BUFFALO, NY – Host Canisius connected on 16 3-pointers and held the Iona College men's basketball scoreless for the final three minutes of action to capture an 89-83 MAAC victory this evening at the Koessler Athletic Center.

After Rickey McGill converted two free throws with 3:10 left in regulation, tying the game at 83-83, the Griffs (16-11, 9-7 MAAC) scored six unanswered points to end the game. Jermaine Crumpton started the run with a 3-pointer from the left corner to put Canisius ahead for good with the 16th trey of the game, the most given up by the Maroon & Gold (17-10, 10-6 MAAC) this season.

Jordan Washington and Jon Severe each paced Iona with 15 points while Washington added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Desyhonee Much added 13 points and four rebounds off the bench. In the effort, the Gaels shot 50.0 percent (30-for-60) from the field and 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) at the line.

Phil Valenti led six Griffs in double-figures behind 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Meanwhile, Crumpton totaled a game-high four 3-pointers towards 17 points and eight rebounds. Kiefer Douse and Kassius Robertson were each credited with three makes from beyond the arc towards 16 and 11 points respectively.

After falling behind 14-4 to start the contest, Iona rallied to take the lead at 20-19 on an E.J. Crawford 3-pointer with 12:03 left in the first half. However, Canisius rallied off 12 straight points in less than five minutes to regain a double-digit lead of 31-20.

Playing to the story line of the first half, Iona fought back to tie the game at 41 with 45 seconds left on a Much 3-pointer. A Robertson trey and two free throws from Valenti ended the scoring in the period and pushed Canisius ahead 46-41 at the break.

Douse scored 11 of his points in the first 20 minutes in addition to Chris Atkinson coming off the bench for 10 points. Washington led the Maroon & Gold with 10 points and five rebounds behind four of the team's five made free throws. Canisius tallied 10 free throws in the half and also shot 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Iona started the second period 11-of-11 from the field with the first miss coming more than eight minutes into play. The stretch provided seven lead changes and five ties before the first miss with 11:46 remaining.

Despite an additional two lead changes and four ties the rest of the way, Iona finished the final 11 minutes shooting just 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) from the field. Crumpton led the Griffs' final charge with nine points in less than nine minutes, including the final go-ahead 3-ponter.

In the effort, Iona outscored Canisius 36-24 in the paint in addition to Much and Washington leading 30 points off the bench. However, the final made field goal for the Gaels came with 5:32 still remaining as the team managed just made three free throws the rest of the way.

The Maroon & Gold play the final regular season road game of the year on Friday with a trip to Poughkeepsie to face Marist at 7:00 pm.