By Paul Casey Gotham
BUFFALO, NY– Imagine taking a wild stallion from the open range and placing it in a pen.
That’s what the Canisius Golden Griffins did Friday night. Playing its home and conference opener against pre-season favorite, Iona, the Griffs chose patience over reckless abandon.
The scheme worked for 30 minutes. Then the stallion broke free.
Momo Jones keyed a late run as the Iona Gaels defeated Canisius 69-57 in MAAC action at the Koessler Athletic Center.
After scoring just four points in the game’s first 30 minutes, Jones accounted for eight with two assists in the final 10 as the Gaels blew open a one-possession game.
“Coach screamed at me,” Jones said laughing when asked about his late surge. “I’ve been settling a lot over the last couple of games, and I think coach saw it. He did a great job of telling me to go to my strength which is penetrating and getting people the ball.”
Leading by three, Jones took a pass on the left wing and drove baseline finishing with an up and under move. On the next trip Jones drove the baseline from left to right and delivered a lob across the lane for Taaj Ridley who caught and finished in one motion. After a steal by teammate Scott Machado, Jones streaked ahead of the pack for an open layup. The Gaels ran their lead to 61-50 when Jones drove the lane and dished again to Ridley for an easy deuce.
“My team did a great job in having confidence in me and allowing me to do that,” Jones continued. “My teammates came through just as much as I did. We just came together collectively and just pulled this one out.”
The junior finished with 12 points and four assists on the evening.
“Momo got into the lane and made plays happen for us,” Iona head coach Tim Cluess said.
Jones, who started and helped the Arizona Wildcats to the Elite Eight of last year’s NCAA Tournament, was granted a hardship waiver to transfer and play for the Gaels this season.
Reggie Groves and Harold Washington kept the Griffs close in the first half. Groves accounted for eight of the Griffs first twelve.
The Gaels started the game in a 2-3 zone, and Canisius responded with patience. Alshwan Hymes led Washington on the perimeter who continued reversal to Groves for the first trey of the game.
Washington stole a Scott Machado pass at the other end and converted into two with a dunk in the open floor.
Hymes and Groves hooked up on the next trip with Groves finding the measure from the left side.
“It was a great opportunity to knock off a very talented team,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta commented. ” I don’t think we came in here just hoping to play with them. The guys were geared up and ready to win the basketball game.”
Washington gave the Blue and Gold a lead at 19-17 on a pull up three with two seconds remaining on the shot clock. It was the first of two the junior guard hit from behind the arc and one of several Canisius hit late in the shot clock.
“They were making shots from everywhere,” Cluess noted of the Canisius aerial attack. “I guess they really worked on those last five seconds of the shot clock and making three-pointers from deep.
The Griffs shot 71 percent (5-7) from long range in the first stanza and finished the game going 8-14. At the same time Iona shot 7-28 behind the arc.
The Gaels entered play ranked number one in the country scoring over 95 points per game. The Golden Griffins used a variety of half-court defenses to slow Iona’s attack.
“We defended a very high-octane offense,” Parrotta explained. “That’s something we can build off.
Having lost five of their top six players to graduation, the Griffs are getting players accustomed to new roles and responsibilities.
“We’ve changed our defensive philosophy,” Parrotta continued. “We’re an inexperienced group, and we were trying to make it a little helter skelter, so we were out in passing lanes and denying and picking up full court. As we started to get into the first four games, I realized the bench isn’t as formidable as perhaps I like it to be.”
Adding to the inexperience, the Griffs are without returning point guard, Gaby Belardo, who injured his back in practice. As a result the Griffs committed 21 turnovers on the night to handing out just nine assists.
“We can’t give them the basketball,” Parrotta said.
The Gaels took 58 shots on the night to just 39 for the Griffs. Iona scored 21 points off Canisius miscues. The Gaels amassed 20 assists on their 27 field goals with Scott Machado leading the way with seven.
Jermel Jenkins hit three 3s and led Iona with 17 points.
Jones and Ridley each had 12.
The Griffs held national player-of-the-year candidate Michael Glover to six points and three rebounds.
“Coach emphasized in practice to keep a body on him,” Chris Manhertz said. “I knew before the game I was supposed to size him up and keep him out of the paint. For the most part, I think we did a pretty good job on him. This is just something to grow from.”
Manhertz finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
“If you would have told me that Glover would have had six points and three rebounds in 33 minutes, and Machado would have had eight points and one rebound before the game, I would have said fantastic,” Parrotta noted. “We did some good things tonight.”
Washington had a game-high 22 on 7-11 shooting from the field. Groves added 11, and Hymes had 10.
The Griffs host Fairfield on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5PM.
The Gaels travel to Niagara for 2 p.m. tipoff to close the first weekend of MAAC play.
How deep is Iona? When your best player is held to 6 points and 3 rebounds, and you still win by 12 – you have a pretty deep team.
Good game by the Griffs last night. In the end, turnovers hurt them.
Agreed. Playing on the road, scoring more than 30 points less than average and still winning? Canisius did everything possible to slow down Glover AND Scott Machado, and it still didn’t work. Machado came in averaging 12 assists per game but only (only-that’s kinda funny) got seven.
I am considering going to Iona at Niagara before the Fairfield-Canisius game on Sunday.