Iona comes back from down 12 to steal win from Siena

Schadrac Casimir posted third straight double-figure scoring night as junior guard led all scorers with 17 points as Iona used 15-0 run late in second half to absorb 12-point deficit and defeat Siena. (Photo by Vincent Simone/NYC Buckets)

NEW ROCHELLE, NY -- Six days ago, Iona looked like a team headed for a convincing defeat at the hands of Saint Peter's, who held a 10-point lead with less than five minutes to go before a 14-0 run flipped the script and led to a comeback win for the Gaels.

Less than a week later, the same storyline played out as Siena, the team against whom Iona successfully defended its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship last March, built a 12-point advantage almost halfway through the second half until a young Saints team ran into the vaunted Gaels pressure defense.

History, as it turned out, repeated itself.

A 23-6 run, largely keyed by 15 unanswered points in just over four minutes, was the catalyst to yet another comeback, as Iona fed off the momentum of their transition game and Hynes Athletics Center crowd to take the lead; and ultimately, a 71-69 victory over the Saints for their third consecutive win Thursday evening.

"We came out really lackadaisical," Schadrac Casimir said as the Gaels (10-7, 4-1 MAAC) persevered through an extended rough patch to remain perfect in five games at home this season. "We didn't come out with the energy we needed to at all. Coach got on us at halftime, and in the first ten minutes (of the second half), we still kind of came out slow. In the timeout, we just rallied together and said we had to finish strong."

"Once we started to communicate more," said Casimir, whose 17 points led all scorers, "we started to get stops, and it led to easy layups."

For a majority of the night, though, Siena had their way with a lethargic Iona squad, playing inspired basketball in their first game following Wednesday's announcement that junior guard Nico Clareth would not return to the program following a leave of absence to tend to personal issues. In Clareth's stead, the trio of Ahsante Shivers, Jordan Horn, and Roman Penn picked up the slack admirably, combining for 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Saints (5-13, 1-4 MAAC) shot better than 60 percent from the floor for the majority of the contest, taking a 40-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After the two sides traded baskets in the opening minutes out of the intermission, Siena established a firmer upper hand, going on a 12-5 run to take a 56-44 lead with 11:40 remaining in regulation, and kept their foot on the accelerator when holding a 62-52 cushion at the 7:26 mark of the final stanza. The Iona comeback began on the ensuing possession, with Roland Griffin draining a pair of free throws before adding three more points over the next minute to close the gap in half. A Casimir three-pointer with 5:18 to play brought the Gaels within two, followed a minute later by two foul shots from TK Edogi before Deyshonee Much gave the hosts a lead they would not relinquish, first on a tipped ball after his own missed jumper that ricocheted into the net, and then a three on the heels of a pair of offensive rebounds by Rickey McGill.

Siena did not go quietly into the night from there, however, staying within one possession and being the beneficiary of an official review in the final minute when it appeared Horn's game-tying three-point attempt bounced out of bounds off the Saints. An official review initially confirmed Iona had possession, but head coach Jimmy Patsos' challenge of the review eventually vindicated the visitors, leaving the door open. However, Khalil Richard's look from just beyond the left arc fell by the wayside and into the hands of Zach Lewis, thereby sealing the outcome. Forward Evan Fisher had a layup at the buzzer to make the final margin closer, but it turned out to be inconsequential as a potentially huge upset went awry.

"You block and tackle to win football games, you must pass and catch to win basketball games," Patsos lamented. "We had a couple of turnovers there at the end, we couldn't make easy, basic plays, and we had three layups right at the rim. We should have made them. We should have made three out of three, we made 0-for-3. That comes down to a young team. No one's feeling sorry for anybody. We've just got to keep working."

With the win, Iona moves into sole possession of first place in the MAAC, and concludes a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon when Rider comes into New Rochelle. Until then, a resurgent veteran leadership rests easier after finding a way to handle adversity.

"I'd chalk it up to our energy getting better as an overall group," head coach Tim Cluess said when attributing his team's comeback. "I think we communicated better, we cared more on the defensive end. If you let your defense lead to offense, you have a better chance of being successful, and I think they did."