SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Last year, Iona was a surprise entrant in the NCAA Tournament, reaching it as an at-large. Many prognosticators didn’t think they had the resume for it and thought any of a number of other schools had better profiles. This time around, there was quite a journey to get there, but will be no doubt about it: they are in after beating Manhattan 60-57 in the MAAC championship game on Monday night.
“I said from the beginning of the season we want to make the tournament the right way,” said junior guard Sean Armand. “We lost in the semifinals last year and got an at-large bid. I told the guys I really want to make the tournament by earning that spot.”
Iona has had plenty to play for this season besides the normal desire of competitors to win. Not only were they maligned as an at-large selection last season, but once in the tournament they blew a 25-point lead against BYU and lost 78-72. That stung them, and now that they are back, that is sure to be an added motivator.
They are also dedicating this season to the memory of Mike Haynes, a recruit who was murdered in his hometown of Chicago last July. The Gaels have been wearing patches on their uniforms with the initials “MH” on their left shoulder in his memory, and to a man they say he has been on their minds all season long.
“Look at the patch on your shoulder,” said Armand, who added he brings it up during many key moments. “This season was for him, and I’m very glad that we’re in the tournament because of that to dedicate it to him.”
And at a time when the players are celebrating a championship, head coach Tim Cluess, who has guided the program after being what many felt was a surprise pick to lead the program, kept some perspective.
“I’m also thrilled to represent Mike Haynes going to the tournament, because he’d be there with us and we dedicated the season to him and his memory, a young man that would have loved this opportunity,” said Cluess. “Those things in life are much more important.”
Cluess is full of perspective about what’s important, having aligned his coaching staff with the efforts of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to highlight the awareness platform of Coaches Cure CF. It is spearheaded by a pair of Iona alums, John and Monica Judge, in honor of their nephew, Alex Tarletsky, who is battling cystic fibrosis. The staff wears school sweats during games instead of suits for this.
The Gaels also have a few players that have something to prove because they aren’t at their first school. Lamont Jones, the MAAC Player of the Year and the tournament MVP, is a local boy who transferred from Arizona after two seasons in Tucson. Tre Bowman, one of the heroes on Monday night with a big effort off the bench, started his college career at Penn State, played just 64 minutes in 16 games and went to Midland College before coming to New Rochelle this year. Curtis Dennis transferred from Toledo and DaShawn Gomez started his college career at New Mexico State.
“It feels great to make the tournament for the first time and actually be on a team that I’m playing for,” said Bowman, who scored 20 points on 7-9 shooting Monday night and made the All-Tournament team.
Bowman has been a key reserve for them, but Jones, Armand and David Laury are the stars on the team, having each earned all-conference honors. Bowman’s big game came a little out of nowhere, although it wasn’t a career high as he scored 24 against Canisius in January.
“Tre was a little upset probably with his playing yesterday, he had a few defensive breakdowns over the last couple of games,” said Cluess. “I think he realized that if he was going to have those, he wasn’t going to play much today.”
Iona also had to overcome a rough stretch in much of February. They lost six of seven games starting with an overtime loss at Niagara, with all of the losses coming by three points or less. That led them to work on getting just a little better every day, as Cluess noted, so as to turn those close losses into wins. They haven’t lost since the last loss in that stretch.
The Gaels will continue their journey right where they were last season. This time they will come in with a five-game winning streak, on the upswing, and knowing they made it the best way they can. They won’t have to sweat out Selection Sunday.
