BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Iona College men’s basketball team earned its fourth straight victory with a 83-72 win over Fairfield in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at Webster Bank Arena. Senior Sean Armand led a trio of double-digit Gael scorers with 28 points.
Armand added seven assists, five rebounds and three assists and committed just one turnover in the win. Junior David Laury had his second double-double of the year, with 19 points and 10 boards. Sophomore A.J. English contributed 18 points and four assists in the win. Seniors Tre Bowman and Mike Poole added seven points a piece. Poole had six rebounds while bowman added five. Sophomore Isaiah Williams also had five boards.
The Gaels (5-2, 2-0 MAAC) got off to a quick start in the contest, taking a 16-5 lead on a Laury layup at the 15:44 mark. Down 17-7 a little over a minute later, Fairfield (1-8, 0-2 MAAC) scored 13 of the game’s next 14 points and led 20-18 5:20 later. The Stags led by five points with 5:36 left in the half. Iona scored 10 straight in less than two minutes to regain the lead for good. The run extended to 20-4, capped by an Armand conventional three-point play as Iona led 46-35 with 22 seconds left. Fairfield scored the final bucket on its next possession making the Gael lead nine points heading into halftime.
Up eight at the 15:00 minute mark, Armand bookended a 9-0 run with a layup at 14:57 and a free throw with 11:40 left as the Gaels led 64-67. Fairfield cut the deficit to 13 points with 10:35 left but eight straight by Iona made the score 72-51 with 7:59 remaining. The Maroon & Gold led by as many as 22 points with 5:13 left. The Stags ended the contest with a 17-6 run to make the final margin 83-72.
Fairfield senior Maurice Barrow had a 26-point, 10 rebound double-double to lead the home team. Coleman Johnson posted 16 points while freshmen KJ Rose had 11 and Lincoln Davis had 10 in the loss.
Iona shot 48.3% for the game while holding Fairfield to just 35.6%. The Stags out rebounded the Gaels 43-39.
The Gaels will sit atop the MAAC standings in a four-way tie with Canisius, Manhattan and Rider until MAAC play resumes in January. Iona returns to non-conference play at home next Saturday (Dec. 14) when they host St. Bonaventure at the Hynes Center.
Box Score: http://www.icgaels.com/fls/14900/stats/mbasketball/2013-14/ion1208.htm
Iona MBB Cumulative Stats: http://www.icgaels.com/fls/14900/stats/mbasketball/2013-14/teamcume.pdf
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