NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team earned an 88-76 win over Manhattan in front of a capacity crowd at the Hynes Center. The Gaels scored first and never trailed and improved to 5-0 in league play, 6-0 at the Hynes Center and 13-3 overall. Four Gaels scored 10 or more points and five others had at least six points in the balanced effort at home.

THE RUNDOWN

The Maroon & Gold opened a double-digit lead early when back-to-back buckets by graduate Tyson Jolly made the score 17-6 just under four and a half minutes into the contest. The Jaspers battled back to cut their deficit to two points with 7:53 left in the first half on the heels of a flurry three pointers by senior Samir Stewart. Following his fourth three pointer in just over a five-minute span, Manhattan trailed 26-24. The Gaels pulled away for good with an 18-3 run, leading 44-27 with 2:18 left. The Jaspers closed the margin to 11 points at halftime with Stewart's fifth trifecta of the half as time expired.

Iona led by as many as 21 points in the second half with 3:05 left to play, with its smallest margin at nine points. Manhattan closed out the contest on a 13-4 run to run the final at 88-76.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Jolly scored 16 points in the win to lead the Gaels, shooting 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. He added a game-high six assists and grabbed two rebounds.
• Sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph posted 13 points and two rebounds in just 11 minutes of play due to early and often foul trouble. He was 4-for-5 from the field and 5-for-9 from the line.
• Graduates Elijah Joiner and Dylan van Eyck had 11 points apiece. Joiner recorded four rebounds and three assists while van Eyck posted five rebounds and four assists.
• Sophomore Ryan Myers and junior Osborn Shema each had seven points. Myers converted 5-of-6 free throw attempts and grabbed three rebounds. Shema, in his fourth game back from injury, played a season-high 17 minutes and had three rebounds.
• Senior Berrick JeanLouis, junior Quinn Slazinski, and freshman Walter Clayton Jr. posted six points. JeanLouis led the game with nine rebounds and three blocks while adding three assists. Slazinski posted four boards and Clayton Jr. five assists.

THE OPPONENT

• Manhattan was led by 27 points from senior Jose Perez. Perez shot 8-for-22 from the field, but a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line while adding five assists. 
• Stewart scored all 15 of his points in the game in the first half, connecting on all five three-point field goal attempts.
• Senior Warren Williams added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

TEAM STATISTICS

• From the field, Iona held a 61.2& - 38.1% advantage, hitting 13-of-19 attempts (68.4%) in the second half. 
• The Jaspers held a slight 39-38 rebounding edge.
• Iona's recorded a season-best 23 assists on 30 made field goals.
• The nation's most prolific free throw shooting teams played the game as expected, combining for 74 free throw attempts, including 51 in the second half. Manhattan and Iona came into the contest virtually tied for first in the NCAA in free throws attempted per game.
• The Gaels struggled from the line, shooting 55.3% (21-for-38), while the Jaspers were slightly better at 61.1% (22-for-36) in the game.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• The Maroon & Gold are 5-0 in MAAC play for the sixth time in its 41 seasons in the league. The Gaels won their first six contests in 1995-96 and 2015-16 and first five contests in 1984-85, 1996-97 and 2011-12. The program went on to become the MAAC's regular season champion in all but one of the previous five 5-0 starts.
• Sixteen games for Iona to first reach 10 games over .500 overall is the quickest since 2011-12.

UP NEXT

Iona is back in action Sunday at the Hynes Center vs. Niagara for its third league game in seven days.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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