrance,  Matthew turned to me and said "I really hope Hofstra wins so they don't go into last place".  Leave it to a six year old to sum up most Pride fans' feelings in a nutshell.


For the second season in a row, the Mack Center entertained a special guest, one Bill Murray.  Murray's son, Luke is now an assistant coach with Towson.  Last season, he was an assistant for Wagner when they played Hofstra in a December non conference game. His dad watched the Pride hold off the Seahawks.  Last night,   his dad was sitting in the first row behind the Towson bench.   There's no truth to the rumor that he gave the Tigers Team his inspirational speech, "It Just Doesn't Matter" as the pep talk before the game.

It was quite appropriate that Bill Murray was in attendance last night, because the first twelve to thirteen minutes of the game were quite comical.  You had the Tigers, who couldn't hold onto the ball and the Pride who couldn't shoot the ball.   Towson turned the ball over on each of their first four possessions and had thirteen turnovers in thirteen minutes.

Meanwhile, during the same stretch, Hofstra couldn't take advantage as they seemingly couldn't put the ball in the ocean.  The Pride shot six of twenty one during the first thirteen minutes.  Amazingly, Hofstra was only up 18-9 with seven minutes left in the half.

The Pride extended the lead out to fifteen, 33-18 at the half.  Still the numbers were brutal. Towson had more turnovers, nineteen, then points or rebounds (also eighteen).   Both teams had sixteen free throw attempts.  Towson missed ten of them while Hofstra missed six of their own.   Towson shot a respectable forty two percent, but that's when they could get off a shot, as they only had fourteen field goal attempts in the first half.  Yes, that means they only had six field goals in the first twenty minutes.  Hofstra had thirty three field goal attempts, but only hit eleven of them.  My friend Tieff called it "The Good (Bill Murray), The Bad (Hofstra) and the Ugly (Towson)."

Towson actually brought a few fans for the game as they cheered early on behind the Tigers bench.  During halftime, I wondered what Bill Murray was doing to entertain them. Was he Nick Winters singing the Star Wars theme or was he just in town because it was Groundhog Day on Wednesday .  Perhaps he went into the Towson locker room and gave a halftime pep speech, this time the one from Stripes. Oh the possibilities.


We decided at halftime to join my good friend, DefiantlyDutch and his better half Michelle in their seats behind the Hofstra basket. However, I was told by the Dutchman that if we brought bad karma and the lead got under ten points, we would be forced to go back to our regular seats.  Sure enough, Towson went out on a 7-2 spurt and cut the lead to ten, 35-25.

But just as the Dutchman was getting ready to toss us out, Hofstra responded with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes. Nathaniel Lester and Mike Moore were responsible for all thirteen points scored in that run. Also during that run, Lester scored his 1000th career point on a free throw.  Lester received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The score was 48-25 and all that was left was to see if Lester and Moore together could outscore the entire Towson team. And for a good part of the second half, the two Hofstra players were leading the entire Tigers team as Moore and Lester combined to score forty eight points.  However, a late three pointer by Christian Collins made the final score Towson 49 Moore and Lester 47.    Unfortunately for the Tigers, Hofstra had an additional twenty seven points as the Pride defeated them 74-49.

It had been a long game due to the forty four fouls called, the forty nine combined free throw attempts and the twenty seven Towson turnovers.  In fact, last night, all the CAA games started at 7:00 PM Eastern time. The Hofstra-Towson game was the last one to finish by a good margin. There were more whistles in this game than Salma Hayek walking past a construction site.

Moore had twenty eight points and Lester added nineteen.  The Pride also had twenty offensive rebounds, one more than defensive rebounds.  Walk-on Matt Grogan had a career high six points. Erique Gumbs had twelve points and Kris Walden had ten points.

It was the twentieth time in twenty four games that Towson scored under sixty points on the season.  The Tigers were now back in sole possession of last place in the CAA.  As Bill Murray left the Mack Center, I wonder if he was saying to himself  "It just doesn't matter."

The Most Underrated Team on Long Island - Part II - Mateyko Keeps the Eagles Soaring

This is part two of my two part series on St Joseph's Eagles basketball.

As I noted in the first part of the series, I interviewed Coach John Mateyko four years ago for my site.  The Eagles were in the midst of their second successful season in a row, the second of now many for St. Joseph's.  In that interview, he noted to me when he first started coaching that “Our first year we only had five guys who played high school ball. We had six guys on the bench who never played in high school.”

Mateyko is only a part time coach.  He is still a full time financial planner.  But he has a long history in basketball.  He first played at Archbishop Malloy under the legendary Jack Curran.  Mateyko then played at American International under one of Curran’s disciples, Jim Larranaga, the current University of Miami Florida coach, of course most well known as the former head coach of George Mason, who went to the Final Four in 2006.  Larranaga also played for Curran at Archbishop Malloy.

Mateyko said about Curran in my previous interview, “He’s it. That’s where you learn. Larranaga learned from him.  I learned from Larranaga.  I try to take as much as possible from them”.  I remember Coach Mateyko showing me a picture of himself with Larranaga, a good friend whom he talks to often.

After playing at American International, he was a graduate assistant coach there, where he coached former NBA guard Mario Elie, who played for the Houston Rockets during their championship teams.  He became an assistant coach at St Mary’s Manhasset for his best friend Tim Cluess, who is now the head coach of Iona.  Then Mateyko became an assistant at SUNY Maritime for four years, two as associate head coach.  Then he was hired as the St Joseph’s head coach in 2001.

It took some time, but St Joseph's has made the postseason five years in a row and should make it for a sixth time this season.  His 2008-09 team won the Skyline Conference Championship and made the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in the history of the program.  That team featured two terrific players, David Acree, the all time leading scorer in St. Joseph's history and J.J.Walsh, a former NAIA Player of the Year.  They lost to DeSales in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament. DeSales went to the Elite Eight that season.

This season, including their win over Purchase, St. Joseph's is 15-2 and 11-0 in the Skyline Conference.  They have a road win over once #18 ranked Eastern Connecticut in the D3Hoops.Com Poll (now no longer ranked as of this week). St Joseph's also currently has fifteen votes in the latest D3Hoops.Com Poll.   One of their two losses is a respectable fifteen point loss to Yale, so the Eagles only have one Division III loss.

Including this season so far, in his last six seasons Coach Matyeko's record is 116-40. His team has appeared in three Skyline Tournament Championship games, four ECAC Tournament appearances and the aforementioned NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2009.


Here is the transcript of my interview with Coach Mateyko before his win over Purchase.  My questions are in italics, while Coach Matyeko's answers are in regular text.

***

Coach, talk to me about how your team has been so successful.

We have the same group for two years.  This group as juniors, we lost two of our big guys.  So last year we basically said "Let's have fun.  We'll throw five guards out there and see what happens." We spread the court out and we found out that we gave a lot of people problems.  So now, last year they were 22-7.  We just missed the NCAA. I was told we were the 63rd team and they let 62 in.  They come back this year, the same kids and they play well together. We're too small, but you know when we shoot the ball well, we're real good. We're real good to watch.

You're averaging 85-86 points per game, but you are also playing good defense.  You're third in the Skyline in Field goal percentage defense at 41 percent.

We throw a lot of junk at people. But it's no secret, our major problem is that we're weak down low.  We haven't been able to combat that.  We haven't led a game in rebounding in two years.  But this team in two years has compiled a 36-9 record. We're a pretty good group.

But you can win without rebounding.  You're at the top of the Skyline in three important categories; assists to turnover ratio, turnover margin and field goal percentage defense.

Right, all three of them. And the last one is assists.  We do well with handing out the ball to each other. They're great. We have three guards that basically are three point guards and they are very tough to cover as the league has found out.  The shame of the whole thing is that in about ten to twelve games I won't have this group anymore.  So we'll reload for next year.  We have seven seniors, five of them are starters who log over 30 minutes a piece.  It will be tough next year, but we're already recruiting and we've got some kids coming in,

So we're lucky on that end and I don't know where the next eight games will end up. I was telling these guys the other night, I felt bad, these kids have done so much. We beat East Conn(Eastern Connecticut, currently #18 in D3Hoops.Com's Top 25 Poll)...

I was going to talk to you about that, that's a huge win for you on the road. They're ranked.

Yeah, it was in their tournament. We were fortunate to play well and stick it out. That was really due to senior leadership. Then we went up to Yale, which was a lot of fun.

That was one of my questions. How did you get that game?

What happened is that there are a few things that I have been trying to do for ten years. It's your bucket list. One of the items in the bucket list was trying to get a game against a Division I team.  One, it helps out the program because you get a monetary payment for the program, it helps us out on our next trip next year some place.

We asked West Point, we asked Columbia, who was advertising.  Both of them turned us down.  They said you won twenty two games. That's a lot games for us to risk to play against somebody.  Coach Jones (James Jones, head coach of Yale) was nice enough to say yes and fit us in.  I was up there for a coaching clinic up in Yale three years ago and I just loved the place.  I thought it was good experience for the kids to go up there.

So we went up there and in the first four minutes they run out to a 29-4 lead.  So I looked at my assistant Charlie and said "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea."  But at 29-4, they sat back.  And the one thing we can do is shoot.  We outscored them 36-14 in the next ten minutes.

So the beauty of the whole deal, it really comes down to this; With a minute and a half left to go in the first half, Coach Jones calls timeout and the game is tied.  For just that one minute and a half, our team felt they belonged on a Division I court.  That was the fun of the whole deal.

You only lost that game by fifteen points.

Yeah, we didn't go away, but the kid Mangano (Greg Mangano) is so good. He's terrific.

Your philosophy is the same since you started with St Mary's with Tim (Cluess).  You like to run. You could say it's a variation of Paul Westhead's "The System".

Yeah. I think it's hard to prepare against a team that's you know is going to score eighty five points.  That's what we bring. That's what that system brings.  It puts a lot of pressure on the other team to say "Hey, we're going to have to put the ball in (the basket) tonight."

Your team really values ball possession, even though you really like to run.  Is that something you really worked on?

We work on every day with different drills. But the real reason is we don't lose the ball is that two of our guards, Trey Black and Chris  Jimenez, really were point guards in high school.  They have the mentality of point guards. They handle the ball like point guards.  And Trey and Chris are two good point guards, so that's why we don't lose the ball much.

You have seven seniors.  They all log a lot of minutes. How have they progressed over the four years?  They were all a part of that 2008-09 team that made the NCAA Division III Tournament.  Was that a valuable experience for them?

I think so.  In the case of Trey Black, he played on that team a minute before the end of the first half and the last minute pf the game.  He was a skinny kid who kept getting better, better and better.  Olivier Laurent, we always knew he had the talent.  We just had to figure out how to use it.  And Chris Jimenez, he was the starting point guard on that good team.  He's never changed.  He just always been really good.

Compare the two teams, the 2008-09 Tournament Team and this team.

There's no comparison.  The tournament team was much better. This team is a great shooting team and they do a lot of things that people can't cover.  But Acree was very good (David Acree, St Joseph's all time leading scorer) and J.J Walsh was very good.  This team doesn't have an Acree or J.J. Walsh.  So it's a little different.  This is more of a combination of five guys moving the ball, shooting the ball and playing well together.  The other team had two players that were better than everyone else on the court that night.

Right now, you're 14-2, 10-0 in conference.  You won at Eastern Connecticut and you received some votes in the latest D3Hoops.Com poll.  What do you think your chances are for an at large bid if you don't win the Skyline Tournament?

You know, when you get to an at large, you're really asking the basketball gods to give you a break.  I think we would be deserving of an at large right now.  But you have to finish out the season.  I don't think the NCAA committee values the Skyline Conference as they should.  We have three or four teams that can play with anybody.   I think that with a full resume and we keep on doing what we're supposed to be doing, we should get an at large.  But you never know. We have to win our tournament.

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