NEW ROCHELLE, NY – In front of a sellout crowd at Alumni Hall, the Iona Gaels were bested by the Fairfield Stags, 80-68. The Maroon & Gold committed 20 turnovers, the most since the Dec. 21 loss at VCU. Junior E.J. Crawford scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting in the loss.

GAME SUMMARY

Fairfield hit four of its first five shots and began the game on a 10-0 run. The Stags vaulted to a 15-2 lead just 4:20 into the game. Junior Asante Gist hit Iona's first three-point field goal of the game to quiet the crowd momentarily, but good jumpers from Neftal Alvarez and Wassef Methnani helped brought Fairfield back in from by 19 with 11:35 left in the first.
 
The Stags lead in the first half would grow as large as 23 with 4:05 remaining. The Gaels would eventually get it down to 17 with eight seconds left, and it could have been even lower. Junior Niksa Nicolic had an offensive rebound put back that was initially ruled good, but after review the officials overturned their initial ruling.
 
Iona trailed Fairfield 42-25 at the break. Iona shot 41.7% in the first half, but were undone by 12 turnovers and poor three-point shooting. Iona hit just 1-of-7 in the first half, with the lone bucket being Gist's in the opening minutes. The Stags shot 47.1% in the opening frame and 33.3% from beyond the arc. They had just four turnovers and assisted on eight of their first 16 made field goals.
 
The Gaels attempted to make comeback in the second half but could only get within single-digits once over the final 20 minutes. Crawford made a fast break layup with 3:06 remaining to make the score 73-64. However, free throws from Landon Taliaferro and Jesus Cruz pushed the lead back up to 13 with 2:09 remaining.
 
Crawford led all scorers with 28 points in 37 minutes. Senior Rickey McGill netted 18 points. Gist scored 13 points off the bench. The Gaels shot 3-for-14 from beyond the arc in the game. They had a season-low six assists on 24 made field goals.
 
Fairfield was led by Cruz's 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting. Taliaferro had 19 points with 11 made free throws in addition to a team-best three steals. Alvarez, Jonathan Kassibabu and Methnani all had double-figures for the Stags.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Crawford has 14 career games with 20+ points and the Maroon & Gold are 7-7 in those games. His 11 field goals against the Stags is the most in his career.
• Iona six assists is the lowest total of the season. The previous low was 7 at VCU on Dec. 1. The Gaels have now had single-digit assists three times this season. They had eight on home against Holy Cross on Dec. 30.
• The Maroon & Gold shot 63.0% from the free throw line. It is the lowest percentage mark for the Gaels in the MAAC season.
• Iona's leading rebounders were Crawford and junior Jahnathan Maxwell. They each had five. five other Maroon & Gold student-athletes had four rebounds.
• Rookie Payton Hudson played a career-best 24 minutes. He had one assist and one steal.
• Junior Tajuan Agee played just 20 minutes due to foul trouble. He had four rebounds, three points, one steal and two blocks before fouling out.

UP NEXT

Iona's next game is on the road on Thursday, Jan. 31 in Poughkeepsie, NY against the Marist Red Foxes. Tip-off is scheduled from McCann Arena for 7 p.m. The game is being broadcasted on ESPN3.

IONA ATHLETICS YOUNG ALUMNI GOAL CLUB GATHERING

Iona College Athletics will host a young alumni reception as part of the regularly scheduled Goal Club Reception prior to the Sunday, Feb. 10 men's basketball game against Niagara. The event will be held at Sage Cafe, located across from the Iona Campus on North Avenue.
 
Reception doors will open at 11:30 a.m. Attendees that have graduated since 2013 will receive a complimentary ticket to the basketball game which tips off at 1 p.m.
 
Any questions can be directed to Bryan Davis, Assistant Athletic Director for Development, at 914-633-2598, or email at bdavis@iona.edu.

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