Box Score New Rochelle, NY - Kyle Camper drained a three-pointer with 50 seconds to play to break a 49-49 tie and send the Iona College men's basketball team to a thrilling 57-52 win over Delaware at the Hynes Center. The victory was the first for the Gaels (1-6) this season and the first for first-year head coach Kevin Willard.

"I'm really proud of our guys, especially Kyle (Camper) and Dexter (Gray) because the two seniors get to share this first win with me," said Willard. "These guys played extremely hard and really deserved this win."

Iona chipped away at a six-point deficit with 4:43 to play and ended the game on a 14-3 run to come out victorious. The electric crowd of 2,223 spurred on the win as the Maroon & Gold turned up its defensive pressure during its 11 point swing.

After Delware (0-4) stuck the first bucket of the contest, the Gaels took a 5-2 lead on a Milan Prodonovic three pointer and held a modest lead for the remainder of the half. Leading by as many as eight points on a brilliant back door cut and layup by De'Shaune Griffin with a feed by John Kelly, Iona took a 15-7 advantage at 10:43. The Blue Hens hung tough though and trailed 31-29 at the half.

In the second half, Delaware took a two-point lead with less than 12 minutes to play and held on until the Camper bucket. While erasing the six point deficit, junior Devon Clarke converted a layup, got a big offensive rebound and drained two ensuing free throws to tie the score at 49-49. It was Camper though who hit the big shot, set up by a Clarke steal that gave Iona its first lead in over 10 minutes.

"Dev played with great emotion tonight and when he plays like that his athleticism comes out and he is able to do some good things," said Willard. "Despite playing a bit out of his rhythm as our team's point guard tonight, Kyle always performs with a lot of confidence in his game and it allowed him to hit the big bucket down the stretch."

Senior Dexter Gray led the Gaels with 11 points in the win. He also grabbed nine rebounds for the third straight game, and fifth time in seven contests this season. Prodonovic had nine points while Camper, Griffin and Clarke had eight a piece. Kelly had four points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the win.

Delaware's Alphonso Dawson had 11 points to lead five Blue Hens in double-digit scoring. The Gaels held leading scorer Herb Courtney to just a single-point and 0-for-7 shooting from the field in 29 minutes before fouling out in the second half.

The Gaels have a week off before opening up MAAC play next Friday night against Loyola at the Hynes Center. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 and can be heard and watched live via ICGaels.com.