Iona Men's Basketball (Strive for Five/New Year, New Season)

Iona Men’s Basketball

By Matthew George

A new year and another edition of college basketball continues in session for 2019-2020 season. This goes for the four-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion Iona Gaels. Throughout many roster changes, much adversity, and great triumph, the team has been very successful with Head Coach Tim Cluess under the helm. To go along with four MAAC Championships, the program had booked their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons, ever since 2016. They would take on Iowa State (2016), Oregon (2017), Duke (2018), and North Carolina (2019) respectively. Unfortunately, the Gaels would never make it past the first round of the tournament.

This season so far has been, what some might say, a rollercoaster ride. With three wins and five losses in conference and 5-10 overall, the Gaels are right in the middle of the pack as the season progresses.

In addition to all of this, the Gaels had new additions to the team. With the exit of point guard Rickey McGill due to graduation, who was a tremendous and efficient player, especially in his junior and senior season and managed to win four MAAC Championships in his four years with the program, the team needed a point guard to run the offense and handle the ball alongside Asante Gist. Coach Cluess was able to sign Minnesota Guard Isaiah Washington, who was a four-star recruit and ranked 68th player in country on ESPN coming out of high school at Saint Raymond’s. He was the front-runner of a movement called "Jellyfam", which a series package of crazy layups that added some “English” to it. However, his first two years at Minnesota was underwhelming and shot very poorly from the field. Now back at his home town in New York, Washington will have a more substantial role for the Gaels this season. The Gaels, also, got a commitment from a 6’9” forward transfer from New Mexico State, Mo Thiam. His addition will bring depth, range, and interior defense for the team.

Recapping so far, during non-conference matchups starting against the LaSalle Explorers to the Colorado Buffaloes. The Gaels shot 33.8% (135/400 FG) from the field and 26.7% (48/180 3pt FG) from three-point land. However, the team managed to capture both victory against Stetson and Kennesaw State in the MAAC-Asun Challenge in the HP Field House at the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex. Tajuan Agee lead the team in those wins putting up 15 points and 12 rebounds against Stetson and 20 points and 10 rebounds and Kennesaw State. He was eventually named MAAC-Asun MVP for his outstanding performances and efficiency. Generally, non-conference play is difficult to manage due to the lack of knowledge of play styles amongst teams across the world. The Gaels struggled to either maintain a lead or make a comeback throughout these games. This can be supported by the game against Princeton at the Barclay’s Center. The team was up by 12 at the end of the first half shooting 59% from the field and made four three. However, the lack of defense, no making a single three, and giving up six threes to Princeton cost the team to lose in overtime with the final score of 90-86.

Moving on to conference play, most games were very close and decided by a single-digit difference. In addition, their struggles to maintain a lead carried over, in which the Gaels either blew leads or opponents were come back from behind double figures. Despite this, the team’s efficiency has improved, especially especially from downtown. Furthermore, Isaiah Washington has been productive at the start of conference play. Despite the team’s last loss to Monmouth 94-88, Washington put up a double-double with a season high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds and shot 5-8 from three.

As conference play continues and the MAAC Tournament draws ever near, the Gaels need to be able to continue to shoot efficiency, especially from three, which currently the team is shooting 32% from three, maintain al lead throughout each game, and close out victories. The amount of pressure will be mounted on the team since they are chasing to win their fifth straight MAAC Championship. Skies the limit for the Gaels’s future as the season progresses.