NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team scored 14 straight points to start the second half and used a stingy 40-minute defensive effort in a 76-58 win over Fairfield in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play in front of a capacity crowd at the Hynes Center. Nine players scored at least four points for the Gaels, led by sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph's 15-point, 10 rebound double-double. The Gaels improved to 14-2 in MAAC play and took one step closer to clinching the MAAC Regular Season title, which can happen as early as next weekend.

THE RUNDOWN

A flurry of scoring in the opening minutes by both teams saw Iona leading 10-8 less than five minutes into the contest. A 9-3 run put the Gaels up 19-11 following an Elijah Joiner layup at 11:23. Junior Joseph gave the Maroon & Gold its largest lead of the half at nine points with 8:19 remaining. Fairfield came all the way back with a 15-4 run and took a lead with 99 seconds left in the half. Iona head coach Rick Pitino inserted junior Osborn Shema into the lineup at the end of the half, to avoid Joseph picking up his second foul. The second-year Gael put on a show in the final minute, converting a turnaround jumper in the paint, recording a steal in the open court and a crowd-pleasing fast break dunk 20 seconds later. He finished the flurry with an emphatic block on the defensive end as Iona took a two-point, 31-29, lead into the break.
 
It was all Iona to start the second half. Over a 4:12 span, the Gaels shot 6-for-7 from the field with two three pointers. The held Fairfield to 0-for-3 shooting and forced four turnovers to take a 45-29 advantage less than five minutes into the period. Senior Berrick JeanLouis did the most damage during the run, scoring six points around a junior Quinn Slazinski three pointer. Coupled with Shema's four points to end the first half, Iona scored 18 straight in the contest. Iona's run continued and stretched to 22-5 and a 19-point advantage at the 11:18 mark. Fairfield would not get closer than 17 the rest of the way. The Gaels led by as many as 25 points in the half.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Junior Joseph posted his second straight and ninth double-double of the season. He shot 7-for-11 from the field and made all four attempts in the decisive second half. He also recorded three steals in the win.
• Joiner posted 10 points with three rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Jolly snapped a 16-game double-digit scoring streak with nine points in the contest. He posted five rebounds and a team-best five assists in 20 minutes of action due to foul trouble. In his limited minutes he was tremendously impactful, posting a game best plus/minus of +28.
• Sophomore Ryan Myers posted eight points, freshman Walter Clayton Jr. and graduate Dylan van Eyck had seven a piece, JeanLouis scored six points in 10 minutes due to foul trouble.
• Junior Quinn Slazinski had six points, five assists and four rebounds.
• Freshman Joshua Duach earned his first collegiate start. In 16 minutes, he had five points with two rebounds, two steals and an assist.
• Shema rounded out Iona's scorers with four points, two rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks in the win.

THE OPPONENT

• Fairfield sophomore Supreme Cook posted an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.
• Senior Caleb Green added nine points while senior Taj Benning and junior Zach Crisler each had eight in the loss.

TEAM STATISTICS

• With the help of a 60.7% shooting effort in the second half, Iona out shot Fairfield 50.8% - 35.8%. The Gaels also held a 44.4% (8-for-18) - 31.8% (7-for-22) advantage from beyond the arc. The effort follows the two teams previous meeting this season where the Stags shot over 50% overall and from distance.
• The two teams were even on the boards at 35 apiece. Fairfield had one more offensive board (12-11) while Iona held a one-point edge on second chance points (13-12).
• The Maroon & Gold smashed the assist-to-turnover battle with 21 assists and just five turnovers. The Stags posted 11 and 10.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• With Siena topping Saint Peter's at home, Iona's magic number for the outright regular season title stands at two.  Any combination of two Gael wins, or Saint losses will guarantee the Gaels the No. 1 seed in the MAAC Championship.
• Iona improved to 11-0 at home.  With two home games left, the program is in search of its fifth undefeated campaign at home since the Mulcahy/Hynes Center opened in the early 1970s. Iona's unbeaten home campaigns have been 1979-80 (13-0), 1984-85 (14-0), 1997-98 (12-0) and 2014-15 (13-0).
• At 8-0 in league play at Hynes this season, Iona is one win shy of the program record of nine wins.

UP NEXT

The Gaels host Canisius Friday at the Hynes Center, a 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+

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