Iona College Falls to Ohio State, Energy at Viewing Party Faded as Team Struggled

The No. 15 seed Iona College was trailing the No. 2 seed Ohio State University, 80-53, with less than eight minutes left to play in the 2013 NCAA West Regional matchup, and Linda Bryant, who has worked in Iona’s admission for 20 years, put on her jacket and left Iona College’s viewing party in the Hynes Center on campus.

“I’m getting a migraine,” Bryant said before she left. “They’re not playing like a team. Ohio State is like five fingers making a fist. We’re more like a hand here and a foot here, and they are going in different directions. We aren’t playing together.”

Bryant said she’s been watching Iona basketball for the past 20 years, and throughout the game her passion for the Gaels was as loud as anyone at the viewing party.

But at this point in the game, Bryant showed more energy than Iona’s basketball team, and the once-filled Mulcahy gym was leaking people. Those who remained partook in idle chit chat and attention was diverted from the 15x15 screen to their cell phone screens.

There was sense of defeat among the crowd.

But that wasn’t the case early on. Students, faculty and alumni were enjoying their chicken fingers and iced tea while they watched dance performances by the Iona dance team.

They were loud and fired up as they cheered for every Iona point, every Ohio State miss and every Ohio State turnover.

Iona senior and Redding, CT native Matt Bellantoni, 22, said before the game, “We play a fast-paced game, and they can’t run with us. I think we have a good chance of winning this game.”

That sense of optimism, school pride and confidence extended through half time, even though the Gaels trailed by 10, 43-33. 

“The guys didn’t quit. They came back and 10 points isn’t insurmountable,” said Mike Damergis, an adjunct professor in mass communications and media director at Iona.

Chants of “I-O-N-A” welcomed the second half, but a 9-0 run by Ohio State quieted the audience.

Bellantoni, along with Iona senior and Seattle, WA native Nico Stevens, 22, is familiar with Iona basketball. The two work with Iona College Athletics, updating the Facebook page and live tweeting scores during the games, so they provided analysis before the game.

Stevens said the game was going to come down to Iona senior guard and third-leading scorer in the nation Lamont “Momo” Jones, a Harlem, NY native, versus Ohio State junior guard and a member of the all-defensive team Aaron Craft, a Findlay, OH native.

A matchup won by Craft.

With 18 minutes left in the game, Jones lackadaisically dribbled the ball to the right. Craft saw an opportunity and attacked the ball, which then became Craft’s fifth steal of the night.

“I can’t watch. My eyes are burning,” yelled Bryant, burying her face in her hands.

That summed up the rest of the night as Ohio State continued to distance itself from Iona in the second half, and the crowd noise at the viewing party dwindled with the game clock.

Iona ultimately lost 95-70.

During the half-time show, CBS analysts questioned the Iona coaches’ wardrobe.

Instead of the typical shirt and tie, Iona head coach Tim Cluess, along with the rest of the Iona coaching staff, was wearing a sweat suit.

This was done purposefully as part of the Coaches Cure CF Awareness, which raises awareness to those struggling with Cystic Fibrosis.

A press release sent out by Iona College Athletics states, “Wearing sweat suits at Coaches Cure CF Awareness games highlights and honors the dedicated discipline that those who struggle with this life-threating illness must demonstrate every day.”