NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team suffered a 81-78 defeat to Siena in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at the Hynes Center. Despite a 23-9 turnover margin in favor of the Gaels, the Saints erased a 12-point second half deficit and held on as a game-tying shot by senior A.J. English was just short at the buzzer.

English led all scorers with 31 points. He added eight assists and five rebounds in the loss. Senior Isaiah Williams chipped in 20 points, six rebounds and four steals while graduate Aaron Rountree had 12 points, two steals and two blocks. Senior Ibn Muhammad had a season-high eight assists to go along with four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Deyshonee Much also had four steals in the loss.

Siena was led by freshman Nico Clareth's 20-point, seven rebound effort. Both juniors Brett Bisping and Javion Ogunyemi had 19 points. Bisping completed a double-double with 13 boards while Ogunyemi posted a game-high four blocked shots.

The Gaels built a 63-51 second half advantage with 11:27 to play following a Williams three-pointer. The lead was trimmed to one point over the next 3:40 as the Saints scored 11 straight points as the Gaels missed six straight shot attempts. Senior Ryan Oliver's three-pointer from the wing gave Siena its first lead since the midway point of the first half with 5:39 to play at 67-65. The Saints led by as many as seven points with 2:17 to play. Iona scored six straight with four English free throws and a Muhammad layup with 42 ticks remaining to make it a one point game.

With a chance to tie with less than 10 seconds remaining, Ogunyemi corralled a missed layup by English and appeared to step out of bounds, but a foul was called on Rountree sending the Siena big man to the line for two free throws and a four point, 80-76 lead. The Gaels scored quickly on an English dunk. Clareth converted 1-of-2 with five ticks left after he was fouled on the inbound attempt by the Saints. English's 40-footer from straight away rimmed out and the Gaels lost just their second home contest of the season.

Iona plays its penultimate game at the Hynes Center Monday evening against Quinnipiac with its toughest road trip of the season to follow at Monmouth, Siena and Manhattan.