NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team's "Big Three" of senior David Laury and juniors A.J. English and Isaiah Williams combined for 65 of Iona's 81 points in the Gaels 81-73 victory over Quinnipiac in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at the Hynes Center. In the win, English recorded his 1,000th career point and head coach Tim Cluess earned his 200th NCAA win as a head coach.

Laury was the game's leading scorer, matching a career-best 30 points while grabbing eight rebounds. He was 8-of-15 from the field with a career-high three three-point field goals. After missing his first two free throw attempts in the first half, Laury hit 11 straight to finish 11-for-13 from the charity stripe. It was his second 30-point effort of the season. The Gaels have recorded NCAA-leading six total this season with English recording three and freshman Schadrac Casimir's rookie record 40 points earlier this season.

Williams had his second double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Williams was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc with eight rebounds in the second half and was instrumental in a decisive second half run.

English had 13 points, five rebounds, three three-pointers and a team-leading five assists. With his layup at the 14:22 mark of the first half, he became the 36th player in Iona history to record 1,000 points and the sixth in the Cluess-era.

Casimir had six points, four rebounds and four assists, junior Kelvin Amayo posted five points, five rebounds and four assists and rookie Vangelis Bebis recorded five points and recorded a crowd pleasing block in the first half.

The Gaels' decisive run came midway into the second half. Leading by five points, William's tip-in of a Laury miss sparked a 13-0 run over a 2:13 span. Bebis' driving layup with 7:52 left gave Iona a 68-50 advantage, its largest of the game. Iona shot 5-of-7 during the run while Quinnipiac was 0-for-7 with two turnovers.

Bobcat senior Zaid Hearst led his team with 27 points while adding seven rebounds. Rookie Ayron Hutton had a career-high 18 points and eight assists. Junior James Ford Jr. had 10 points while senior Ousmane Drame recorded a team-high nine rebounds.

Iona out shot Quinnipiac 48.2%-35.5%. The Bobcats held a 45-37 advantage on the boards, but the Gaels matched them 19-19 in the second half. Quinnipiac converted its 21 offensive rebounds into 16 points while Iona had 13 second chance points on just seven offensive boards. Despite the large number of offensive rebounds, the Maroon & Gold actually held the Bobcats under their season average. Quinnipiac came into the game rebounding 45.5% of its missed shots and grabbed just 41.2% in the contest. Its offensive rebounding percentage ranks No. 2 in the nation.

Cluess won his 200th NCAA game with the victory. It was his 102nd in four-plus seasons at Iona following 98 in four seasons at Division II LIU Post. His overall NCAA record is 200-73, a .733 winning percentage. Factoring in his tenure at both St. Mary's High School and Suffolk Community College Cluess is 487-161 (.752) in his career as a head coach.

Iona continues a three-game home stand - its longest of the season - on Saturday (Jan. 10) vs. Canisius. The Gaels conclude the stretch next Tuesday (Jan. 13) vs. Fairfield before hitting the road again for three games.