BROOKLYN, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team used a late second-half surge to hold of Long Island in a 68-61 victory in non-conference action on the road.   After tying the score at 53-53 with 3:43 remaining, the Gaels used two straight steal and layups from their full-court pressure defense to take the lead for good.

"I'm proud of our guys for playing tough for 40 minutes and finishing at the end," said head coach Kevin Willard.  "After a couple of tough endings the last few games it was nice to go out on the road and get a victory."

The Gaels (3-5) struggled offensively in the first half particularly from the three-point line where they shot just 2-for-16.  Long Island (2-5) used a tightly packed zone defense to limit Iona's chances inside.  Despite shooting just 32.1% from the field in the frame, the Gaels trailed by just five points heading into halftime.

Junior Milan Prodanovic sparked the Gaels second half comeback midway through by hitting three straight three pointers to give his squad the lead for the first time since early in the contest.   Kashif Pratt kept the momentum going by hitting a three pointer of his own on Iona's next possession.  Up by two, Iona got a defensive stop and Pratt converted a fast break layup to stretch the lead to four with 8:41 to play.   The Blackbirds would rally to tie with 7:04 remaining and would not gain more than a two point lead before Jenkins' game tying layups.

The Gaels turned up the pressure "D" with the score tied at 53-53 and less than four minutes to play. Rookie Scott Machado tipped an inbound pass to himself and converted a quick layup.  Prodanovic picked up a steal on LIU's next try at crossing the time line and got the ball to sophomore Alejo Rodriguez to extend the lead to four with 3:12 on the clock.  The Blackbirds scored from the free throw line on the next possession to pull within two.  The Gaels scored six straight on two Machado layups and a third from senior Devon Clarke to take its largest lead of the contest with 90 seconds remaining.   The Gaels held on at the free throw line and on the defensive end to pick up the 68-61 victory.

Pratt led the way with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and two three pointers.   Machado and Clarke each had 10 points a piece while Prodanovic and sophomore Rashon Dwight added nine.  Machado and Dwight had tremendous efforts outside of the scoring column.   Machado added four rebounds and a season-high four steals while dight had five boards, four assists and two swipes of his own.  The Gaels held the Blackbirds to 33.9% shooting from the game with the assistance of a 9-for-31 (29.0%) second half clamp down.

The Gaels return home to the Hynes Athletics Center to take on Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday afternoon.  The two squads complete a home-and-home series that began with an Iona win in Loretto, PA last season.