A Senior Day to Remember (Recap of UNCW vs. Hofstra)

After watching Fordham rally to defeat LaSalle, my son Matthew and I were able to quickly make our way out of a back exit of Rose Hill gym.  We made it  to our car in the Fordham parking garage quite quickly before the rest of the Ram and Explorer fans.  Our mission was to make it to Hempstead by 4:00 PM. We made it to Hofstra with time to spare for Senior Day at the Mack Center as Hofstra was hosting UNCW.

Senior starters Mike Moore, Nathaniel Lester and Dwan McMillan were all given a special ceremony by Hofstra University before their last home game as members of the Pride.  All three have been significant contributors this season. Moore, the leading scorer in the CAA,  and Lester, the eighth leading scorer in the CAA,  both scored their 1000th career points for the Pride this season.  McMillan, the CAA leader in assists per game, became the starting point guard after Steve Mejia struggled with injuries.

The three thousand plus fans in attendance gave all three a nice ovation, but nowhere near the ovation that last season's seniors Brad Kelleher, Greg Washington and Charles Jenkins received for Senior Day last season.  Perhaps that might have been because a) the Pride had a sold out Mack Center on Senior Day last season and b) the Pride were 13-4 in conference on Senior Day last season as opposed to 2-15 this season. It just so happened that Washington and Jenkins were in attendance for the day's festivities.

The Pride came out very quickly as they have done on several occasions this season.  Lester scored five quick points and Hofstra went out to a 9-0 lead.  UNCW Head Coach Buzz Peterson was so upset with his team's play, he benched all five starters two minutes into the game.

As has occurred several times this season, the Pride would see their early lead evaporate.  The Seahawks went on a 14-3 run over four minutes.  Tanner Milson's second three pointer put the Seahawks up 14-11 with twelve and a half minutes left.  The Hofstra fans had seen this act before and were afraid of the same result.

However, the Pride responded with a huge run. It started with what must have been forward Moussa Kone's longest jumper of the season, which was a ten foot bank shot.  Then a Moore three pointer and a Lester layup put  Hofstra back up 18-14.  Those three baskets were part of the Pride outscoring the Seahawks 34-11 the rest of the half.  Hofstra hit on nine of their last thirteen shots from the field and only missed two of their thirteen free throw attempts for the entire half.

The Pride led at halftime 45-25 in what was easily their best first half of the season.  The team shot six of ten from beyond the arc, had thirteen assists and outrebounded the Seahawks 21-11 in the first twenty minutes.  Moore and Lester had thirty two combined points.   This didn't seem like the same Hofstra team that had lost to UNCW in Wilmington earlier in the season.

During the game, Jenkins, now of the Golden State Warriors, was honored with a special game ball by Coach Mo Cassara.  It was for being the all time scoring leader in Hofstra history.  The entire crowd gave Jenkins a well deserved standing ovation.  Throughout the entire first half, kids came up to Jenkins for autographs and he more than obliged.  Charles Jenkins is truly a class act.

If anyone thought that the first half was a fluke, they were quickly dissuaded in the first six minutes.  Keith Rendleman tried his best (he had sixteen points and nine rebounds for the game), but the rest of the Seahawks were getting overwhelmed by the Pride.  The lead ballooned to thirty, 60-30, with 14:25 left in the game.  Moore and Lester had nailed two more three pointers and the rout was on.

Late in the second half, Hofstra had a lead of thirty seven points.  Think about this. A team that came into the game with only two wins in conference and nine wins in total  was beating their opponents 90-53 with a little over two minutes left.  Cassara cleared what little he has of a bench (due to injuries, redshirts and dismissals), making sure all his seniors got a standing ovation as they left the court.    The Pride would win their last regular season conference game in impressive fashion 93-64.

The final statistics were bewildering.  Hofstra shot fifty six percent from the field, including twelve of nineteen from beyond the arc.  What might have been more impressive was the Pride having twenty five assists and only eleven turnovers.  Moore had thirty points, including shooting six of nine from beyond the arc.  Lester added twenty points.  Stephen Nwaukoni held his own against Rendleman with a double double, ten points and ten rebounds.  Mejia and Shemiye McLendon each had ten points.  But perhaps the most impressive stat was McMillan with fifteen assists and only four turnovers.

Hofstra ended their regular season on a high note.  Hopefully it will give them momentum for next Friday night's first round game vs. Georgia State.   But at least all three seniors had a truly memorable performance in their last home game for the Pride.

Horns, Hoops and First Place on the Line (Recap of Fairfield vs. Iona)

Last night was the second day of my four day weekend of hoops.  Thursday night, I was at St Joseph's in Patchogue where unfortunately the number one seeded Eagles were shot down by the Purchase Panthers.  Then yesterday, my older son Matthew and I made the familiar trip up to New Rochelle to Iona College.

Before we could get to the campus of Iona, we had to travel in rainy, slick conditions as the remnants of the Saskatchewan Screamer came down on the New York City metro area.  Adding to the fun was a knucklehead on the Whitestone Bridge who kept alternating between the left and center lanes at seemingly his whim.  Either he was very drunk or very clueless.  I was one of several people that went all the way over to the right lane to avoid him.

Of course Matthew, the intrepid little six year old that he is, wisely took the opportunity to sleep the entire way from North Bellmore to New Rochelle.  Thus he snoozed while his daddy was yelling at the idiot that was trying to turn the Whitestone into a NASCAR wreck.  Matthew didn't wake up until we were in the Iona parking garage.  Had I known that the Iona Will Call was not open yet,  I would have let him sleep another fifteen minutes.  But he was as excited as me to see this game last night.

You couldn't ask for a bigger atmosphere on the last weekend of the regular season.  This was the battle for first place in the MAAC between Fairfield, the defending regular season champion, vs. Iona, the preseason favorite to win the MAAC.   The Hynes Center was sold out and as Nick Guerriero, the Assistant Sports Director and Women's Basketball Play By Play Announcer at Iona (and a good guy too), stated to me that they were turning people away from the ticket booth.  To top it all off, the game was being televised nationally on ESPNU.

The Hynes Center was packed to the rim. As I surveyed the gym shortly before the team introductions, it was a college basketball fan's dream.  Over two thousand people tightly fit into a small gym.  A mostly partisan crowd buzzing with the anticipation of another MAAC regular season championship, which would lead to another banner being hung in a venue that has seen its share of basketball history.  To say the Hynes Center was electric would be the understatement of the year.

And the cherry on top is getting to hear the wonderful Iona Pep Band. What makes this brass band so good is they don't play a lot of the usual tripe you hear other bands play.  You won't hear the Iona Pep Band play the "Final Countdown" or "Crazy Train".  Yes, they play recent songs from artists like Lady Gaga.  But they also play a lot of songs that fit a brass band perfectly; a lot of Earth Wind and Fire, Steely Dan, Santana and they even sneak in some Led Zeppelin (like they did last night).  And if you are old school like me, they often play TV and movie theme songs.  Their rendition of "I Dream of Jeannie" is a wonderful, bouncy tune.

I didn't remember the name of the first song they played.  But I immediately knew the second song they played, "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind and Fire.  Shortly thereafter, they surprisingly played "Don't Stop Believing".  Normally they leave that for the end of the game when the score is close.  But I guess they wanted to get the crowd going on what was going to be a momentous occasion.

One of the things I have often noticed about the Hynes Center is that as much as I love the Iona folks, the PA volume is much too loud.  It's like that at a lot of college gyms and arenas, but outside of the obnoxiously loud Spiro Athletic Center PA system, the Hynes Center PA system seems to stick out.  So it was ironic during the introductions that one of the speakers kept going out.  It was the brass band gods trying to tell the Iona folks that they have a perfectly good pep band and they should just turn off the system and let the pep band play.

Since the wonderful people at the World Wide Leader of Sports schedule games on top of each other at ESPNU, often the preceding game runs over.  Especially when it's the physical, foul prone Horizon League games. Thus the game start was delayed while waiting for the end of the Butler - Valparaiso game.  However, the silver lining was that  the fans were treated to a lot of good Iona Pep Band selections during the wait.

First, the band fired up a Stevie Wonder tune.  Then they went into Frankenstein. It's one of my favorite renditions of that song.   For such a small band; they have maybe at most eight to ten members, the sound they put out is just so good.

I share a love of the Iona Pep Band with friend Jaden Daly, the play by play announcer for St. Francis and the author of Daly Dose of Hoops. who is also a fellow member of John Templon's NYC Power Poll.  Jaden was covering the game last night for his site and as we were tweeting the song selections, Jaden came up with a bet.  The bet was when the Iona Pep Band would play my favorite song and one of Jaden's favorites, Steely Dan's "Peg".   I said it would be at the under twelve minute media timeout.  Jaden took the over.  The bet was a St John's ticket for me (Jaden is a St John's alum) if I won and if I lost, a first level ticket for Hofstra.

While waiting for the start of the game, several of us were keeping track of the Loyola - Rider game that was on ESPN2.  Novar Gadson hit a three point play late in the game and the Broncs knocked off the Greyhounds.  That meant if the Gaels defeated the Stags here, Iona would clinch the MAAC regular season championship.

Though it meant the end of a great Iona Pep Band song set, the Butler -Valpo game finally ended and we had the tipoff of our game.  Feeding off the crowd's energy, first place Iona came out and scored the first four points.  But second place Fairfield, who had come into the game winners of nine of their last eleven games, responded with a 9-0 run.  Derek Needham nailed two three pointers and the Stags were up early 9-4.  Needham would leave the game shortly thereafter with an injury and would not return.

After a Michael Glover three point play made the score 9-7 Fairfield, a short time later we had the under sixteen minute media timeout.   This led to the Iona Pep Band playing Rick James "Brickhouse". The band was on a roll and a Stags player was about to go on a roll as well.

Senior forward Rakim Sanders is Fairfield's leading scorer.  He averages 16.5 points and 8.2 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field.   After the under sixteen media timeout, Sanders took over.  He would score five of the Stags next eight points and added an assist.  Fairfield had an 18-11 lead going into the under twelve minute media timeout. Sanders had a double double in the first half alone with twelve points and eleven rebounds.

As soon as the teams left the court, I heard the first few sweet chords from the pep band and I knew the song .  Yes, the Iona Pep Band came through and played Steely Dan's "Peg".  I had won the bet with Jaden but I told him I was going to take him to a Hofstra game anyway.   Just hearing my favorite Iona Pep Band song was victory enough for me.

Coming off the timeout, the Stags extended the lead to 21-13.  But the Gaels sped up the pace of the game to their liking and scored the next six points.  That got the home Iona crowd going.  Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson was forced to call timeout.  This led to the pep band playing the James Bond Theme Song.

The Gaels actually tied the game at twenty five on a free throw by Glover.  But Sanders buried a three pointer which put the Stags back out in front.  Iona would actually take the lead, 29-28 on a Glover layup, his ninth and tenth points of the first half.  This lead to the Pep Band playing Jaden's favorite song, "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire.

Fairfield would respond as they outscored Iona 10-4 for the rest of the half.  It might have been more, but a good move by Iona Head Coach Tim Cluess kept the deficit at five.  During Scott Machado's free throw attempts with five seconds left in the half, Cluess gathered the rest of the players by the Iona bench.  I had a good view of Cluess making a hacking motion with his hand.  He was telling his players to foul a Stags' player immediately since the Gaels had only five team fouls.

After Machado missed his second free throw and Fairfield grabbed the rebound, Kyle Smyth grabbed at Sanders to foul him.  But instead Smyth knocked the ball off Sanders and out of bounds.  Iona had a last second chance to hit a shot before the half, but Smyth's long three point attempt was short.  Fairfield entered the half up 38-33.

At halftime, Iona honored Stanley Hill, a 1959 alumnus who was a starting guard on the Iona basketball team.  In his sophomore season, Hill was supposed to play in a tournament in Owensboro, Kentucky vs. the University of Mississippi.  The Ole Miss coach, Bonnie Graham, informed the tournament committee that he would not have his team play the Gaels if Hill, an African American, was in the lineup. Graham had the support of the University of Mississippi administration.  Iona coach Jim McDermott refused to bench his guard and Ole Miss forfeited the game.  In a touching moment, the Ole Miss players sought out Hill at the hotel that night and apologized to him for what happened.   The ceremony for Hill at halftime, which included several other Iona basketball alumni, was equally as touching.

Towards the end of halftime, I went over to talk with Guy Falotico, otherwise known as IonaGuyF on Twitter.  While Guy and I were talking about the first half,  the Pep Band was playing "Smells Like Team Spirit".   Another good song, another good rendition.

The second half saw Fairfield jump out to a 42-34 lead.  But Iona would go on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. Reserve Rashad James provided a lot of energy off the bench for the Gaels. His steal and layup gave Iona a 44-42 lead with about fifteen minutes left.  The Hynes Center was now rocking.

The Pep Band was rocking too.  They fired up their third Earth, Wind and Fire song with "After the Love Has Gone" and followed with another Stevie Wonder tune.  Jaden was right, all that was missing was their version of Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" to complete what would have been a great trifecta.  Later they played "I Heard It Through the Grapevine".  That made up for missing out on Zeppelin.

Fairfield wasn't going anywhere and why would they with such great music. The Stags hung in with the Gaels and took a 58-56 lead with eight minutes left. Sean Crawford gave them the lead as he calmly sunk three free throws after being fouled by Taaj Ridley.

Enter one Sean Armand.  Earlier in the season, I was at Madison Square Garden when the sophomore guard set an Iona and MAAC record for most three pointers in a game with ten in a 95-59 drubbing of Siena.  Armand would channel his Siena performance by burying two straight three pointers to give Iona a 62-56 lead and the Iona fans a reason to cheer raucously.  Meanwhile, the Pep Band played the NBA on NBC theme song and later the Fox Sports theme song during a stop in the action.

Fairfield again wouldn't quit and scored the next seven points.  A Desmond Wade three pointer put Fairfield back up one, 63-62 with about six minutes left.  Also during this run, Iona's star guard, Scott Machado picked up his fourth foul and and headed to the bench.   There was definitely a level of concern running through the Hynes Center crowd.

But Armand was far from finished.  He would score the next nine points for Iona.  His layup put thee Gaels up 71-65 with 2:44 left.   Glover would follow later with a layup to put the Gaels up 73-66 with about fifty seconds.  Desmond Wade hit a three pointer to cut the score down to four, 73-69.  But  the Stags would not get any closer as Iona would win the game and the MAAC Regular Season Championship 77-70.

Armand scored all seventeen of his points in the second half.   As impressive as his performance was against Siena, his performance against Fairfield was more impressive.  With Machado on the bench, Armand took over and won the game for his team.  His three point jumper is a thing of beauty.

 Sanders did his best for Fairfield with twenty two points and twelve rebounds. Ryan Olander also had a nice game with fifteen points  The two combined to shoot seventeen of twenty nine from the field.  But the rest of the team was only ten of twenty nine from the field.  The loss of Needham during the game certainly hurt the Stags.

As for Iona, along with Armand's seventeen points, Glover had thirteen points and Machado had ten points and seven assists.   The key was that the Gaels had more balance than the Stags.  Eight players had six or more points for Iona while only four Fairfield players including Needham had six or more points.

As Matthew, Tieff, who had joined us shortly before game time, and I quickly left the Hynes Center, we thought we might see a court rush.  We were concerned since we were in the front row and having a small child with us, that could be a precarious situation.  But it thankfully never materialized.   It was as if the Iona fans expected to win this game and be in this position, since they were the preseason favorite.

The Gaels and their fans expect their court rush to be after they win the MAAC Tournament Championship in Springfield.  It's good to have standards. I know the Iona Pep Band meets mine.

The Third Time Is Not the Charm for St Joseph's

The St. Joseph's Eagles entered Thursday night as the number one seed in the Skyline Conference Tournament. They were the top seed based on a 17-1 conference regular season.   The Eagles had only lost two Division III games on the season as one of their three losses had been to Division I Yale.  St Joseph's was looking for its twenty second win on the season in the semifinals of the Skyline Conference Tournament vs. Purchase.

Twice this season they had met Purchase and twice they were victorious.  I was there for their first win, a 78-64 home win.  In the last regular season conference game, the Eagles rallied from a ten point second half deficit to defeat the Panthers on the road 92-89.  In that game, St Joseph's shot a ridiculous nineteen of forty six from beyond the arc.

Now it's hard to beat a team three times in one season.  It's especially hard when that team, Purchase, is the two time defending Skyline Champion.  Thus, St Joseph's had a tough task ahead of themselves last night in front of their home crowd in the Danzi Center.

My son Matthew joined me on the drive to the St Joseph's campus in Patchogue.  We got to the Danzi Center about a half hour before game time.  Before the game, the Eagles had a special ceremony as Coach John Mateyko gave an 1000th career point ball each to Trey Black and Olivier Laurent.

As Coach Mateyko noted to me in a previous article on the Eagles, they are a very good shooting team, but they are quite small, as they play four guards for the most part.  At the beginning of the game, the Panthers went straight at that weakness by looking inside to six foot eight behemoth Craig Davis, who looks like the Division III version of Jai Lewis (know your CAA legends, folks).  Davis scored six of Purchase's first nine points as the Panthers went up 9-2 early.

Purchase was still up seven, 12-5, when St Joseph's rallied, scoring seven straight points.  An Olivier Laurent layup tied the game at twelve.  But the Panthers responded with a 9-0 run.  Andre Dixon, a second half of the season addition, just like Davis, scored the last two points of that run to put Purchase back up 21-12 with about twelve and a half minutes left in the first half.

But once again, St Joseph's would rally.  The Eagles outscored the Panthers 14-7 over the next three and half minutes and would be down only two, 28-26 with nine minutes left in the first half.  It looked like St Joseph's was going to go on a serious run.

However, it was Purchase that was going to end the half on a serious run. Over the last nine minutes of the first half, the Panthers outscored the Eagles 23-8 as they hit ten of their fifteen shots in that span.  Meanwhile, St. Joseph's went cold from the field shooting three for twelve. As a result, Purchase went to the half leading 51-34.

The Eagles had no answer for Davis in the first half.  Davis is six foot eight and I think fair to say, three hundred pounds.  St Joseph's biggest player is Shahab Syed who is listed at six foot six and maybe about 230 pounds. After seeing early on that it was impossible to guard Davis if he posted up,  Mateyko would try to double team Davis, as he had one Eagle player front Davis and one would help out underneath if he got the ball.  But the Panthers did a good job lobbing it into the big man and Davis was unstoppable, even with two guys on him. He scored seventeen first half points.

If St Joseph's was going to come back in the second half, it would have to be a Herculean effort.   But Purchase actually extended the lead to twenty, 64-44 with fifteen and a half minutes left.   St Joseph's scored the next six points to cut the lead to fourteen, 64-50.  But a Davis layup started a 7-0 mini run for the Panthers and the score became 71-50.

Time was running out on the regular season champions.  However, the Eagles didn't quit.  They were able to cut the lead down to fourteen 75-61 with about nine minutes left.  Eric Klingsberg, whose three pointer cut the lead to fourteen, had a chance to cut the lead even further.  But he missed the first of the one and one free throw attempt.   Purchase then scored the next eight points and the game was over.

Purchase would go onto win 105-81.  St Joseph's had no answer for Davis who had twenty nine points, fourteen rebounds and shot fourteen of nineteen from the field.  The Panthers as a team shot sixty two percent from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles 52-19.

St Joseph's was led by Klingsberg, who came off the bench to score nineteen points.  However he was the only Eagles' reserve to score points for his team as the Purchase bench outscored the St Joseph's Bench 38-19.   It was likely the difference in the game as points off turnovers (St Joseph's 22-8) and second chance points (Purchase 19-5) evened out.

It was also a cold shooting night for the best three point shooting team in the Skyline.  Chris Jimenez, Black and Laurent combined to shoot two of fifteen from beyond the arc as the Eagles shot only ten of thirty four from beyond the arc and twenty seven of sixty four from the field (forty two percent).

Now Coach Mateyko and his Eagles must wait out Selection Monday for Division III teams (the NCAA Division III field is decided next Monday).  Only sixty two teams make the Division III NCAA Tournament.  The Eagles have the fact that they are 21-4, went 17-1 in conference and were the regular season Skyline Conference champions.  They also defeated Purchase twice in the regular season, as well as twice defeating Farmingdale State, the other tournament finalist and have a big road win over a once ranked Eastern Connecticut team.

Hopefully it's enough to give them their second Division III NCAA Tournament bid.  Based on their resume, they certainly deserve it.  Cross your fingers.

Getting Back on Track (Recap of Loyola - Iona Women's Basketball Game)

When this season started, Coach Tony Bozzella and the Iona Gaels women's team played their usual strong non conference schedule. They started out winning three of their first four games with their only loss to Big East member Villanova in the championship game of the Iona Invitational.  Then they lost six of their next seven games out of conference, including a loss at nationally ranked Rutgers.

In that game against the Scarlet Knights, Iona's best player, Kristina Ford, went down with a knee injury.  Things looked bleak for the Gaels, as Ford was going to be out for a significant period of time.  They lost their next game, a close 62-58 game at Fairfield, who is currently second in the MAAC.  

But after that loss to the Stags, the Gaels found themselves.  Thanks to freshmen Aleesha Powell and Damika Martinez, who might just be one of the top freshmen players in the country, Iona would win six of their next seven games.   I was at the game against Manhattan at the Hynes Center, where the Gaels were down 22-11 early.  Using a full court press, they rallied and defeated the Jaspers 65-60.  It seemed like that Iona had banded together to makeup for the loss of Ford, a preseason All First Team MAAC player.

Ford actually came back in time for their wins over Saint Peter's and Canisius, another game that I was in attendance for at the Hynes Center.  In that game, the Gaels were up by twenty, 59-39, before the Golden Griffs started hitting long range threes to cut the lead to six before Iona eventually won 77-67.  After that game, the Gaels were in third in the MAAC with a 6-2 record in conference.  Things were looking up for them.

Then came the big weekend for Iona as they had home contests vs. Marist and Fairfield, the top two teams in the conference.   The Gaels came out strong and held their own early on against the Red Foxes.  The score was 13-12 Marist after eight minutes.  But the Red Foxes went on a 13-0 run over a four minute span and went up 26-12 on the Gaels.  Iona played Marist even the rest of the way but couldn't get closer than eight the rest of the way, losing 72-61.

It was the start of a seven game losing streak for the Gaels.  They played the Stags very close for twenty five minutes, as they were only down three, 45-42 with fifteen minutes left in the game.  But Fairfield went on to win 78-64.   The games that followed were for the most part close losses.  They had large second half leads at Loyola Maryland and at Rider, but both games slipped away from them.  

Heading into the game vs. Loyola, Iona was now 6-9 in conference and in danger of having to play the first day of the MAAC Tournament.   That's a death sentence for any team; the Gaels would have to play four games in four days to have a chance to win the MAAC championship.  Knowing my CAA Tournament history from the past ten years, it's basically a no-win scenario for Iona.

With that scenario in the backdrop, the Gaels needed to end their losing streak yesterday vs. the Greyhounds.  Loyola entered the game in third place in the MAAC with a 9-6 conference record.  They were looking to clinch a first round bye in the MAAC tournament with a win. 

I guess due to the magnitude of the game for both teams,  Iona and Loyola struggled offensively out of the gate.   After ten minutes, the score was tied at six.   Finally, the teams started hitting their shots.  The Greyhounds took a 15-12 lead on two consecutive baskets by Miriam McKenzie, who had nineteen points on the day.

But the Gaels would respond with a 15-4 run to end the half.   Ford and Powell would combine for eleven of the fifteen points.  Iona would go to the half with a 27-19 lead, their first lead at the half at home since their win over Canisius.

I had an unique honor at halftime.  When I got to the Hynes Center, I received a text from Nick Guerriero, the play by play announcer for the Iona women's team.  Nick asked me if I wanted to be the halftime interview.  I gladly said yes.  Nick asked some terrific questions about the 800 Games Project that I am a part of at MidMajority.Com, BracketBusters, the CAA, Iona, the NEC, women's basketball (I talked about seeing Elena Delle Donne vs. Hofstra Thursday night) and New York City Metro Area basketball.   It was my first ever radio interview on hoops and it was a lot of fun.  Thank you, Nick!

The second half started with Iona and Loyola trading baskets and the Gaels up 31-24.  Then Martinez buried a three to start a thirteen point Iona run.  She would score nine straight points for the Gaels.  The score was now 44-24 with a little less than fifteen minutes left.   

But basketball will always be a game of runs. So while I took my younger son Jonathan to the restroom,  the Greyhounds responded with a 17-7 run.   As I entered back into the gym,  Loyola was only down ten, 51-41 with a little less than nine minutes left.

Iona kept the lead in double digits for the most part and with about ninety seconds left, they were up 64-52.  But the Greyhounds forced a few turnovers and outscored the Gaels 8-2 to cut the lead to 66-60 with forty three seconds left.  But Iona hit their last eight free throws (including the two points in Loyola's mini run) to win the game 72-65. 

It was a balanced attack for Iona.  Martinez had seventeen points, nine of which came from the foul line.  Powell had sixteen points and Bacic had twelve points.  But Ford perhaps had the most impressive game for the Gaels with fourteen points and eleven rebounds.  She was very aggressive driving to the hole during the game, which I hadn't seen since prior to her knee injury.  Iona also had a terrific day at the charity stripe, hitting twenty of their twenty three free throw attempts.

As my older son Matthew finally got his wish to play on the Hynes Center court, the Gaels finally had broken their losing streak.  Now they can end the regular season on a high note.  Their next game won't be easy by any means, as they face Marist, the six time defending MAAC champion up in Poughkeepsie. I know how loud it can be at the McCann Center.  Then they finish the season at home hosting Saint Peter's.   Their season has been a stretch of streaks, both winning and losing streaks.  Perhaps there's one more winning streak to be started.

BracketBuster Win Gives Hope for Hofstra (Recap of Siena vs. Hofstra)

Over the past several years, I have been a supporter of the BracketBuster series.  Yes, it's been mostly a marketing tool for the World Wide Leader to say that they give the mid major teams a needed spotlight during the season. But some spotlight is better than no spotlight at all, which was the case for mid major teams before the BracketBusters.

The BracketBusters have also often been an important factor in helping mid major teams get to the NCAA Tournament.  In certainly two cases, 2006 with George Mason and 2011 with VCU, without their BracketBuster wins at Wichita State (how ironic is that?), those teams probably don't make the NCAA Tournament, let alone get to the Final Four.

I have often thought the way ESPN does the home and away team pools for the BracketBusters takes away from having more meaningful games for more teams.  Such was the case for this year's series.  You had seemingly too many strong home teams and not enough good road teams.

But what ESPN did this season finally put me on the other side of the fence.  They rewarded several teams television games based on their RPI and not their record or standing in conference. Northern Iowa, who was in seventh place in the Missouri Valley with a 4-7 conference record when they were picked and Missouri State, who was third place in the Missouri Valley with a 6-5 conference record and a 13-10 overall record when they were picked, are two teams that immediately come to mind (both teams lost their BracketBuster games yesterday).

Meanwhile, George Mason, Stony Brook and Loyola Maryland, three teams that were in first place in their respective conferences at the time of the BracketBuster selections, were denied television games.  If you are not going to reward teams based on merit, why then have the BracketBuster series?   By the way, George Mason and Stony Brook won their non-televised BracketBuster games, while Loyola Maryland plays theirs today.

Now let's get to the other over one hundred plus teams that are a part of the BracketBuster series due to their conference affiliations and don't get a sniff of a televised game. Based on ESPN's selections, those teams end up playing non conference home and home games with teams close to their regional area this season and next.  In the case of Hofstra and Siena, the brilliant World Wide Leader folks decided to match these two teams for a SECOND time in the BracketBuster series.

I was at the Mack Center in 2006 EXACTLY six years ago to the day when Hofstra first hosted Siena in a BracketBuster game.  Hofstra was snubbed out of a television game because AGAIN there were too many good home teams and not enough good road teams.  The game was memorable for two reasons.  One, Adrian Uter had probably his most dominant game with the Pride scoring a career high twenty seven points and added four blocks in a 76-62 win over the Saints. Second, Siena head coach Fran McCaffery AND his wife were both tossed from the game.


So here we were exactly six years later.  The game had much less meaning than the game in 2006.  Then, Hofstra was one of the best teams in the CAA, fighting for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.  This season, Hofstra only has two conference wins.   You could say Hofstra and Siena were battling for the best team to have beaten Iona, a team playing a featured televised game at home vs. Nevada at the same time.

Though there was a crowd of two thousand people, the arena atmosphere was very flat.  The Hofstra Pep Band sounded worse than ever and that's saying something.  You're not supposed to hear a xylophone as clear as day with a brass section.  There also weren't that many students in the Lions' Den student section, which was disappointing to this Hofstra alum.  In fact, there was only polite applause when Hofstra honored Mike Moore for scoring his 1000th career Hofstra point in not even two full seasons (he transferred to Hofstra from Fordham after his sophomore season).

And Siena decided to come out as flat as the atmosphere.  The Saints had a turnover in each of their first four possessions, and nine turnovers in barely over five minutes.  Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro had to call two timeouts in the first four minutes of the game.  As a result, the Pride went up early 8-0.

But has been the case many times this season, Hofstra couldn't fully capitalize on all of Siena's mistakes.  After taking the early eight point lead, the Pride missed four out of five shots and committed two turnovers.  This allowed the Saints to go on a 10-2 run and tie the game at ten with a little less than twelve minutes left in the half.

From there, both teams shot the ball very well the remainder of the half.  Siena shot sixty five percent from the field while Hofstra shot forty five percent.  The teams scored in different ways. In the Saints' case, OD Anosike was unstoppable in the paint, hitting all five of his baskets and scoring twelve points.  Meanwhile, Hofstra had five three pointers in the first half, which is more than they average for an entire game on the season.  Mike Moore and Steve Mejia combined for those five three pointers.

The game was tied eight times in the first half.  So it made perfect sense that the game was tied at thirty seven at the half.  At halftime, my older son Matthew and I went over to say hi to Defiantly Dutch and his much better half, Michelle.  It's become an annual game ritual to go over to see my two good friends at halftime and talk about the first half.

One of the things we talked about at halftime was the improved play of Mejia.  In his previous three games, he scored twice in double figures and in the game against Drexel, Mejia had six steals.  He was also starting to shoot the ball better and he had two three pointers against Delaware.

In this game, Mejia had a strong first half and he continued with an equally strong second half.  He buried another two three pointers, giving him four on the game.  He also had another two steals in the second half, also giving him four on the game.

The start of the second half was almost a repeat of the first half.  The Pride scored twelve of the first fourteen points and went up by ten, 49-39.  But the Saints rallied, scoring the next eight points to cut the lead to two, 49-47.  Siena would eventually take the lead, 59-57 with eight and a half minutes left.  It looked like another game where Hofstra would have a second half lead only to see the other team rally and win.

But this time, Hofstra would not be denied.  The Pride would score their next twelve points on three shots beyond the arc, two by Mejia, and one old fashioned three point play by Stephen Nwaukoni.  Hofstra would regain the lead, but it would only be two points, 71-69 after Anosike hit another layup with a little less than four minutes left.

In many of the Pride's close losses, they failed to make stops down the stretch.  This time was different.  Hofstra would outscore Siena 10-0 the rest of the way.   The Pride forced two turnovers and held the Saints to four missed shots in the last several minutes.  Siena didn't even try to put up a last second shot after Hofstra let the shot clock expire in the last few seconds. The fans gave the Pride a standing ovation at the end of their 81-69 win over the Saints.

Moore had even a better second half, scoring sixteen of his thirty points in the final twenty minutes to lead all scorers with thirty.  Mejia had sixteen points while Nathaniel Lester added fifteen. Mejia and Dwan McMillan combined for thirteen of Hofstra's twenty one assists (with only ten turnovers).

Anosike had a double double with twenty two points and twelve rebounds.  Kyle Downey added seventeen points.  Siena shot fifty eight percent for the game and out-rebounded Hofstra 36-23.  But the Pride forced twenty one Saints' turnovers and Hofstra shot eleven of twenty three from beyond the arc, easily their best three point shooting performance of the season.  The bright side for Siena was neither Buonaguro, nor his wife were tossed from the game.

Hofstra was one of seven CAA teams to win a BracketBuster game yesterday and the only team in the bottom half of the Colonial standings to do so.  With two games left in conference vs. tenth place William and Mary and eighth place UNCW, the Pride have a chance to finish the regular season on a high note before heading into the CAA Tournament.

In 2006, the BracketBuster win over Siena started a six game winning streak for Hofstra that lasted through the CAA Championship game when they lost to UNCW.   If the Pride keeps shooting the three like they did yesterday,  the 2012 BracketBuster win over Siena might just start another win streak.

Love and Basketball (Recap of Delaware vs. Hofstra)

When you think of Valentine's Day, you don't think about spending it at a basketball game.  But when your six year old son would be despondent if he couldn't go to a Hofstra game, you adjust your plans accordingly.  Thus for the first time since the 2001-02 season, my wife, Michelle went to a Hofstra game along with my younger son, Jonathan, my older son, Matthew and me.  To mark the occasion, my wife got me a box of candy shaped in a basketball heart.

Unfortunately for Hofstra, not too many other couples and their families attended last night's game.  When we got there a few minutes before game time, the Lions' Den student section was empty.  Heck, most of the Mack Center was empty.  The announced attendance was 1,785.  Perhaps that included paid season ticket holders who had made other Valentine's Day dinner plans, but I would subtract anywhere from 785 to 1,000 from that number.  The crowd was so small you could hear Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara clear as day.

The lack of energy in the Mack Center appeared to affect the home team.  The Pride struggled to score from the onset while Delaware was scoring easy baskets on the inside.  The Blue Hens raced out to a 17-4 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and it looked like they would finally break their ten game losing streak at the Mack Center.

Delaware last won a game vs. Hofstra in the Mack Center during conference play in the 2000-01 season, the final season for both teams in the America East.  The then Flying Dutchmen would later defeat the Blue Hens in the America East championship at the Mack to start the ten game home winning streak.  It was also the last time Hofstra made the NCAA Tournament.

The Pride responded by outscoring the Blue Hens 24-11 over the next nearly eight minutes on a layup by Mike Moore.  Hofstra had a chance to take the lead, but Nathaniel Lester missed an open jumper. Delaware would then score the next seven points to go up 35-28.  It seemed like Hofstra' season in a nutshell, rally, tie, but they just couldn't get over the hump. The Pride did close the gap to four, 36-32 at the half.

There were so few people in attendance that the Hofstra mascots, Kate and Willy were going into the crowd and saying hi to whatever kids were there.  In fact, Kate had come by before the game and made friends with Jonathan, who found the female lion mascot quite amusing.  Kate came right back to see Jonathan before the second half and played peek a boo with him.  In return, Jonathan showed Kate his monster trucks.

The second half started just like the first half did as Delaware extended their lead to nine, 43-34.  The Blue Hens maintained their lead 49-40 with eleven minutes left.  As has been the case, the Pride was struggling to score.  Hofstra hit on only three of their first thirteen shots in the second half..

But Matt Grogan, a walk on who is starting to see more time because he can hit an open three pointer, buried a three to start a Pride 10-0 run over the next three minutes.  Mike Moore's rainbow three pointer gave Hofstra their first lead of the game 50-49 with eight minutes left.  The fans that were there stood and applauded as the Blue Hens called timeout.  As DefiantlyDutch noted on a tweet, it was the Pride's first lead in a game since six minutes left in the George Mason game last Wednesday.  Last Saturday, Drexel led from start to finish in their win over Hofstra.

However, the lead was short lived.  Jamelle Hagins grabbed one his eighteen rebounds off a Khalid Lewis miss and dunked it home.  It would be the beginning of a stunning 22-4 Delaware run over the next seven minutes of the game.  During that time, Hofstra would miss ten straight shots from the field and the fifth leading free throw shooter in the CAA, Moore, would miss three free throws during that span.

Lester hit an anti-climatic three point play to score the final points of the game, but most of the fans had picked up and left earlier, perhaps for late dinner plans. The Blue Hens had a convincing 71-57 win to end the ten game losing streak at the Mack Center.

Delaware's Jarvis Threatt led all scorers with twenty points, thirteen of which came from the free throw line.  Hagins had a double double with fourteen points, eighteen rebounds and added four blocks. Lewis and Kyle Anderson each added twelve points.  For Hofstra,  Moore had sixteen points and Lester added eleven.  The problem was the two combined to shoot an ugly seven of twenty nine from the field.  Steve Mejia added ten points for the Pride.

As Chelle and I said our goodbyes to Defiantlydutch and his much better half Michelle, both of whom sat with us in the second half, we made our way out of the Mack Center  A year ago, I was hanging out by the court celebrating Charles Jenkins' two buzzer beaters on my birthday in a win over William and Mary.  Now I was standing in a empty lot saying goodbye to my friend Tieff after Hofstra's fourteenth loss of the season.  They now have as many losses in conference this season as they had wins in conference last season.

Still, it was good to have the ones I loved with me for the game.  It's not how you spend your Valentine's Day that matters.  It's who you spend it with that matters.