NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's basketball program opened its 2018-19 campaign with a thrilling come-from-behind win at the Hynes Center against the University at Albany. Behind four double-digit scorers, the Gaels rebounded from being down 15 in the first half and pulled out a 72-68 decision.

GAME SUMMARY

Albany jumped out to an 11-1 lead over the first 3:30 minutes resulting in Iona head coach Tim Cluess calling an early timeout. The Great Danes maintained their double-digit lead throughout the majority of the first half.
 
The deficit for Iona grew to as large as fifteen on numerous of occasions with the latest coming with 6:19 remaining before halftime.
 
The Maroon & Gold began to find a motion to their offense over the final five minutes of the period. Key baskets from junior Niksa Nikolic and freshman Andrija Ristanovic brought Iona back to within one with 58 seconds left in the first. Cameron Healy did sink a late three-pointer for Albany to push its lead to 30-26.
 
Iona crept crawling closer to taking the lead in the second half, always being within one or two possessions until junior Ben Perez finally sent the Hynes Center crowd into a heated fervor. Perez hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 11:07 on the clock to give Iona a 46-44 lead.
 
The Great Danes responded to this first Gaels crash with a three-pointer from Rayshawn Miller to retake the lead. Iona and Albany traded the lead a handful of times until senior Rickey McGill put his permanent stamp on the game. With 8:34 remaining in the game, the Spring Valley, NY native made a jumper to give the Maroon & Gold a two-point edge. Just 13 seconds later, after picking off Albany in the backcourt, McGill sunk his second three of the game to make it 58-53.
 
Following a timeout, Albany held Iona scoreless for three minutes and tied the game at 58 with 5:14 remaining. Junior Isaiah Still ended the cold stretch with a fast break bucket and the Gaels would never look back. The Great Danes got to within one-possession on multiple occasion in the final minute, but McGill, and junior Tajuan Agee made key free throws to secure the win.

EYE ON THE STATS

• Junior E.J. Crawford led Iona with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Other double-digit scorers include McGill with 12, and Agee and Prez both scoring 10. McGill scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
• Still had a team-high eight rebounds and McGill led all distributors with nine assists.
• Iona had 33 points off 22 Albany turnovers. The Maroon & Gold had 13 turnovers and the Great Danes scored just 10 points on the extra possessions.
• The Gaels won the game despite shooting 24.0% from beyond the arc. Iona did not with a game last season when it shot below 25.0% from long range. The lowest percentage Iona shot from three-point range in a win last season was against Monmouth (1/19/18); the Gaels shot 28.0%.
• Seven players had steals for Iona. It had 12 as a team with Agee leading the way against three. Still and Ristanovic each had one block.
• Iona won its 50^th even season-opener. The Gaels improved to 3-0 under coach Cluess and 16-2 overall when opening up the season in New Rochelle, NY. The Maroon & Gold have now won five straight home season openers.

STICK WITH THE TREND

Iona played 10 games last season where it faced double-digit deficits and where they eventually erased the lead before the final buzzer. Iona went 6-4 in the games last season.

UP NEXT

Iona's next game is on the road at New Mexico on Tuesday, Nov. 13. The game is at 9:00 PM ET in Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. It begins an extended singular road trip where the Maroon & Gold will also travel to Las Vegas for the MGM Resorts Main Event and Providence.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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