TULSA, OK - The Iona College men's basketball team cut a 24-point deficit with just over five minutes to play down to seven with under 90 seconds remaining but came up short in a 90-81 defeat at Tulsa in non-conference play at the Reynolds Center. Senior A.J. English scored 26 of his game-high 31 points in the second half to lead the Gaels.

English shot 8-of-18 from the field with four three-pointers and was 11-of-12 from the charity stripe to account for his 31 points. He added six assists, two rebounds and two blocks in 38 minutes.

Junior Jordan Washington had his first double-double in Maroon & Gold with 18 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Deyshonee Much added 14 points and three steals. Senior Isaiah Williams matched his career high with 12 rebounds while scoring four points and adding three assists. Graduate Aaron Roundtree had seven points and five boards in the loss.

Tulsa had four double-digit scorers with senior Shaquille Harrison posting 25 points and classmate James Woodard posting 21. They had six boards each to lead the team.

The Gaels were outshot 51.7%-41.7% but held a slight 38-37 edge on the boards.

English gave Iona a 15-6 advantage less than six minutes in to the contest on a jumper from the elbow. Tulsa scored 12 of game's next 14 points over the next 2:20 to erase the deficit and take a 18-17 lead with just under 12 minutes to go. Following a Much three-pointer at 7:36, the Golden Hurricane scored five straight points to take the lead for good.

Down 86-62 at the 5:07 mark, Iona scored 17 straight points. Following senior Ibn Muhammad's three from the wing with 1:12 left, the Gaels trailed 86-79. Tulsa hit four of six free throw attempts in the final 54 seconds to hold on to the 90-81 win.

After an eight day break for finals, Iona is back in action Dec. 16 at the Hynes Center against reigning SWAC champion Texas Southern.