NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers narrowly escaped the Hynes Center with a 54-52 win over the Iona Gaels. Freshman Juana Camilion's last-second shot came off the back of the rim and the Maroon & Gold lost in their final home game of the regular season.

GAME SUMMARY

Iona opened up its final home game of the 2018-19 season with a strong first quarter. Junior Morgan Rachu found the holes in Manhattan's defense early on and her teammates found her at the right time, helping her knock down her first three tries from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Maroon & Gold held the Jaspers to just three field goals in the first frame, the final one coming before the first media timeout.
 
Manhattan turned things around on both sides of the ball in the second quarter, turning a nine-point deficit after one quarter into a two-point disadvantage for the visitors. Kania Pollock and Lynette Taitt combined to score 11 of the 17 points in the second quarter for the Jaspers, outscoring the entire Gael offense in the period.
 
Manhattan came out balling in the third quarter, scoring the first 12 points of the frame to retake the lead. Camilion's three-pointer with just over six minutes to play made it a seven-point game. Iona headed into the final frame trailing by just six points after opening the half with a two-point lead.
 
Rachu opened up the fourth quarter with her first basket since the 3:12 mark in the first frame to cut the deficit to four points for Iona. Camilion followed that up with a bucket inside, but Manhattan scored seven of the next nine points to extend its lead to seven at the first media of the quarter. With about four minutes to play, Iona trailed 49-41; they would score the next nine points, seven coming from the charity stripe, to retake the lead with thirty seconds to play. Down by one point with less than thirty seconds to play, Taitt connected on a tough jumper right outside the paint to go up by one. Two free throws from Taitt would make it a three-point advantage for the Jaspers before Camilion scored inside with seven ticks left on the clock. Julie Hoier missed the front end of two tries from the line, setting the Maroon & Gold up with a chance for a victory at the buzzer. Camilion's try from the left baseline was too strong, and left little time for a putback attempt, dashing the Gaels hopes of a third consecutive win.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Lesko collected a game-best and new career-high 15 rebounds in the loss.
• Iona hit on just 16-of-44 field goal attempts in the game. Rachu and Camilion combined for 11 of those.
• The Gaels opened up the game shooting 3-5 from three-point land with all three coming from Rachu. From that point on, the Maroon & Gold shot just 1-11 from beyond the arc over the course of the final 30 minutes.
• The lead switched hands four times throughout the game; it was also tied on four separate occasions.
  • Iona's largest lead was 11 points and Manhattan's was 10.
• Entering play, the Jaspers did not have one scorer that averaged double-figure point per game totals. Three different scorers finished with double-digits in the win (Warley, Taitt and Pollock).
• The win is now the fifth in a row for Manhattan over Iona. They lead the overall series 50-32.

UP NEXT

Iona will hit the road for its final two contests of the season. First, they travel to Fairfield for a Sunday matinee; next Thursday, the Gaels conclude the regular season at Saint Peter's. The MAAC Championships will begin on March 7 in Albany.

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