UAA Athletics

Sharpshooters carry Iona into Shootout championship

The Iona Gaels delivered a 1-2 punch to beat Weber State 76-54 in Friday's late semifinal game at the GCI Great Alaska Shootout.

That's 1 as in Sam Cassell Jr., who wears No. 1, and 2 as in E.J. Crawford, who wears No. 2. Together they were worth 29 points, nearly all of them from long-range.

Behind Cassell, Crawford and Jon Severe — who scored nine of his 16 points in the final minutes — Iona shot 52 percent (13 of 25) from 3-point range. Those three were a combined 9 of 18 behind the arc.

Cassell poured in a game-high 18 points and Crawford drained all three of his 3-pointers to finish with 11 points to help Iona survive the loss of another sharpshooter, Deyshonee Much, who left the Alaska Airlines Center court with a knee injury in the first half.

The win gives the Gaels (2-2) another shot at a team that beat them less than a week ago.

Nevada, a 67-61 winner over Buffalo in the other semifinal, picked up a win over Iona on Sunday in Reno, where it rallied for a 91-76 win.

Iona coach Tim Cluess said he's looking forward to the rematch. "You always want to play a team that beat you," he said.

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But Iona might be missing a heavyweight for the title bout. A 6-foot-5 junior guard, Much was the 10th-most accurate 3-point shooter in Division I last season — his 80 triples came on 44.7 percent shooting — and he racked up nine points, seven rebounds and four assists against Nevada.

Much left the arena on crutches Friday night and will be evaluated before Saturday's 8:30 p.m. championship game, Cluess said.

Much scored eight points with three assists in eight minutes Friday, and he hit two 3-pointers during an 23-2 run that essentially decided the game during an eight-minute span in the first half.

The Gaels drained five 3-pointers and Cassell dropped in seven points in that stretch, during which Iona hit 8 of 12 shots and held Weber State scoreless for five minutes. The run started with a 3-pointer by Cassel that tied the game 12-12, and by the time it was over Iona was up 32-14.

Iona led by double figures the rest of the way.

Weber State (1-4) was hurt by 37.8 percent shooting, including 5 of 17 from 3-point range. Dusty Baker's 12 points and Kyndahl Hill's eight points and seven rebounds led the Wildcats of the Big Sky Conference.

Weber State, which committed 14 turnovers to Iona's six, threatened to make things close midway through the second half.

Iona was up 62-41 when Crawford picked up his fourth foul with 11 minutes to play. With Jordan Washington, a senior forward, playing with three fouls and Much unavailable, the Gaels slowed their pace to take time off the clock.

On four straight possessions they didn't shoot until the shot clock was down to single digits, and each time they missed shots. Three times Weber State answered with baskets, and at the 6:24 mark Iona's lead was down to 14 points, 62-48.

That's when Severe and Taylor Bessick came through for the Gaels. Severe hit two triples and was fouled while shooting another and sank all three free throws to supply nine of Iona's final 14 points, and Bessick, a 6-9 senior, blocked a shot and grabbed two defensive rebounds down the stretch. Bessick finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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