Morning Coffee: Jason Brickman and Marvin Dominique Put on a Show in One of Saturday's Top Games

There is going to come the day when the major media outlets will realize that the best games at the beginning of the season aren't necessarily the ones between two teams from major conferences.

The best games live here, in the leagues just outside of the Power 5, or six depending on the day, or month, or year that you are watching.

The best games are those between mid-major teams, and yes, we are including the Atlantic 10 in that group.

Saturday was no exception.

See Iona vs. Cleveland State, or Manhattan vs. La Salle, or even IPFW vs. Dayton.

Those were the games that gave us the drama and intrigue over the course of a college football Saturday afternoon. And they are the games that will mostly be forgotten by the time the season ends and we are looking at potential NCAA Tournament teams.

They will be forgotten for all but those who were there, or following on Twitter, or on some grainy stream online. They won't necessarily determine at-large bids, or seeding in the NCAA Tournament., but they are important, and more fans should be exposed to these games, not just the diehards, like, well, like me.

What everyone will be talking about over their morning coffee:

Manhattan outlasts La Salle in double overtime

It might have been the most entertaining game of the day, and it was unfortunately not shown nationally on television. That is despite featuring a matchup between George Beamon and the duo of Tyrone Garland and Tyreek Duren. The stars didn't disappoint over the 50 minutes of action. Beamon scored 24, and got some excellent additions from his supporting cast of Emmy Andujar, Rhamel Brown and Michael Alvarado. Garland scored 28 and Duren added 17 in the loss.

Side of bacon:

Cleveland State Vikings comeback against Iona

Thanks to the Horizon League's free streaming on its site, we were at least able to grab a peek at the other big game of the day. Cleveland State and Iona battled back and forth over the afternoon, and really it came down to execution in the final minutes. The Vikings overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to turn the game from a laugher into a real battle. Trey Lewis provided the spark over the final minutes while Bryn Forbes finished with 22 points. Anton Grady returned to the court after last season's injury with 13 points and 11 boards. David Laury had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Iona in the loss.

Other bites:

• Parks was right. VMI won the All Military Classic with a 71-63 win over Air Force. DJ Covington led the Keydets with 20 points and Jordan Weethee pulled in 11 rebounds.
• Jason Brickman put on a show with 13 points, 14 assists and six rebounds in a 87-80 win over St. Peter's. Marvin Dominique had 31 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for the Peacocks in the loss.
• Charleston hung with defending National Champion Louisville for 34 minutes but foul trouble finally caught up with the Cougars. Louisville pulled away to a 22-point win making the game look a lot less close than it was. Adjehi Baru had eight points and nine rebounds in the loss.
• USC Upstate unleashed a block party in the final few minutes to steal one on the road at Virginia Tech. Babatunde Olumuyiwa had the biggest rejection in the final minute on what looked like a sure thing floater that would have given the Hokies the lead. The Spartans recovered the loose ball and threw it up court and out of bounds with 0.9 seconds left, but a last second heave by Virginia Tech didn't go. Ty Greene had 17 points in the 64-63 win and Torrey Craig added 13 but shot just 5-for-20 from the floor.
• IPFW looked to be headed for a win at Dayton with an 80-78 lead and the ball. But Jordan Sibert on the Flyers had other ideas. Dayton earned a turnover and dished to Sibert who buried a three at the buzzer to give the Flyers back the victory, 81-80. Pierre Bland had 18 points and two steals for the Mastodons and Dyshawn Pierre led the Flyers with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Cinnamon Rolls:

Dominique's performance for St. Peter's sure looked impressive on paper, and it was. He scored a 74.3 on the Game Score scale. And that still wasn't the best performance in the game. Brickman's 14 assist performance earned him an 81.8 Game Score. That one takes the cake from Saturday.