NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team used a stingy defensive effort and strong rebounding to overcome an unusually tough shooting night to earn a 65-52 win over Niagara in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at the Hynes Center. Senior A.J. English scored 21 points and junior Jordan Washington had 20 to help the Gaels improve to 4-0 in MAAC play, to their third straight win overall, their 24th straight in New Rochelle and the 125th victory for head coach Tim Cluess as the Maroon & Gold's skipper.

With the win, Cluess moved into sole possession of third place on Iona's all-time wins list, trailing only Jeff Ruland (139) and Jim McDermott (319). He passed two other Iona Hall of Famers in Pat Kennedy (124) and Jim Valvano (95) and is 125-60 in five-plus seasons in New Rochelle.

In his second game back in the lineup, English battled for his 21 points on the night with a 6-for-15 shooting effort. He had three three-pointers and was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe while adding four rebounds and three assists. Washington had 16 of his 20 points in the second half while grabbing eight rebounds in just 21 minutes of play. Fresh off a MAAC Player of the Week honor for his efforts in Iona's two wins last week, senior Isaiah Williams had his second double-double in three games with 10 points, while matching a season and career-high with 12 boards for the third time in 2015-16. Graduate Aaron Rountree contributed a season-best 10 points off the bench.

A pair of Niagara freshmen paced the visitors with forwards Marvin Prochet and Dominic Robb recording 11 and 10 points respectively.

For the second straight contest, Iona held its opponent to less than 35.0% shooting as the Purple Eagles converted just 32.8% of its attempts. The Gaels held a 44-38 rebounding advantage. The 52 points surrendered was the lowest of the 2015-16 campagn, and second lowest in 185 games of the Cluess-era.

The Gaels quickly jumped out to a 8-0 advantage and led 10-2 just over six minutes into the contest. A cold stetch that saw Iona go scoreless for more than three minutes and without a field goal for nearly six minutes allowed Niagara back into the game. The Purple Eagles led by as many as four with 4:33 to play before an 11-2 run to end the half gave the Maroon & Gold a five point cushion heading into the break.

Niagara tied the score for the final time with 15:39 to play after Emile Blackman's jumper evened the game at 37-37. The Gaels scored eight straight points over in a 1:14 span, punctuated by a steal and emphatic breakaway dunk by Rountree to regain a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Blackman made it a two-point game with 9:47 to play, but a 10-1 Iona run opened the score to 59-48 at 5:16 following an English drive to the hoop. The Gaels largest margin was represented in the final score after English sank two free throws with 88 seconds remaining.

The Gaels continue a four-game home stand Thursday night vs. Rider in an 8:00 pm tip on ESPN3. It is a second game of a doubleheader with Iona's women's squad who is also unbeaten in MAAC play and hosts nemesis Marist at 5:00 pm.