JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Iona and St. Peter‘s battled it out in a down to the wire game at Yanitelli Center. The Peacocks upset Iona 64-62 on Wednesday in the type of contest that will be the norm in the MAAC this season. Blaise French hit a shot in the lane with the shot clock running out and under five seconds remaining.
The possessions:
Iona 70
St. Peter’s 71
Offensive efficiency:
Iona 89
St. Peter’s 91
St. Peter’s trailed 31-21 at the half. In a game with 8 ties and 6 lead changes, St. Peter’s gradually battled back. Their second half efficiency was outstanding as the following numbers display.
Second half possessions
(St. Peter’s): 36
Offensive efficiency: 120
In a statistical oddity, both teams had exactly the same number of offensive (13) and defensive (23) rebounds. The turnover numbers (17) were identical as well. The difference? Blaise making the play in the stretch and Iona failing to capitalize on the free throw line, shooting 14 of 21 from the charity stripe.
Ffrench and Darius Conley both scored 17 points for St. Peter’s. Sean Armand of Iona paced all scorers with 19 points. The main number of concern for Iona coach Tim Cluess was the Gaels’ 17 turnovers against only 10 assists.
Iona is 3-1, 1-1 in the MAAC. St. Peter’s improved to 4-4 and stands at 1-0 in conference.
Poise. The tempo free breakdowns are valuable. The numbers cannot measure collective coolness and poise, especially in the waning moments of a close game. A week ago following a close loss to FDU, coach John Dunne was concerned over St. Peter’s’ ability to meet the challenge and execute in the stretch. Defeating Iona, they were a different team. What happened?
“I think we showed poise the whole second half,” Dunne said. “We didn’t try to get it all back trailing the second half. We didn’t go for that ‘ten point play’,” he added in jest.
Even the winning basket by Ffrench epitomized cool. Iona defended by stopping a ball screen, but the St. Peter’s guard simply adjusted to the defense, got in the lane and did not rush the game-winner.
Dunne said the main thing he emphasized with his club since the FDU loss was to play each possession hard. “I think we all had to be attentive to detail,” he said. “That’s right down from us as coaches, the players and even the managers.”
Dunne feels the season-opening win at Rutgers may have done some harm. “We probably got a false image of ourselves from that game,” he said. Following the come from behind win over Iona, if St. Peter’s has a “feel good” attitude you can’t blame them. They fought adversity and ended a four-game losing streak in a big way.
