FAIRFAX, VA - The Iona College men's basketball team could not overcome 14 first half turnovers in an 86-81 defeat at George Mason in non-conference play at the Patriot Center. Trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Gaels got within four points in the final 20 seconds of the contest but could not find an equalizer.

Junior Kelvin Amayo had a breakout game for the Gaels scoring a career-high 23 points in the loss including 16 in the second half alone. Amayo was 10-for-12 from the field and added five rebounds and three assists. Rookie Schadrac Casimir posted 17 points and senior David Laury had 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Junior A.J. English had 10 points and five rebounds while classmate Isaiah Williams added eight in the loss.

The Gaels got off to a fast start and led 7-0 less than two minutes into the contest after a nice outlet feed from Laury to Williams led to an early George Mason timeout. After a Casimir three-pointer gave Iona a 14-4 advantage at 16:11, the Patriots went on a 17-4 run over the next 3:59 and led 21-20 after a Jalen Jenkins conventional three-point play. George Mason held a nine point lead with 2:53 remaining in the first half, its largest advantage of the frame. Iona had 14 turnovers in the first half to the Patriots six. The home team took a 10-3 points off turnover advantage to account for the seven-point halftime deficit.

Following a Patrick Holloway three-pointer with 7:08 remaining, George Mason led 66-53. The Gaels chipped away on a 9-2 run and trailed by just six points less than three minutes later. The Patriots regained a double-digit lead with four straight points and held on with a 16-for-19 performance from the free throw line, 2-for-4 from the field over the final 4:17 to hold off the Iona charge.

Marquise Moore had 23 points, doing most of his damage with a 13-for-16 effort from the charity stripe. He added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Isaiah Jackson had 14, Shevon Thompson had 13 points and 15 rebounds, and Holloway, the team's leading scorer, had 10 in the win.

The Gaels out shot (50.0%-43.3%) and out rebounded (37-36) the Patriots but a 17-9 turnover and 27-15 free throw deficit led to the defeat.

The Maroon & Gold returns home for a final contest before the Christmas holiday on Tuesday (Dec. 23) when they host Florida Gulf Coast in a matinee tilt beginning at 2:00 pm.