LAVRIO, GREECE - The Iona College men's basketball team dropped its second game on its summer trip to Greece, a 78-58 decision at GS Lavrio B.C. and Lavrio Indoor Arena. Sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph was the game's top performer with a 20-point, 14-rebound effort. Lavrio was the runner up in the Greek Basket League in 2021, the top-tier division in the country's basketball pyramid and will compete in this season's Basketball Champions League against teams throughout Europe.
 
Lavrio held control for virtually the entire game as Iona struggled from the field. The home team led 38-26 at the half and expanded the lead to 66-44 after three quarters before the final margin of 20 points.
 
"Well, we lost by 20 tonight, but we played better basketball," said Iona head coach Rick Pitino. "The obvious thing that sticks out to you against these professional teams is that we can't make shots. (With our percentages) you may say well, are you that bad a shooting team? No, we're not. It's just that it was 110 degrees in the gym and we're playing against pros. Our conditioning is not what it needs to be but these games are so great for us. If we had to start in September or October, I don't think we would be very good. We may lose by more against Panathinaikos next week because those guys beat these teams by 25 easily, but that's okay. We just have to keep getting in shape, keep using this experience to grow because everybody is new. We don't have a lot of repetition right now and we're getting it. Even thought it was a 20-point loss we're very pleased field we're able to play against this competition."
 
Joseph shot 8-for-19 from the and drained a three-pointer in the third quarter with the shot clock winding down. Among his 14 rebounds were nine on the offensive glass. He also led all performers with four blocked shots. Sophomore Ryan Myers added nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. Junior Quinn Slazinski added eight points and three rebounds. Graduate Tyson Jolly and junior Parker Weiss had five points and three assists each. Jolly grabbed six boards and added a steal. Graduate Dylan van Eyck had four points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
A balanced scoring effort from Lavrio saw eight players register at least seven points. Dimitris Kaklamanakis led the way with 13 points, doing most of his damage with a 7-for-7 performance from the charity stripe. The 27-year-old Athens native is in his ninth year of professional basketball. Kenny Goins added nine points in 11 minutes. The Michigan State grad was 3-for-4 from the field with two 3FG and three rebounds. Marcus Lewis, Vasillis Mouratos and Alexandros Nikolaidis posted eight points apiece. Lewis played two seasons at Eastern Kentucky.
 
The Gaels shot just 27.0% from the field and 10.0% from beyond the arc in the loss. Lavrio was 41.9% from the field and 25.0% from deep. The Gaels out rebounded their opponent 47-45 grabbing 24 offensive rebounds.
 
Iona has three games remaining in Greece and have two days off before returning to action Wednesday. Coach Pitino led the Gaels' next opponent, Panathinaikos, for two seasons before coming to New Rochelle prior to last year. Panathinaikos is a multiple time defending Greek League champion and a member of the EuroLeague, one of the top international divisions in the world.
 
"Tomorrow, we will go on a walking tour of history. We will see obviously centuries old relics, we'll go to the museum, we'll spend about seven hours in and around the Acropolis," said Coach Pitino. "The following day, we'll go to a famous beach called Sunio, and we'll take a couple days off. Our guys need it right now because we will have to play Panathinaikos on Wednesday.