LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - The Iona University men's basketball team held off a second half comeback effort by Rider in a 73-67 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win at Alumni Gymnasium. The entire second half was played with the margin within two possessions, and the final five minutes within one as the Gaels mustered key defensive stops and sank clutch free throws in the final 60 seconds to earn the six-point road win. Rookie
Adam Njie Jr. led three Maroon & Gold performers in double-digits with a career-best 23 points in the victory.
THE RUNDOWN
Iona's largest lead of the game was the halftime margin as senior
Clarence Rupert finished a nice feed from Njie to make the score 34-27 with time winding down in the frame.
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Rider chipped away in the second half and knotted the score at 47-47 with 12:53 to play in the game. The Broncs' run capped at 23-13 over the first nine minutes as they converted 10-of-13 from the field while taking a three-point advantage, their largest of the game. Down 57-54 at the 8:24 mark, the Gaels ripped off nine straight points and would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Junior
Christian Winborne, Njie and Rupert combined for the nine points with a corner three from Njie making the score 63-57 at 6:13. Nursing a small advantage, Rider's Jay Alvarez converted a conventional three-point play with 1:12 left to cut the deficit to two. After the Gaels could not convert on their next possession, the defense forced a turnover with less than 30 seconds to play. Needing to foul multiple times to send the Gaels to the line, Njie sank the first of four straight free throws to seal the contest and run the final margin to six.
IONA PERFORMERS
- Njie's career-best 23 point effort came on 7-for-12 shooting, 3-for-4 from long distance and 6-for-6 from the line. He added a team-best five assists with three rebounds and two steals.
- Rupert posted 13 points, all in the final 24 minutes of the contest. He had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
- Rookie Justin Menard posted 10 points, with two three-pointers and two tough buckets on drives to the rim.
- Junior Kernan Bundy had eight points, shooting 3-for-3 from the field with two three pointers.
- Senior Dejour Reaves had just six points, but added a team-best seven boards to go along with wo assists.
- Winborne added five points with four rebounds, three steals and two assists off the bench.
THE OPPONENT
- Alvarez led all scorers with 28 points, shooting 13-for-24 from the field. He added a team-best seven rebounds for the Broncs.
- Tariq Ingraham had 15 points and five rebounds while leading-scorer T.J. Weeks Jr. had 13 points.
- Ruben Rodriguez led with five assists.
TEAM STATISTICS
- The Gaels out shot Rider 46.6%-45.9% with both teams shooting over 50% in the second half. After the torrid 10-for-13 (76.9&) second half start for the Broncs, Iona limited its opponent to 7-for-17 (41.7%) in the last 11 minutes.
- Rider held a 32-21 advantage on the boards, 11-10 on the offensive glass and 13-7 on second chance points.
- Iona had 19 assists and 11 turnovers while the Broncs posted 19 assists and 17 giveaways. The Maroon & Gold held a 20-10 advantage on points off turnovers.
- With just 22 fouls whistled for both sides (and five in the final 24 seconds by the Broncs), the Gaels posted a season low nine fouls in the contest.
UP NEXT
Iona returns to the Hynes Center for its first rematch of the 2024-25 campaign when they host Siena at 1 p.m. Saturday.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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