NEW ROCHELLE, NY – For the second time in less than a week, the Iona College men's basketball needed and found a rally to upend a MAAC opponent with tonight's 71-69 victory against Siena.

After trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, the Gaels (10-7, 4-1 MAAC) used a 15-0 run in less than four minutes of playing time to overtake the Saints (5-13, 1-4 MAAC) tonight at the Hynes Center in a rematch of the 2017 MAAC Championship.

Schadrac Casimir led the scoring effort for the Maroon & Gold with 17 points while Roland Griffin contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in addition to shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line in 21 minutes of action. Rickey McGill joined the pair in double-figures behind 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

The Siena backcourt of Ahsante Shivers and Jordan Horn combined for 25 points in the effort. The Saints as a team shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the floor compared to just 38.6 percent (22-for-57) for the Gaels.

The first half featured five ties before the Saints used a 13-5 run in the later stages to build a nine-point advantage with 3:23 remaining. A pair of free throws from Griffin brought Iona within six points at the break as Siena held a 40-34 advantage.

Thomas Hurter, Jr. led all scorers in the opening half with nine points for Siena on 4-for-4 shooting. Casimir posted the half-high for the Gaels with eight points to go with two assists. Siena used a 64.0 shooting percentage (16-for-25) to control the halftime edge.

The Saints continued to build the advantage in the opening minutes of the second half, going up by as many as 12 points more than eight minutes into the period. After a few back-and-forth sequences, the Maroon & Gold outscored the visitors 19-7 to close out the game that included the 15-0 run. Additionally, Iona held Siena without a field goal for nearly seven minutes before Roman Penn 3-pointer with 1:03 to go. A pair of free throws from TK Edogi with 4:11 left tied the game for the hosts before Deyshonee Much tipped in his own miss to give Iona the lead for good.

Casimir pushed the Iona lead to six points with 1:55 left behind a 3-pointer before Penn cut the deficit in half 50 seconds later with the previously mentioned 3-pointer to end the field goal drought for Siena. After Jordan Horn missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, Zach Lewis hit one free throw to push the margin up to two possessions with just nine seconds left. Evan Fisher converted a layup at the final buzzer to make the final a two-point contest.

Iona held a slight 33-32 rebounding advantage, however, generated a 16-6 edge in second chance points while also creating 13 points off of 15 Siena turnovers.

The Gaels return for the last of four straight home games this Sunday when Rider makes the trip to New Rochelle for a 1 pm tip.