Svandrlik, Casimir key Iona comeback in Gaels' home opener

Jan Svandrlik's career-high 27 points led Iona to victory in home opener against Fairleigh Dickinson, a game in which Gaels trailed by 13 points early in second half. (Photo by Vincent Simone/NYC Buckets)

NEW ROCHELLE, NY -- Iona's home opener last season was an uncharacteristically flat game on the first Sunday in December, resulting in a 74-58 loss to Niagara that sent temporary shockwaves through the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference before the Gaels regrouped and emerged with a second consecutive conference championship.

For a little more than a half on Saturday afternoon, it looked as though history would repeat itself until a trademark offensive outburst, this time fueled by a pair of unlikely catalysts, turned the tide and propelled the Gaels to the more familiar sight of victory on their home floor.

Behind a career-high 27 points from Jan Svandrlik and 21 from Schadrac Casimir, 16 of which came in the second half, Iona erased a 13-point deficit to Fairleigh Dickinson and imposed their will as the contest drew to a close, coming away with a resilient 82-75 triumph at the Hynes Athletics Center for their second straight win since returning from last month's Islands of the Bahamas Showcase.

"We just came out real lackadaisical," said Casimir of the sluggish start to the game by the Gaels (3-4) in the opening stanza, which led to a 42-31 halftime deficit. "We weren't playing with the energy we needed to play with. Me and Jan gave our guys a lift off the bench. We just fed off each other, and defense turned into offense."

Iona shot an abysmal 9-for-35 in the first half, conceding 58 percent shooting to FDU (3-5) and allowing the Knights to attack the basket and push the tempo to a level the normally uptempo Gaels were unable to keep up with in the game's initial stages. Trailing 51-38 with just over six minutes gone by in the second half, however, the balance began to sway as Svandrlik drained three three-pointers in a row to bring the crowd to its feet and his team within four points of the visiting Knights in the span of a mere 90 seconds, erasing any doubt of last season's first impression at home being replicated.

"We had talked about that before the game and at halftime amongst our coaching staff," head coach Tim Cluess admitted, addressing the similarities to the loss to Niagara. "If it got to 15, we were going to call a timeout. They had two different possessions where it was at 13 and we made a couple of stops, and all of a sudden we made a couple of plays down the other end. I think it was seven out of ten possessions that we stopped them, and that got our offense going a little bit. Once we got that going, our guys felt better about themselves when they saw the ball go in the basket."

A Casimir layup to pull Iona within two was answered by a Darian Anderson triple on the other end of the floor for FDU, but the Gaels would not be deterred. A TK Edogi dunk brought the margin on the scoreboard back to within one possession before it was Casimir's turn to put the icing on a 22-3 run with three straight trifectas of his own, the last one splashing through the net to put Iona ahead for good with 8:47 to play in regulation, making the score at that juncture 60-54 in favor of the home team.

"I saw confidence in his eyes for the first time in a long time," Cluess said of Casimir's performance, drawing parallels to his tour de force freshman season that earned him unanimous Rookie of the Year honors and a spot on the MAAC's all-conference second team. "He wanted the ball, he was confident making plays, bouncing it, finding guys, getting into gaps. It wasn't just 'if I'm wide open, I can make a shot.' He wanted the basketball and he wanted to take the next shot, which we have not seen a lot of with him. It was great to see that today, and I'm hoping that stays there with him."

Rickey McGill added a double-double in the winning effort, contributing 11 points and 12 rebounds to the cause while also posting seven assists. TK Edogi chipped in with a dozen points and eight rebounds as well. For FDU, freshman Noah Morgan's 16 points led four double-figure scorers, but the main takeaway was Svandrlik's breakthrough in the absence of Roland Griffin, one that harkened back to his 19-point showing in last December's home victory over Ohio University.

"We thought he not only deserved it, but that he's matured as a player," said Cluess of Svandrlik seeing an uptick in playing time while Griffin recovers from a sprained ankle suffered against Ohio U on November 28. "He's understanding things better, playing better every day. His work ethic is the best on the team, bar none, so it's great to give a chance to reward him and then with Roland out, we did say we're going to have a great chance today to see Jan with extended minutes. We've been giving him more reps with the starting unit throughout practice as well because the kid just works his tail off."

"He's understanding what his responsibilities are within our defense and our offense. He's a much better player now. We really liked what we saw, and we told Jan, 'We don't know when, but we're going to find you more minutes and expand your role.' Some kids take that and don't buy in, but this kid -- first one in the gym, last one to leave. That's why you coach. You coach for kids like him."