Iona comes out with an 8-0 lead on 2 3's and a dunk. They have also blocked 2 of my shots and are playing excellent defense.
4 minutes into the game, Andres with a drive into the lane draws a foul and hits both FT's.
We end up working the rest of the half to recover from that early deficit. We do a decent job of chipping at the lead. 34-28 at the half, they lead.
Collier, their SG, has 12 points and is the player of the half.
Andres leads our team with 15 points. Solomon has 8 and no one else on my team has more than 3. My goal for the 2nd half is to get Hodari and Santos more involved offensively.
With 5:26 to go, we close the gap to 4 points, but all of our starters are exhausted except for Andres who is a little tired. He comes back from the bench and they all rest. 59-55.
With 2:54 to go and down by 2, we get 2 starters back in with Hodari and Santos coming back tired but not exhausted.
With 2 minutes to go, Solomon comes back in as well. Down 63-61.
After Hodari helps force a stop, Andres drives into the lane and gets the foul! He hits the first, but misses the second. 63-62.
After they hit a layup on a nice drive, Solomon responds with a 3 to tie it up! 65 all.
A BS goaltending call on Belser in which I thought he blocked it cleanly gives them the lead again.
With 5 seconds left, Andres strokes a 12 foot jumper! Tied at 67. Good defense forces a missed 3! We are going to OT!
After 2 minutes of no scoring, Solomon with a drive into the lane gets a collapsing defense and kicks it out to an open Andres for a 3! 70-67! Andres now has 30 in the game.
Both teams with tired players and both teams are missing shots. Still, they get into the lane and draw a foul with 1:23 to go.
Fortunately, Stokes misses the first FT. We are up 70-68.
Belser who I kept in for his size gets the unexpected basket on a great play which frees him up for the easy dunk! Santos with the nice assist. 72-68 with 42 seconds left.
They respond with a quick basket and then intentionally foul Andres. Despite being tired, he drills both FT's!!! 74-70.
Solomon blocks their 3 point attempt! He misses both of his FT attempts after they intentionally foul him but Belser gets the board and the slam dunk! 76-70. 22 seconds left.
They miss their 3's down the stretch and we hit our FT's. 79-70 win in a nice road upset that balances out the unexpected home loss earlier
Corey Stokes is their best 3 point shooter. Andres and Santos held the SF to 13 points on 4 of 15 shooting!
Prosper Collier, their star SG, was held to 19 points on 8 of 20 shooting!
Andres was the player of the game with 32 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 1 block. He shot 12 of 21, 2 of 2, and 6 of 7.
Solomon had 17 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
Hodari had 13 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Santos had 9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a steal. He shot 2 of 8 but was 1 of 1 from the arc.
Pait had 0 points and 6 boards in 29 minutes. Belser who I played all of OT and down the stretch had 5 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 1 TO in just 16 minutes. The 7'1 261 pound senior is showing me that he deserves a bit more PT.