Box Score NEW ROCHELLE, NY- The front court duo of senior Dexter Gray and junior Gary Springer carried the load for the Iona College men's basketball team on Friday, scoring a combined 38 points in the contest. Gray tied his career high in Maroon & Gold with 20 points while counterpart Springer; matched his career high with 18 points and recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 rebounds. The Gaels (10-15, 6-7 MAAC) managed to defend against a scrappy Canisius squad (4-19, 2-11 MAAC) and held on for a 66-59 win at the Hynes Athletics Center.

Gray set the tone early for the Gaels, with a quick baseline jumper to start the game. The Golden Griffins showed heart as they answered back with a three pointer from freshmen Elton Frazier, who finished with 11 points in the game. With the score tied at three, Springer put his team up by two with a thunderous two point jam, of a nice feed by freshman Rashon Dwight. Springer's energy seemed to spark the teams' aggressive play right from the tip.

"Gary brings it night in and night out," said first-year head coach Kevin Willard of the low post spark plug. "He has the potential to be a dominant player in this league. I expect him to go out and get double-doubles each night."

Despite the Iona's aggressive play, the Golden Griffins would not back down. Led by Frazier, who scored seven of their first twelve points, they kept the game close for most of the first half.

"They're a scrappy team," Springer said of Canisius' style of play. "We knew we had to stop their transition play, so we just took it from there."

With five minutes left in the first half, De'shaune Griffin knocked down back-to-back three's, to put the Maroon & Gold up 26-19 and give them a slight cushion. Gray capped off a 7-1 run with a layup, to give the Gaels a ten point lead, their largest of the half. Iona managed to hold the lead going in to the locker room up nine, 32-23. The Gaels shot 48% from the field, while holding the Griffins to just 36% in the first.

Canisius' sophomore standout, Frank Turner turned it on out of the intermission, netting all twelve of his points in the second half. Turner sparked a 9-2 run for the Golden Griffins early in the second, to cut the deficit to just two points, 32-34. Turner's layup at the 16:02 mark gave the visitors its only lead of the half, 37-36.

"Our goal heading out of the locker room was to not to let them go on a second half run," Springer said. "Since we were unable to stop them, we had to buckle down and not to let the second half dictate whether we won or lost."

The Gaels met the challenge midway through the second, with a 9-0 run, courtesy of Gray, junior Devon Clarke and a three-point bomb by sophomore Milan Prodanovic. The second-year long distance threat finished the game with 11 points and four rebounds while shooting 3-6 from behind the arc. Prodanovic struck again at the nine minute mark, hitting back-to-back trifectas while giving Iona a double-digit lead. Canisius cut the lead to four in the closing seconds of the game but the Gaels held tough at the free throw line, to put the game away.

With this win, the Gaels' stand just one game under .500 in the MAAC and are in seventh place in the conference. Iona looks to extend its winning streak on Sunday, February 10 against Fairfield. With three straight victories, the Maroon & Gold seem to be clicking at the right time of year, as they hope to carry the winning play in to tournament time.

"We've looked at our schedule and we know we have to win games," Willard said. "It's either win now or end up in a seven or eight seed in the playoffs and have to play on the tournament's first day."