NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men’s basketball team earned a 104-99 win over Saint Joseph’s in a double overtime slugfest at the Hynes Athletics Center. The Gaels erased a 13-point first half deficit and senior Scott Machado scored nine of his career-high 33 points in the second overtime to lead the Maroon & Gold to its third straight win.
For the second straight season, Iona opened up against an Atlantic-10 opponent and prevailed in two overtime periods. Last season, the Gaels won an epic battle against Richmond.
Saint Joseph’s jumped out to a 20-10 advantage less than three minutes into the game and extended the lead to 33-20 at the 9:48 mark on a C.J. Aiken layup. After an Iona timeout, the Gaels scored eight straight points on three layups by senior Mike Glover and junior Kyle Smyth bucket to cut the deficit to five just over two minutes later. The Hawks got four back and led 37-28 at the 7:06 mark on another Aiken bucket. Following the under eight minute media timeout, Iona went on an 11-2 run to knot the score at 39-39. The Gaels held Saint Joseph’s without a field goal for 5:05, and just two in the final 7:30. Machado’s running jumper at the halftime buzzer but Iona behind 45-43 heading into the break.
Ten tie scores and two lead changes marked the second half as neither team could take more than a five point advantage. The Gaels largest lead was 63-58 after a Smyth three pointer with 11:07 to go. The Hawks led by four with 5:46 remaining on a Langston Galloway three. A Taaj Ridley layup with eight seconds left knotted the score at 84-84. The Gaels forced a turnover and a Machado attempt at the buzzer rimmed out as the game went into overtime.
Iona led for all of 16 seconds in the first overtime. Machado hit two free throws to open the scoring 14 seconds in. Junior Lamont Jones‘ three-pointer gave the Gaels an 89-84 lead at 4:01. Saint Joseph’s battled back, keeping the game within four points before Ronald Roberts tied the score at 93-93 with two seconds remaining. Jones’ shot attempt at the buzzer also rimmed out and forced a second overtime.
It was all Machado in the second OT. He drained a three pointer from the win at 4:33 to give Iona the lead for good. After an Aiken dunk cut the deficit to one, Machado drained a jumper to make the score 98-95. Aiken’s jumper from the top of the key once again put the Hawks behind by a point. Glover converted two free throws at 3:13, giving Iona a 100-97 advantage. With both defenses clamping down, neither team scored until a Carl Jones jumper with 19 seconds left made the score 100-99. Machado converted four straight free throws to seal the win.
Glover put forth a yeoman’s effort with 34 points and 15 rebounds including nine on the offensive glass. He shot 15-for-26 from the field, matching a career-high in makes and setting a career-high in attempts.
Machado completed his fourth straight double-double to start the year adding 10 assists to his 33 points. He also added five rebounds and four steals. Machado leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points per game and the nation in assists, averaging 12.8 per contest.
Smyth added 15 points with three three-point field goals and three rebounds. Jones posted 11 points in his New York homecoming, with five in the first overtime period. Ridley posted six points and junior Ra’Shad James had six key rebounds for the Gaels in the win.
The Hawks’ Carl Jones led with 25 points, shooting 8-for-16 from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Ronald Roberts had 20 points and nine boards off the bench, Aiken had 19 points and nine rebounds while Langston Galloway had 17 points with the help of five three-pointers.
The Gaels complete a two-game home stand on Monday (Nov. 28) against Long Island before embarking on a nine-game trip away from the Hynes Center lasting through Jan. 6.
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