NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Freshman Scott Machado tallied a team-high 14 points and was backed up by senior Gary Springer's first double-double of the season as the Iona College men's basketball team held off Fairfield 64-60 in MAAC action at the Hynes Center.  The Gaels (6-9, 1-3 MAAC) led for all but 35 seconds in their first conference victory of the season.

Trailing 3-2 after two possessions, the Maroon & Gold went on a 14-5 run to take an eight point lead with 11:00 on the clock. Iona led by as many as 14 points when sophomore Alejo Rodriguez' layup with 2:12 to play in the half gave his squad a 28-14 advantage.  Fairfield (8-6, 2-2 MAAC) cut the deficit to six points before senior Devon Clarke's thunderous dunk put Iona ahead 30-22 at the break.

The Gaels continued to nurse a single-digit lead throughout the second half.  With 5:49 to play, rookie Trinity Fields drained two free throws to give Iona a 54-43 lead.  Freshman Jermel Jenkins gave Iona its largest advantage of the half - 13 points - on two free throws a little over a minute later.  The Stags then mounted a furious comeback that saw Iona's lead cut to just two points with 10 seconds remaining.  Machado drained two free throws with seven seconds on the clock to ice the victory.

Macahdo added five assists and three rebounds with just two turnovers to his 14 points.  He was 7-of-8 from the free throw line.  In his second game back after returning from injury, Springer posted 13 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes of play.  Fields added eight points while Rodriguez posted six points and nine rebounds in the win.

The Stags were led by junior forward Greg Nero's 18 points and seven boards.  Senior guard Jonathan Han had 13 in the loss.

The two teams matched each other from the field both shooting 21-of-55 (38.2%).  The Gaels had one more three pointer and three more free throws to account for the scoring differential.   The Maroon & Gold out rebounded Fairfield 40-31, the second highest rebounding total of the season for the Gaels.

Iona completes its three-game homestand next Friday night when they host Canisius for a 7:30 pm tip-off at the Hynes Center.

Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Fairfield.....................   22   38  -   60
Iona College..................   30   34  -   64