HUNTINGTON, WV – A 25-8 advantage on second chance points helped spark Marshall to a 82-63 win over the Iona College men’s basketball team at the Cam Henderson Center. The loss snapped the Gaels’ (7-2) seven-game winning streak and nine-game road winning streak in the squad’s largest defeat since the 2009-10 season.
Iona started off strong, opening up a 13-6 advantage 5:11 into the contest on a dunk by senior Mike Glover from classmate Scott Machado. After Marshall (6-2) cut it to two points, a Glover layup and Machado three ball gave Iona an 18-11 advantage at the 13:05 mark. Glover’s layup with 7:34 left gave Iona their largest lead of the game, 30-22. Back-to-back Marshall three pointers quickly cut the deficit to 30-28 just over a minute later. Marshall eventually tied the score with under a minute to play and took a 42-40 advantage into halftime. Glover shot 7-for-8 from the field with 16 points in the first half.
After junior Taaj Ridley knotted the score at 42-42 on Iona’s first possession of the second half, Marshall slowly build a lead by dominating the glass and taking advantage of Iona turnovers. Leading 46-44 at the 17:34 mark, a conventional three point play by Damier Pitts and a running jumper by Justin Coleman gave the Herd a 51-44 lead less than a minute later. Another key moment came with 16 minutes remaining as back-to-back Pitts’ three pointers put Marshall ahead 59-48 at the 15:16 mark. A Machado jumper with 12:38 left cut the margin under 10 points for the final time. De’Andre Kane’s layup at 9:36 put the score at 67-53 and gave the Gaels their largest deficit of the season at the time.
For the game, Marshall out rebounded Iona 39-18, grabbing 19 offensive boards in the win. The second half margin was 21-6 in favor of the Herd. Iona shot 53.2% for the game, but had just 19 attempts in the second half. Marshall shot an even 50.0% shooting 29-for-58 overall.
Glover led the Gaels with 20 points and six rebounds, shooting 9-of-10 from the field. Junior Lamont Jones added 13 points and Machado had 12 points and eight assists in the loss.
Pitts posted 25 points while backcourt mate Kane had 19 in the win. The duo combined for 10 assists.
Iona is back in action on Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Richmond.
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