BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Jeff Ruland has been around basketball almost all his life, from eight years in the NBA to a dozen more on the Iona bench, but he’d never seen anything like this. Ravaged by injuries and academics, players ineligible and AWOL, his Gaels went from MAAC champions to the worst season in school history.
“It’s from the penthouse to the outhouse,” Ruland said, “out in the shack where there’s no plumbing.”
That vivid image sums up the Gaels’ rancid season, which came to a merciful end with a 77-62 loss to Rider in the first round of the MAAC tournament last night at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Iona lost its first 22 games and finished 2-28, a tough pill for a program that’s won a record 11 MAAC tourneys, three under Ruland.
“I’m never happy it’s over, but it’s been a long, frustrating year,” Ruland said after losing Kenny Jackson (academics), Gary Springer (torn ACL), Kyle Camper (broken foot) and Dexter Gray (ineligible) for the season, and seeing Younes Idrissi go home to Morocco for Christmas and never come back.
For a team that already graduated a quartet of seniors with a combined 5,000 points, the results were predictable – and painful. With seniors Justin Marshall (16 points last night) and Anthony Bruin the only veterans, the Gaels apparently missed that senior leadership more than they knew.
“We haven’t gotten enough from the upperclassmen all year. That’s what the problem’s been,” Ruland said. “No one wants to follow the scouting report. Everything we said we needed to do we didn’t. We didn’t guard (Jason) Thompson, we gave Mansell (Harris, 18 points) open shots.”
Iona won its only league game Feb. 3, and beating Rider 69-57 gave them some hope of upsetting the seventh-seeded Broncs. But Rider played that game without 6-foot-10 Thompson; last night, the All-MAAC forward had a game-high 24 points and 16 rebounds.
“The younger guys have tried all year long, but if no one’s setting examples for them, eventually you go with the flow, unfortunately,” Ruland said.
ST. PETER’S LOSES
Canisius drilled ninth-seeded St. Peter’s 62-48 in the opening round of the MAAC tournament last night.
Canisius (12-18), the eighth seed, snapped an eight-game losing streak, and swept all three games it played against the Peacocks (5-25) this season. The Golden Griffins, who hadn’t won since beating Iona on Jan. 29, got 19 points from forward Darnell Wilson, who shot 8-of-11 and grabbed eight rebounds.
For St. Peter’s, Todd Sowell had a game-high 21 points. Canisius earned a date in today’s 4 p.m. quarterfinal vs. top-seeded Marist and point guard Jared Jordan, the MAAC Player of the Year and two-time national assist leader.
In the 2 p.m. quarterfinal, fifth-seeded Manhattan (13-16) takes on fourth-seeded Siena (18-11).