KINGSTON, RI – Rhode Island was able to edge out the Iona College men's basketball team this evening 80-74 in the non-conference finale for the Gaels (6-6) during the 2017-18 season at The Ryan Center.
The Rams (7-3) used a 53.3 (16-for-30) shooting percentage and 23-12 rebounding advantage in the second half to overcome a one-point halftime deficit. Jarred Terrell scored 18 of his 23 points in the final half for hosts. Stanford Robinson added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to the winning effort while Jeff Dowtin turned in11 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Rickey McGill scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the final period for the Maroon & Gold to go along with four assists.
Roland Griffin came off the bench for 12 points with four rebounds while
Schadrac Casimir notched 10 points and three assists in 27 minutes.
After falling behind 11-4 in the first half, Iona rallied a 14-4 run to claim a three-point advantage following a
Deyshonee Much free throw with 9:33 remaining in the period. In the final moments of the stanza, the Maroon & Gold scored five straight points before Terrell connected on two straight free throws to have the Gaels ahead 31-30 at the break.
Iona shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) in the first half compared to 33.3 percent (12-for-36) shooting from Rhode Island to earn the one-point lead while also claiming a 21-17 rebounding advantage. Casimir and Griffin evenly split 12 points to lead the Maroon & Gold.
The Gaels pushed the margin to eight with the first seven points of the second half before claiming their largest lead of the game of nine, 41-32, on a 3-pointer from
E.J. Crawford less than three minutes in. From that point, Rhode Island rallied off a 16-5 run to take back the lead with less than 12 minutes to go.
After both teams went back-and-forth, the Rams used another run of 15-6 to claim their largest lead of 10 points with 54 seconds left. Despite Iona cutting the deficit to four, 78-74, after a Crawford lay up and free throw, Rhode Island was able to secure the victory with a pair of free throws from Terrell with 11 seconds left.
Terrell shot 7-of-10 from the field in the last half towards his 18 points and helped the hosts outscore the Gaels 50-43. Rhode Island also generated 23 points off 14 Iona turnovers in addition to 21 second chance points.
The Gaels look ahead to the MAAC opener with a trip to Western New York to face Niagara on Friday, December 29 at 7 pm. Iona finishes the quick trip on Sunday, December 31 at Canisius for a 1 pm start.
