Iona rebounds from demoralizing loss at Marist to rout Niagara

Lamin Sabally (9) throws down one of several dunks in Iona’s win over Niagara. (Photo by Iona Athletics)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Dan Geriot always highlights the reflection process of his practices, for better or worse.

As a 10-year veteran on NBA coaching staffs, Geriot learned the value of preparation at the highest level, and has carried that into his first year as a college head coach at Iona. Each practice following a game begins with a reflection of what transpired, good, bad, or indifferent, in the Gaels’ previous contest.

The reflection gets harder in the wake of a 45-point loss, as Iona learned this week after its 83-38 defeat at Marist this past Sunday. But Geriot, as he has been throughout the season, remained candid with his players.

“I messed up Saturday,” he said of his preparation for Marist, taking full accountability for the ensuing result. “Completely incorrect preparations and it showed on Sunday. It showed that we need to continue to understand what we’re after, understand a forceful mentality of what the MAAC is.”

“We watched the whole first half (of the Marist game) as a team. We kind of had an open forum in the film session, and then on my end, I just told them, ‘tomorrow’s gonna look a lot different than last Saturday, for sure.’ I’ll never let that happen again.”

Geriot, and his team, followed through on that vow Friday, slamming the door on Niagara with a 22-0 run through the first half en route to a commanding 71-53 victory over the Purple Eagles, getting double-doubles from Lamin Sabally (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Kosy Akametu (12 points, 12 rebounds) to move to 11-6 on the year and 3-3 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.

“That practice after the Marist game, we touched on a couple things,” Akametu said, citing a commitment to staying disciplined on both ends of the floor. “Being one together on the offensive end and on the defensive end, and just going out there (and) giving it our best, playing hard and being physical. A lot of teams try to get rough with us, but we give a push too.”

“They certainly came out and had a great spirit about them,” Niagara head coach Greg Paulus remarked after the Gaels held his roster scoreless for over ten minutes during their game-changing run. “Their aggressiveness, their physicality, it really impacted. They did a great job defending the paint. They’re a terrific team.”

Iona adjusted its roster slightly Friday, as it was learned before the game that senior guard Keshawn Williams would miss the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL in Sunday’s loss. Williams posted a TikTok following his injury Friday, and appears to be in good spirits, but his absence still proved to be an emotional hurdle for the Gaels to overcome. Fortunately on this night, the depth Geriot and his staff assembled helped mitigate the loss of a fifth-year leader who was more instrumental to the team than any numbers seem to indicate.

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“Roles are being defined as we go, and I think our best component is our depth and our togetherness in the humans that we have,” Geriot said. “So for me, it’s like, we’ve gotta double down on that. And that’s why I think you see what you’ve seen tonight, and I think you’ll see it going forward. The roles are becoming a little more clear. We’re still trying to iron some things out, but that helps us a ton.”

Besides Akametu, who had arguably his best game of the season, Luke Jungers also enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. Jungers, who was the lone player to remain in the program following Tobin Anderson’s dismissal last March, scored 11 points and recorded a game-best plus-32 efficiency rating, but drew plaudits from his new coach for what he has done without the basketball in his hands.

“Boy, he’s something, isn’t he?” Geriot remarked. “Retaining him was a big priority for us. After I met him, talked with him, I loved his demeanor. I love his confidence and I love what he’s been through. To be that stalwart of patience and consistency, and this is the funny part: We love Luke because of his defensive IQ here. The offensive spacing is great, he’s been doing that, but defensive IQ-wise, he really gives us a different look.”

“For me, it was about finding him more minutes as we continued through this thing, and now the more he gives us that on that end, I think the better he’s gonna be and the more minutes he’ll earn. But I love the consistency. For what he’s been through, it’s remarkable, and I love that he’s starting to see some results.”

Iona has done well flipping the script this season, particularly after losses. Friday’s result seems to bode well going into the back end of this latest MAAC weekend, which continues on Sunday against Canisius. After a nadir of sorts last week, the determination to not revisit that low point is driving this group to raise its own bars day in, day out.

“We came out today with a mission,” Akametu said. “And moving forward, that’s the standard we’re gonna set.”