NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's basketball team held off Canisius, 72-65, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at the Hynes Center. Graduates Elijah Joiner and Tyson Jolly posted 16 points and seven assists a piece for the Maroon & Gold. With the win, the Gaels clinched the No. 1 seed in upcoming MAAC Championship and the outright MAAC Regular Season title, a league record 11th time they have accomplished the feat.

THE RUN DOWN

A game of runs saw the Gaels leading the entire first half. After leading by six just 3:40 into the contest following the first of four Jolly three-pointers, the two teams traded buckets and Canisius added five straight to cut it to one at the 12:26 mark. Canisius and Iona traded buckets again before a 7-0 run gave Iona a 19-11 advantage with 7:23 to play in the first half. After the Griffs scored back-to-back baskets, Iona scored the next 11 to take its largest lead of the game at 30-15 with 4:27 left. The run was capped by three pointers by Joiner and Jolly sandwiched around a free throw by the former. Up 12 with 1:23 to play, Canisius junior Jacco Fritz hit four free throws in the final minute to make the deficit eight at the break.
 
The start of the second half was all Canisius as they scored 10 of the frame's first 11 points and briefly took a 35-34 lead with 17:06 remaining, its only lead of the contest. Iona answered with a corner three ball from senior Berrick JeanLouis that sparked a 12-2 run and a nine-point advantage at 14:05. The Gaels increased its advantage to 12 following another Jolly three that made the score 57-45 with 10:51 left. An 8-0 run got the Griffs within four points with 8:12 left. After trading points, Iona embarked on an 11-2 run following a conventional three-point play from junior Osborn Shema with 1:17 remaining. Canisius outscored Iona 8-2 in the final minute with two lay ups and four free throws to get to the final margin of 72-65.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Joiner's 16 points came on 5-of-11 shooting with two three pointers. He dished out seven assists without a turnover and matched a team-best with six rebounds.
• Jolly scored 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting and drained four three-point field goals. He added the seven assists with five rebounds, a block and a steal.
• Shema posted a season-high 11 points and career-high four blocked shots in 18 minutes off the bench. He hit all five shot attempts in the win.
• Sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph added nine points and six rebounds.
• JeanLouis had nine points, five boards, two assists and a block and graduate Dylan van Eyck had six points, four assists, two steals and two blocks for the Maroon & Gold.

THE OPPONENT

• The Griffs were led by a 22-point effort from senior Malek Green. Green had eight rebounds and four steals.
• Fritz posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double with two blocks and two assists.
• Senior Ahamadou Fofana posted 11 points and a team-high three assists.

TEAM STATISTICS

• The Gaels out shot Canisius 50.9% - 38.7% and held the Griffs to just 3-of-16 from distance.
• Canisius held a 36-34 advantage on the boards and 10-1 on second chance points.
• Iona matched a season high 23 assists and committed 15 turnovers, with just four of them coming in the second half. The Griffs had 12 assists and 16 turnovers in the loss.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona's MAAC-record 11th regular season title is the first since 2018-19 and its fifth in the last 11 seasons.
• The Gaels will play its first contest of the MAAC Championship against the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m.
• In addition to its 12-0 mark at the Hynes Center, Iona is 9-0 against MAAC opponents, matching the program's single-season record for home conference wins.

UP NEXT

• Iona heads to Rider on Sunday to complete the regular season series with the Broncs at 1 p.m. in Lawrenceville.
• The Gaels final two games are at Manhattan on Thursday (March 3) followed by the regular season finale on senior day vs. Quinnipiac on Saturday (March 5).

SOCIAL MEDIA

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