LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - The Iona College men's basketball team defeated defending ASun champion Liberty, 54-50, overcoming a 16-point first half deficit and earning another grind-it-out victory and improve to 4-0 on the season. The Gaels (No. 10) and Flames (No. 4) are both ranked in the Top 10 in this week's CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll and opened the MAAC-ASun Men's Basketball Challenge at HP Pavilion in ESPN's Wide World of Sports.

THE RUNDOWN

Holding a 6-5 advantage at the first media timeout, the Gaels went cold, going without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. By the eight-minute media, Iona trailed 21-7, scoring just once from the free throw line during the span. Liberty added a bucket out of the timeout to take its largest lead of the contest, 23-7 with 6:57 remaining in the first half. Graduate Tyson Jolly snapped the field goal-less stretch with a turnaround jumper in the lane and sparked a 7-0 stretch to cut the deficit to nine points at the final media of the half. The Flames scored on their first possession with 3:12 left. It would be their final score of the half, as Iona ripped off another nine points and trailed by two heading into the break. Over the final 6:30, Iona outscored Liberty 16-2.
 
The mid-major heavyweight bout was on in the second half. The largest lead by either team was just four points. For the Flames with 3:50 remaining and 50-46 lead and for the Gaels' the final margin, capped by graduate guard Elijah Joiner's free throw with less than a second remaining.

INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS

Sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph led the Gaels with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, posting seven offensive rebounds in the win. Junior Quinn Slazinski overcame a poor shooting start, hitting 4-of-his-final-8 attempts in the second half, including three three-pointers in key moments for the Maroon & Gold. Slazinski added seven rebounds. Joiner posted 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks and Jolly recorded six points and nine rebounds.
 
For the second straight contest the Gaels limited their opponent's top scoring guard as Liberty's Darius McGhee scored 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting from the field and just 2-for-11 from downtown. Kyle Rode added 11 points and Joseph Venzant led with eight boards.

TEAM STATS

The gritty win was made possible by Iona's early season tenets of defense and rebounding. The Gaels held Liberty to 35.1% shooting from the field and 20.0% from distance and held a 43-34 advantage on the boards including 15-9 on the offensive glass and 18-9 on second chance points. Iona struggled offensively, shooting 27.8% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 61.5% from the free throw line. 

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• For the third time in four games, the Gaels held a two-point deficit at halftime and won the game.
• Iona is 4-0 for the ninth time in its 77-year history, only the third time in the last 40 years, and the first time since a 7-0 start in 2005-06.
• The Gaels improved to 3-0 in the MAAC-ASun Challenge, following two wins during the 2019-20 season.
• With 14:24 remaining, Joiner was fouled near mid-court, planted awkwardly, and went down with an apparent leg injury. He was escorted to the locker room. Just over six minutes later, Joiner emerged triumphantly and returned to the game for the final 8:15 of the contest.

UP NEXT

Iona is back in action tomorrow night against North Alabama, the ASun Conference tournament runner up from March.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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