NEWARK, NJ - Schadrac Casimir's only four points of the afternoon proved to be the difference for the Iona College men's basketball team as his late free throws secured a 74-70 win at NJIT.

With the score tied at 68, Rickey McGill get in the paint and finished to put the Gaels (4-4) in the lead at 70-68 with 41 seconds remaining. Casimir followed by going perfect on four free throws in the final 13 seconds to offset an NJIT (5-4) layup with nine seconds remaining. McGill also drew a charge with 18 seconds left with Iona ahead by just two and set up the Casimir free throws.

McGill finished the evening with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists while playing 38 minutes. E.J. Crawford produced the team-high of 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Deyshonee Much chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Anthony Tarke netted the game-high of 21 points to be the lone Highlander in double-figures scoring in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Abdul Lewis controlled 15 rebounds in the effort as the hosts held a 38-34 rebounding advantage despite a 30-26 points in the paint advantage for the Maroon & Gold.

A 19-11 run from Iona towards the end of the first half helped turn a 12-12 game into a 31-23 advantage. The Gaels created two additional eight-point margins prior to the halftime break before a jumper from Crawford gave the visitors the largest lead of the opening 20 minutes of nine at 40-31 going into the intermission.

Despite being outrebounded 21-17 in the first period, the Maroon & Gold controlled a points in the paint advantage of 16-4. Crawford scored 16 of his points in the opening half while Iona created 10 assists on 14 made field goals.

After extending the advantage to 12 points early in the second half a 3-pointer from Much, the Iona lead quickly started to vanish as NJIT eventually claimed a 62-61 lead with 8:09 remaining in regulation behind a Diandre Wilson layup. TK Edogi brought the advantage back to Iona 64-62 nearly three minutes later with his first career 3-pointer.

NJIT was able to tie the score twice more, however, McGill gave the Gaels the lead back following both times and led into the clutch free throws from Casimir.

Iona moved to 3-2 on the season when connecting on 10 or more 3-pointers behind a 10-for-20 performance as Crawford, McGill and Much all contributed two makes apiece. The Maroon & Gold are now 21-4 in such games since the start of last season.

The Gaels return home this Tuesday for a 7 pm non-conference matchup with Yale inside the Hynes Center.