Box Score BUFFALO, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team escaped with a 78-77 double overtime victory over Canisius in MAAC action at the Koessler Center. The Gaels (9-10, 4-4 MAAC) held off the Golden Griffins (6-12, 1-7 MAAC) in the second overtime to sweep its Western New York trip for just the third time in 19 seasons.
Gary Springer scored six of his team-high 16 points in the second overtime to lead his team in the victory while grabbing nine rebounds in the win. Leading by one point with 6.4 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Springer was fouled on a missed rebound attempt. He landed on his elbow and was forced to come out of the game with an elbow injury. Junior
Milan Prodanovic drained two free throws in his replacement to give Iona a 78-75 advantage. Canisius junior Frank Turner dribbled the length of the court and hit a two-point jumper with less than a second remaining and the buzzer sounded on the ensuing inbound attempt.
Rookie
Scott Machado was also instrumental in the Gaels second OT surge. While Springer tallied the first six points of the frame, Machado tallied four of the last six, the final two coming on Prodanovic free throws. He finished the game with 12 points and a game-high eight assists to go along with two steals in 39 minutes of play. Senior
Devon Clarke added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Gaels also got strong performances from sophomore
Alejo Rodriguez and freshmen
Trinity Fields and
Jermel Jenkins. The rookie duo had eight points a piece. Jenkins hit a huge three-point field goal in the second overtime to put Iona up five points with 1:31 to play.
In the concentrated team effort junior
Rashon Dwight contributed four points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks and three of
Jonathan Huffman's seven points came in a huge spot as he drained a three from the wing with 18.4 seconds left in the first overtime to knot the score at 65-65.
Turner led the way for the Griffs with 23 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Greg Logins posted 17 points and 12 rebounds. He played the final 12:49 of regulation with four fouls before picking up his fifth early in the second overtime.
The Gaels topped Niagara and Canisius on the road in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign. The only other time the event occurred was in the first instance of the series in 1990-91.
Iona returns to the Metropolitan Area next weekend when they play Manhattan at Madison Square Garden on Saturday (Jan. 24).
