NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's basketball program dropped its home-opener in the Hynes Center to Morgan State on Tuesday afternoon, 83-72.
Berrick JeanLouis had a 15 point and 11 rebound double-double in the loss. It is the Bears first ever win over the Gaels in their series history.
GAME SUMMARY
The Bears set their grizzly mood on the Gaels from the opening tip. Morgan State jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and forced an early Maroon & Gold timeout. Iona did not have a made field goal until the 15:21 mark. It was a12-2 lead for the visiting team at the first media timeout.
Morgan State came out the gates hitting shots at an effective rate, allowing them to set up their press defense. The pressure affected the Gaels immensely as they have seven turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game.
The first sense of stabilization came with
Tahlik Chavez hit a three-point shot while being fouled at the 10:57 mark. He came out of the under-12 media timeout and completed the four-point play, bringing the Maroon & Gold to within nine. Morgan State maintained a three-possession lead till 5:25 was left in the opening half.
Isaiah Ross, the reigning MAAC Player of the Week, completed an and-one play to shrink the deficit to 26-20. The Gaels continued to claw back over the final portion of the first half and their persistence paid off when they tied the game at 33 with 1:39 remaining. Iona even took a brief 38-35 lead, but Morgan State knotted things up heading into the locker room at 38-38.
In the first half, 20 of Iona's 31 shots came from Ross and Chavez. They shot 7-for-20 and the rest of the team shot 8-for-11. Both guards had 10 points at intermission. JeanLouis was bringing the energy with seven points, nine rebounds and two steals in his 15 first half minutes. For the Bears in the opening frame, their attack was led by Lagio Grantsaan who scored 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting. He would finish the game with 22 points on 8-for-9 shooting. Morgan State shot 8-for-14 from deep in the first half and continued to hit at a successful clip for the remainder of the game.
Troy Baxter, who scored 19 points in the second half, hit a three-pointer with 13:56 remaining that put his team ahead 56-46. Iona's defense responded and kept Morgan State without a field goal for nearly five minutes, but the Gaels couldn't cut into the lead in a substantial way. Malik Miller hit a reverse lay-up for the Bears with 7:31 remaining to put Iona down, 67-57. The bucket sparked an 8-0 Bears run, culminating in a three-pointer from Baxter to put Iona in a 16 points hole.
Morgan State's lead to grew to as large as 19 as the final moments of the contest played out. Iona was not within single digits for the final 8:19 of the game. The final buzzer sounded with the final score, 83-72.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- JeanLouis was the Maroon & Gold's best player before fouling out of the game. He finished with his first double-double for Iona with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. JeanLouis shot 7-of-9 from the floor.
- Chavez scored a team-high 17 points for the Gaels. He and Dylan van Eyck each had a team-best five assists.
- Ryan Myers scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
- Morgan State's Baxter led all scorers with 25 points on 7-for-17 shooting. Grantsaan, who fouled out of the game, scored 22 points on 8-for-9 shooting. Both hit five three-point field goals. Their teammate Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. had a game-high seven assists.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Iona had seven turnovers in the first 7:02 of the game. It had none over the last 12:58 minutes of the first half. The Gaels outscored the Bears 34-24 during the stretch when they did not commit a turnover in the first half. In the second half they had 11 turnovers. Overall, Morgan State scored 28 points off 18 Iona giveaways.
- In the firth half Iona had 10 assists to seven turnovers. In the second half the Gaels had five assists to 11 turnovers.
- Senior Preseason All-MAAC selection Asante Gist made his season debut midway through the second half. He played six minutes collecting one assist and attempting two shots.
- Iona shot 6-for-25 (24.0%) from beyond the arc. It was 2-for-11 in the second half. Morgan State shot 58% from deep.
- Iona had 20 second chance points off 12 offensive rebounds.
- This is Morgan State's five ever win against Iona. This is the first time the two programs have played since January 3, 2001 when the Maroon & Gold took home a 81-72 victory in New Rochelle.
AROUND THE MAAC
- Rider travels to play St. John's at Carnesecca Arena at 7 PM. It is the Broncs second game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Maroon & Gold's next scheduled game is their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener. The Gaels travel to Alumni Hall in Fairfield, CT to tip-off against the Stags for a pair of games on Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12. Game times are set for 7 PM ET. Fans can tune into the Maroon & Gold on ESPNU onr Friday, as well as follow via live stats and Iona social media channels.
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)
