NEW ROCHELLE, NY -  In front of a packed house in its home-finale, Iona won its sixths straight behind a heroic effort from senior Rickey McGill. The local Spring Valley, NY native scored a season-best 30 points to carry the Gaels to an 87-80 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins. With the victory, the Maroon & Gold sit atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings with one regular season game remaining.

GAME SUMMARY

Canisius began the game on a sharp 7-0 run over the opening two minutes to force an early 30 second timeout by the Gaels. The emotions calmed for the Gaels but the Golden Griffins maintained its lead for the majority of the first half. The Maroon & Gold trailed 24-17 with 6:45 left before intermission. Then McGill arrived on the scene.
 
Iona's leading assist giver dished a helper to redshirt freshman Andrija Ristanovic for a corner three. On their next possession, the Gaels got within two with a bucket from junior E.J. Crawford in the paint courtesy of another assist from McGill. With the Hynes Center crowd already in a frenzy, McGill cranked the audience's vocal cords to eleven. The Maroon & Gold's lone senior stole the ball away from Takal Molson and drove down the court for a fast break one-handed jam to tie the game at 24.
 
At halftime the scoreboard read 37-33 in Iona's favor. McGill had 15 points, two assists and two rebounds playing the entirety of the first half. Crawford and Ristanovic each had six points. The Gaels shot 44.0% from the floor and 40.0% from deep. The Golden Griffins shot 46.7% overall in the first but hit just 3-for-13 from deep. Molson and Jonathan Sanks each led Canisius at the break with nine points.
 
Junior Tajuan Agee came out in the second half and bullied Canisius in the opening four minutes. He scored 13 of Iona' first 15 points, which included a pair of trifectas and two thunderous dunks. The Gaels found themselves up by a game-high eleven twice but the Golden Griffins fought back. Canisius went on a 15-4 run and took a one-point lead on a Malik Johnson triple with 9:47 left.
 
The two MAAC foes stayed within one possession over the next five minutes. Molson gave the Golden Griffins a 73-70 lead, but five straight points from junior Asante Gist and three free throws from McGill put Iona in front 77-73 with 4:03 left. Canisius got it to within one twice after the final media timeout, but the Gael defense didn't relent.
 
The key defensive moment came with Iona up 81-80 and 56 seconds left. Canisius had the ball looking to take the lead, but McGill pick-pocketed Molson with his fourth steal and gave the Maroon & Gold possession and momentum. Following a timeout called by head coach Tim Cluess, Iona executed a perfect out-of-timeout situational play with Agee netting a soft hook shot to give Iona a three-point lead. Molson missed a deep game-tying three attempt from the top of the key and the Gaels iced the win with free throws from Crawford and McGill.
 
McGill lead all scorers with his 30 points on 8-for-16 shooting. He tied a career-high with five three-point field goals, which he last had at Rider last season. Agee had a team-best nine rebounds in addition to his 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. McGill had a team-high four assists and four steals. Both McGill & Crawford played the full 40 minutes.
 
Molson had a team-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Canisius. The Golden Griffins had 18 assists on their 31 made field goals. Johnson and Sanks each had four helpers.
 

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Prior to the game, Iona held its annual senior day ceremony honor McGill and senior manager Devon Palilla for their years donning the Maroon & Gold. McGill will be graduating in May with a degree in Mass Communication.
• McGill swiped his 200^th career steal in the second half. He is just the sixth player in Maroon & Gold history to have over 200 steals. Following Sunday's game McGill has 201 steals. He is chasing Tariq Kirksay '00 who has 207 career swipes.
• With the win today, coupled with a Monmouth loss, Iona clinches a first round bye in the upcoming MAAC Tournament for a league-record 10th straight season.
• With this afternoon's game being the final contest in February, the Gaels improve to 52-19 in the month under Cluess. The Maroon & Gold's .732 winning percentage in the month is its highest.
• Iona's 87 points scored is its highest total since Jan. 18 against Marist (Jan. 18) in a 90-77 victory at the Hynes Center. The Gaels have scored over 80 points 13 times this season and they have a 7-6 record in those game.

UP NEXT

Iona's final game of the regular season is on Friday, Mar. 1 in Lawrenceville, NJ against the Rider Broncs. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game is being broadcasted live on ESPN+.

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