NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Junior Jordan Washington had 22 points and senior Isaiah Williams posted 21 in leading the Iona College men's basketball team to an 83-73 win over Texas Southern in non-conference action. The Gaels set a new program record with their 22nd straight victory at the Hynes Center in their win over the two-time defending SWAC Championship. Only eight other teams in the NCAA currently have a longer streak.

Playing without the services of three returning starters from last season's 26-win team, the Gaels held off the Tigers with a torrid second half shooting effort. Seniors A.J. English and Kelvin Amayo and sophomore Schadrac Casimir combined to score more than 45 points per game last season and were all unavailable due to injury.

Washington shot 10-of-14 from the field while adding three rebounds. Williams shot 8-of-13 from the field, 5-of-5 from beyond the arc and had a team-leading eight rebounds. Rookie Jahaad Proctor chipped in 16 points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench. Grad student Aaron Rountree posted nine points and six rebounds with a career-high nine assists in the win. Sophomore Deyshonee Much had seven points while senior Ibn Muhammad posted four points and four assists and junior Taylor Bessick had four points and four boards to account for the Gaels 83 points.

Iona never trailed in the contest, though the score was tied on three occasions for a total of 1:41 minutes. After Texas Southern's Orlando Coleman hit a three-pointer with 4:54 remaining in the first half to even the game at 24-24, Proctor gave the Maroon & Gold the lead the team would not relinquish with a three-ball on the next possession and led 38-34 at the break.

Nursing a single-digit lead for most of the second half, Bessick's dunk off a Rountree feed put Iona ahead 62-52 with 10:02 left for the team's first lead of 10 or more. Williams' three-pointer from the wing with 7:51 remaining gave Iona its largest lead at 70-57. The Tigers crept back and took advantage of some untimely Iona turnovers with a 12-2 run to make it a one possession game following a Derrick Griffin lob dunk with 4:18 to play. Proctor followed with two free throws but a conventional three-point play by Griffin made the score 74-72 at the 3:45 mark.

A huge three-pointer by Muhammad from straight away stretched the lead back to five points. With a 77-73 advantage and less than 90 seconds remaining, Iona scored the final six points of the contest on a Washington dunk and two free throws each from Much and Proctor.

Coleman scored 23 points off the bench to lead Texas Southern. Former Manhattan commit Chris Thomas had 18 points and six rebounds. Iona held Tiger rookie Derrick Griffin to just seven points and five rebounds after coming into the contest averaging more than 19 and 12. The highly-touted two-sport standout joined the squad four games ago following the completion of a highly successful football campaign for the Tigers.

Iona shot 54.5% for the game including 15-of-24 (62.5%) in the second half.

The Gaels hit the road for the next three games starting at Rhode Island this Saturday.