Sunday, March 27, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – In a game with multiple offensive swings and plenty of exciting play, the ETSU men’s basketball team had no answers for the high-powered Iona offense in the second half and came up short in a thrilling 83-80 loss to the Gaels in the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament Saturday afternoon at the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.

With the loss, ETSU ends a successful season at 24-12, while Iona improves to 25-11 and will host Santa Clara in the championship game of the CIT Wednesday evening.

“I’m really proud of our guys and the effort they showed against a very good Iona team,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, whose team overcame at 14-0 deficit to open the game to lead much of the contest. “Iona, along with Belmont out of our league, is one of the two best teams to come in here this season. They are really good offensively.

“But I can’t say enough about our team and our senior class. Those guys have averaged winning 22 games a year and have gotten to play in four postseason tournaments. That’s pretty impressive.”