Box Score Andrew Kahn will be writing feature and postgame articles for Iona basketball for
ICGaels.com in the 2009-10 season. A New Rochelle High School
graduate, he holds an English degree from the University of Michigan
and currently works for the non-profit Dana Foundation. In addition to
his work for ICGaels.com, Andrew writes for his own blog,
www.TheSportsJournalists.com.
NEW ROCHELLE, NY- The Iona College men's basketball team fought hard against the defending conference champions, cutting two separate double-digit deficits to one possession before eventually falling to Siena 73-60 at the Hynes Athletics Center earlier tonight.
Early on, the Gaels went basket for basket with the Saints. Siena head coach Fran McCaffery went as far as saying that his squad was "out played" in the opening minutes. But Siena made a run, and held a 29-19 advantage with 3:52 to play in the first half.
That's when Iona countered. Sophomore point guard Scott Machado fueled the rally. Driving to the basket, he used his body to shield off the defender as he dropped it in. He then forced a jump ball on Siena's ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the Gaels. He made a nice feed to junior Alejo Rodriguez (one of his team-high five assists) and the forward converted the easy basket. Two free throws from Machado and a three from freshman Ben Mockford cut the Siena lead to one, all in a matter of two minutes and change. Iona only trailed by three at the half.
Iona's second half spurt was similar. Down 45-35 six minutes into the half, Machado drained a three and followed it up with a driving bucket. Senior Jonathan Huffman then used a shot fake and a pretty up-and-under move to score inside, cutting the lead to three and getting the crowd excited. Unfortunately for the Gaels, it was as close as they'd get the rest of the night.
"Basketball is a game of runs," Huffman said. "When we get on our runs, we've got to learn how to capitalize, how to keep coming at them, to get over the hump."
Huffman, Machado, and Mockford - who hit three three-pointers - led the Gaels with nine points apiece, but the box score points to a true team effort. Three other Iona players had at least seven. In total, head coach Kevin Willard used 11 players, including freshman guard Rashard McGill for 24 minutes and freshman big man Chris Pelcher for eight. Rodriguez was plagued by foul trouble and only played 16 minutes.
The Gaels' resiliency was on full display, but it simply wasn't enough to keep up with the Siena squad. Edwin Ubiles shot 9-of-16 for the field en route to a 19-point performance. Ryan Rossiter, Alex Franklin, and Clarence Jackson all scored in double figures.
Iona can't be too discouraged by the loss. Siena starts three seniors and two juniors; Iona countered tonight with two freshmen, a sophomore, a junior, and only one senior. But the Gaels' improvement, even from a year ago, is noticeable, at least to McCaffery. He said that Iona "presented much more difficult challenges for us defensively (than they did last season)," and also noted the tough Gael defense.
The Saints are the champ for a reason, but Iona is going in a positive direction. They'll try to right the ship after two straight losses when they take on out-of-conference foe Long Island on Wednesday night at the Hynes Center.
