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Iona University Athletics

E.J. Crawford
Geraldo Rodriguez
86
Iona College ION 2-4
90
Winner Princeton PRIN 3-7
Iona College ION
2-4
86
Final
90
Princeton PRIN
3-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Iona College ION 42 31 13 86
Princeton PRIN 30 43 17 90

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Jonathan Stanko

Iona MBB Falls In Overtime To Princeton, 90-86

Agee, Crawford and Gist all scored over 20 points in the loss

BROOKLYN, NY – The Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational began with the Iona College men's basketball team losing in overtime to the Princeton Tigers on Tuesday night by a final score of 90-86. Junior Asante Gist scored a season-best 23 points and both seniors E.J. Crawford and Tajuan Agee scored 21 points in the defeat.

GAME SUMMARY

The Gaels started off on a blistering pace with leading the Tigers 14-4 at the first media timeout. They made six of their first seven shots. Princeton warmed up making 6 of 7 and got the score to 18-16 at the 11:24 mark. Iona bounced back with five straight points from the free throw line increased its lead to seven with under ten minutes to go in the opening half.

Crawford heated up in the closing moments of the first half and helped Iona to a 42-30 lead at the break. The Hartford, CT native reached double-figures in the first half with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Gist's point total rocketed up in the closing moments before intermission and his buzzer-beating three-pointer gave him 14 points.

Iona shot 59.3% from the floor and 36.4% from beyond the arc in the first half. The Gaels had 11 assists on 16 made field goals. Princeton shot 43.5% from the field and 30.8% from long range. Iona forced nine Tiger turnovers, but Princeton still had 10 points from Richmond Aririguzoh and Ethan Wright.

The Maroon & Gold led by 16 when the clock was reading 13:31 in the second half, but Princeton immediately made it a game with a 9-0 run that forced an Iona timeout. The Gaels didn't score for over three and a half minutes until Agee muscled home a basket with 9:33 to go to put the Maroon & Gold back on top by 11.

The Tigers didn't go away. Princeton kept on chipping away and with six minutes left it was a one possession game, 62-59. Iona kept its lead until the 2:55 mark when Princeton's Jose Morales tied the game with a three-pointer. The Gaels turned the ball over on its next possession the Tigers took their first lead of the game, 71-69, with 1:59 left.

Iona was down by two, 73-71, less than 40 seconds left. Junior Isaiah Washington drove into the lane and kicked it out to Gist who made a jumper with his foot on the line to tie the game with 21 seconds left. Princeton's potential game-winning shot came up empty, resulting in free basketball for the fans at the Barclays Center.

The Maroon & Gold led for the first 3:24 of overtime. Ryan Schwieger dunked one home to tie the score at 80 apiece and the Tigers' wouldn't look back. They kept the Maroon & Gold at bay, only placing the idea of victory beyond grasp with two last free throws with two seconds left. Princeton's four-point margin of victory ended up being its largest lead of the game.

Iona attempted only four three-pointers in the second half and missed all four. It missed its only three-point attempt in overtime. Princeton shot 6-for-13 from beyond the arc in the second half and finished the game shooting 39.%. The Gaels finished the game shooting 25.0% from deep. In terms of sharing the ball, the Maroon & Gold had five combined assists in the second half and overtime compared to 11 in the opening frame.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

  • Gist led all scorers with a career-best and Iona single-game season-best 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He made 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Gist also had four assists. It's the most points he's scored since the 2019 MAAC Championship game when he had 22.
  • Crawford & Agee both had 21 points on combined 15-for-24 shooting. Crawford's nine made field goals is the most by a Gaels in a single-game this season. Agee also made 11-of-14 from the free throw line and dished out a career-best and team-high five assists.
  • Washington scored 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting in addition to four steals and one block.
  • Junior Isaiah Ross scored seven points in 21 minutes off the bench.
  • Drew Friberg had 22 points for Princeton, 16 of which came in the second half and overtime. He made six three-pointers. Schwieger had 16 points and Aririguzoh finished with 14 points.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

  • Junior Dylan van Eyck finished the game with a +15 plus/minus despite scoring zero points and not attempting a single field goal.
  • Princeton's bench out scored Iona's bench 49 to 7.
  • The Tigers led for a total of 1:59 in the game. The Gaels led for 40:04.
  • Iona scored a season-best 42 points in the first half. Its previous single-half point total was 41 points against Kennesaw State (November 23).
  • Tuesday's game is Iona's second overtime game of the season. Its first was in the season-opener against La Salle (November 9).
  • Princeton improves its record against Iona to 8-0. The four-point margin of victory was the same in the last matchup on December 15, 2018 in Atlantic City.

UP NEXT

The Maroon & Gold are off for the Christmas Break but had a quick return to action on Sunday, December 29 when they tip-off against Colorado in Boulder at the CU Events Center. Game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on the PAC-12 Network.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Men's Basketball: Twitter, Facebook. Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)




 
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