BRIDGEPORT, CT - The Iona College men's basketball team erased a double-digit second half deficit again, in an 80-76 win over Fairfield in MAAC play on the road at Webster Bank Arena. Trailing 70-59 with 7:28 to play, the Gaels ended the contest on a 21-6 run and remained unbeaten in league play at 4-0 and improved their record to 12-3 overall.

The Rundown

Fairfield's hot shooting from long distance and Iona's struggles at the free throw line led to Iona trailing by double-digits with less than eight minutes to play. Trailing by 11, the Gaels scored 12 straight points in a four-minute span with eight coming from graduate Dylan van Eyck and the other four from sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph. Van Eyck's put back layup with 3:15 remaining gave the Maroon & Gold its first lead since 14:46 in the first half. The two teams traded four-point spurts over the next two minutes as the Gaels held a 75-74 advantage with 73 seconds remaining. Graduate Tyson Jolly finished a lob from senior Berrick JeanLouis on the fast break to put Iona ahead. Fairfield senior Caleb Green converted two free throws for the penultimate lead change. Following Jolly's second chance bucket with 45.6 seconds left that gave Iona its final advantage, Iona got a defensive stop. Jolly converted one of two free throws with 17 seconds left to put the Gaels ahead by two. After back-to-back timeouts by Fairfield and Iona to set up the Stags final play, Jolly blocked a potential go-ahead three pointer. Graduate Elijah Joiner secured the loose ball and hit two free throws to seal the game.

Iona Performers

• Junior Joseph led the Gaels with a monstrous 20-point, 14-rebound double-double. He shot 7-for-11 from the field and 6-of-10 from the free throw line adding two assists and two steals.
• Joiner posted 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. He posted three rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes due to foul trouble.
• Jolly also had 14 points with four boards and two blocks.
• Van Eyck added 13 points and eight rebounds to go along with two assists.
• JeanLouis netted 10 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Opponent

• Fairfield senior Jake Wojcik torched the Gaels for 24 points on eight three-point field goals. All of them came before the decisive final 7:28 of the contest.
• Senior Taj Benning had 13 points, sophomore Supreme Cook posted 10 and Green had nine in the loss.

TEAM STATS 

• The Stags shot 51.0% for the game and 13-of-26 from deep.
• Iona shot 44.8% from the field and was just 3-of-17 on three-point attempts.
• The Gaels out rebounded Fairfield 41-9 and had a decisive 23-5 advantage on second chance points.
• The Maroon & Gold had 10 assists and 10 turnovers compared to 13 and 17 for the home team.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• It was Iona's fifth win of the season in come-from-behind fashion when trailing by nine or more points in the contest and second in four MAAC games.
• Iona is 4-0 in league play for the eighth time in 41 seasons in the MAAC and first since the 2015-16 campaign.  The Maroon & Gold also accomplished the feat in 1983-84, 1984-85, 1995-96, 1996-97, 2000-01 and 2011-12.
• Iona's 72 overall wins over Fairfield are the most over any one school in program history.  It is now one more than Saint Peter's and six more than Siena.
• During the decisive 21-6 run, Iona was 6-for-13 from the field and 9-for-13 from the free throw line with one turnover.  They held the Stags to 1-for-7 shooting, with seven turnovers along with four points from the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

Iona takes on archrival Manhattan Friday night at the Hynes Center in a 7 p.m. tip-off on ESPNU.

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