Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Events

View Schedule  
  Go Back

Iona University Athletics

Nelly Junior Joseph at New Mexico
74
Iona Iona 7-3,2-0 MAAC
82
Winner New Mexico UNM 11-0,0-0 Mountain West
Iona Iona
7-3,2-0 MAAC
74
Final
82
New Mexico UNM
11-0,0-0 Mountain West
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Iona Iona 33 41 74
New Mexico UNM 44 38 82

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Brian Beyrer / Sr. Associate AD / Athletic Communications

Iona MBB's Comeback Effort Falls Short at New Mexico, 82-74

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - The Iona University men's basketball team fell short at New Mexico, 82-74, in front of a raucous crowd of 14,534 in non-conference action at The Pit. The Gaels came within one possession of erasing a 17-point first half deficit with less than five minutes left but the Lobos withstood the comeback effort. Junior Nelly Junior Joseph led the Maroon & Gold with 12 points in the loss.

THE RUNDOWN

Down seven less than six minutes in, Iona scored eight straight points to take a 12-11 lead with 11:40 to play. Freshman Sadiku Ibine Ayo, in his Gael debut, converted a layup on the break to give his team their second and final lead of the contest. New Mexico answered with eight straight points of their own, sparking a 26-8 run over an eight minute span. With 3:30 remaining the Lobos led 37-20. Iona cut the margin to eight with 33 seconds to play on rookie Silas Sunday's layup. New Mexico's KJ Jenkins hit a three pointer as time expired to make the halftime margin 11 points.
 
Iona trailed 48-33 less than a minute in following a pair of fastbreak conversions by the home team. Neither team would score for nearly three and a half minutes before junior Daniss Jenkins recorded his first points of the contest at the 15:38 mark. The Gaels chipped away and cut the deficit to seven points on two occasions, only to have the Lobos answer and regain a 12-point lead. Down 70-58 with 6:09 remaining, the Gaels went on a 10-1 run and trailed 71-68 at the 4:58 mark after sophomore Walter Clayton Jr. sank two free throws. It was a three-point game again following a Clayton Jr. three pointer with 2:51 left. The Gaels had a couple of chances to get closer but were unable to convert. Lobos' senior Jaelen House scored his team's final four points to account for the final score of 82-74.

IONA PERFORMERS

  • Junior Joseph shot 9-of-15 from the field. He scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half before picking up his second foul with just under six minutes to play. He added seven rebounds and three steals.
  • Clayton Jr. posted 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists. All three of his field goals came from beyond the arc and he was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
  • Seniors Berrick Jeanlouis and Quinn Slazinski and freshman Cruz Davis added eight points each. JeanLouis recorded five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Slazinski made his return from injury after missing the previous seven contests and had a game-high 12 rebounds to add to his point total.  Davis converted two field goals and was 4-for-5 from the line.
  • Ibine Ayo, who also had not played this season due to injury scored six points in 13 minutes, posting two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

THE OPPONENT

  • House led all scorers with 22 points with the help of an 11-for-11 performance from the free throw line.  He posted five assists with four rebounds and two steals.
  • Jenkins had 17 points including a 4-of-7 effort from distance.
  • Morris Udeze scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.  He picked up his second foul with 12:28 in the first half.  Udeze had eight boards.
  • Jamal Mashburn Jr. added 12 points and Josiah Allick rounded out the quintet of double-digit Lobo scores with 10.

TEAM STATS

  • New Mexico out shot (56.0%-40.8%) the Gaels in the contest, though Iona converted one more field goal.
  • Both teams struggled from distance with the Lobos shooting 5-for-17 (29.4%) and the Gaels shooting 3-for-24 (12.5%) in the contest.
  • Iona held a slight 36-25 advantage on the boards, but dominated an 18-1 margin on second chance points.
  • The Lobos had 19 assists and 16 turnovers while the Gaels had 14 assists and 12 turnovers.
  • The difference in the contest was from the charity stripe.  New Mexico converted 21-of-29 while Iona was 13-of-16.
  • The Gaels, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in blocks per game entering the contest, did not record one in the game.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

  • Both true road games for Iona featured the largest crowd of the season for its opponent at Hofstra (3,827) and New Mexico (14,534).  It was Hofstra's largest crowd since the regular season finale in 2019-20 and New Mexico's largest crowd against an opponent other than their in-state archrival New Mexico State since hosting San Diego State on Mar. 1, 2016.  In nine of the 12 true road games Iona has played in since the turn of the 2022 calendar, the program has faced either the largest or second largest crowd of the season for its opponent.
  • The two programs, headline by father-and-son Rick and Richard Pitino will complete a home-and-home series in New Rochelle around the Christmas holiday in December 2023.

UP NEXT

The Gaels head even further West to Honolulu for the 2022 Hawaiian Airlines Diamondhead Classic hosted by the University of Hawaii.  The three-game multi-team event takes place Thursday (Dec. 22), Friday (Dec. 23) and Sunday (Dec. 25).  Iona squares off with SMU at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday on ESPNU.
 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
Iona Athletics: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Men's Basketball: Twitter, Facebook. Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)





Print Friendly Version