NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's basketball team dropped its final non-conference contest to Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon, 78-71. The Crusaders downed the Gaels at the Hynes Center shooting 53.7% from the floor and 41.7% from long range. Junior Tajuan Agee four Iona players in double-figures with his second career double-double.

GAME SUMMARY

The Gaels opened the game hitting their first three shots and jumping out to an early six-point lead. Iona forced an early Holy Cross timeout leading 20-14 with 11:36 left in the first. The Gael lead grew to as many as eight but a quick six-point spurt got it back to within one possession.
 
Caleb Green gave Holy Cross a 28-26 lead with a three-pointer from the right corner. Hit bucket kicked off an eight-point run that put Iona in a hole as the first half came to a close. Head Coach Tim Cluess called timeout to try and halt the run, but Austin Butler opened up a nine-point edge for Holy Cross with one of his two three-point shots.
 
Iona had a three-minute scoreless drought ended with a pair of free throws from senior Rickey McGill. Junior Asante Gist then knocked down a triple with seconds winding down to close out the first period and an over-four-minute field goal-less spell.
 
Holy Cross held a 40-33 lead at halftime. Over the final 6:40 of the first, the Crusaders made seven of their final nine shots. In comparison, the Gaels made just two of its last 10. Butler lead all scorers with 12 points at the break. McGill, Gist and Agee each had seven at intermission for the Maroon & Gold.
 
The second half began with both teams trading buckets. The Gaels caught fire from the floor for a two-minute span, nailing five of six, but could not cut into the lead. The Crusaders lead 54-46 at the under-12 media timeout but soon-after junior Ben Perez hit his first three-pointer of the game to get Iona within one possession.
 
Holy Cross's standout Jacob Grandison responded to Iona's run with a pair of three-point field goals on back-to-back possessions. His baskets pushed the margin to 10 points. All hope wasn't loss as the Crusaders allowed the Gaels to get back within striking distance with three minutes to go. Iona forced three turnovers within a 2:15 span and got to within four twice with a duo of layups from Agee and McGill.
 
The Gaels couldn't get past the final hump over the last two minutes. Butler and Green scored the final nine points of the game for Holy Cross to ice the Maroon & Gold.
 
Grandison led all players with 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also led the Crusaders with eight rebounds and eight assists. Green had 14 points and Butler scored 17. The trio combined to scored 56 of the teams' 78 total points.
 
For Iona, Agee finished the game with a team-best 18 points and 12 rebounds. McGill contributed 16 points, Gist had 12 points and junior E.J. Crawford wrapped up his fifth-straight double-digit effort with 11 points.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Sunday's game was Iona's first home game since Nov. 9 when the Gaels topped Albany in the season-opener. It was 51 days between home games for the Maroon & Gold.
• First time these two programs have played in New Rochelle since Dec. 31, 2003 and The Crusaders came away with a 68-55 victory.
• The Gaels shot below 60% from the free throw line for the second time this season. They shot 58.8% against the Crusaders, just eking out a season-worst 58.3% previously set at Ohio (Nov. 27)
• Agee's 12 rebounds are a single-game high for an Iona player this season. Sunday's effort was his second double-double of the season with the previous coming against Columbia (Dec. 9).
• Holy Cross assisted on 18 of its 29 made field goals. In comparison, Iona had eight assists on its 28 baskets. McGill had five of the team's eight assists.

UP NEXT

Iona's next game is its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener on Thursday, Jan. 3. The Gaels host rival Monmouth at 7 p.m. in the Hynes Athletics Center.

TICKET DEAL

Ring in the New Year by supporting the Iona men's and women's basketball programs with an exclusive new year ticket offer. The Hynes Athletics Center is playing host to four games in a span of seven days, all of which began this afternoon against the Crusaders.
 
All details on the ticket deal can be found on ICGaels.com.
 
To purchase tickets, go to our ticketing web page, click single game tickets, and pick out the tickets you want. At check-out use code "Iona2019" to redeem the discount.
 
For additional information, reach out to Assistant AD for Ticketing & Marketing Peter Talman at ptalman@iona.edu or (914) 633-2491.

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