NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Despite converting 16 3-point field goals, the Iona College men's basketball team was unable to come away with a victory in the third place game of The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase, falling 89-84 to Coastal Carolina.
Rickey McGill led the Gaels (1-4) in scoring behind a 23-point effort to go along with seven assists and two steals.
Zach Lewis added 14 points, nine assists and four rebounds to the effort while
E.J. Crawford matching the scoring effort behind four made 3-pointers. The Maroon & Gold went 16-of-37 from beyond the arc, making up 30 of the made field goals.
Zac Cuthbertson helped the Chants (3-2) to victory with a game-high 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting in addition to six rebounds. Jaylen Shaw fell one assist shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine assists while adding three steals. Demario Beck came off the bench to provide 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting and five rebounds. Coastal Caroline finished the evening with a 57.1 shooting percentage (32-for-56) that included 46 points in the paint.
A small 7-0 run in the first half allowed Coastal Carolina to create a double-digit lead of 28-18 with 4:38 remaining until halftime following a Cuthbertson layup. Iona quickly responded with an 8-0 run capped off by a
Jan Svandrlik 3-pointer to come within two points with 3:23 left in the period. Cuthbertson converted inside on the final two made baskets of the half to give the Chants us a 32-26 halftime lead.
Iona was held to 32.1 percent shooting (9-for-28) in the opening 20 minutes while Coastal Carolina converted 45.2 percent (14-for-31) of its attempts. The Chants also held a 20-4 points in the paint margin in addition to a rebound differential of 23-15.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Maroon & Gold scored seven straight points capped off by a Much 3-pointer less than two minutes in to give the Gaels a 35-32 lead. Lewis gave Iona 3-point edge again before the 16-minute media timeout with another 3-pointer. Coastal Carolina responded to build a 10-point lead following a Beck make from beyond the arc.
After the Chants built another 10-point margin at 60-50, Iona went on a 13-1 spurt to reclaim the lead on a Lewis 3-pointer with 8:10 remaining in regulation. The Gaels grew to margin to six points on two occasions in the next four minutes before maintaining the advantage until the final minute.
Coastal Carolina scored the final 10 points of the game after trailing 84-79 with 1:38 to go to secure the 89-84 win. Beck tied the game for the seventh time on the evening at 59 seconds to go with an inside layup. He added another layup while Cuthbertson added two free throws to create the final score.
Iona returns to the Northeast with a trip to Ohio University on Tuesday, October 28 for a 7:00 pm tipoff.
