LBANY, NY – Siena erased a 14-point first half deficit in a 73-67 win over the Iona College men’s basketball team in MAAC action at the Times Union Center. Junior Scott Machado (Queens, NY) – named the MAAC Player of the Week earlier in the day – scored a team-high 21 points in the loss.
Junior Mike Glover (Bronx, NY) converted two free throws at 10:16 in the first half to give the Gaels (8-6, 2-1 MAAC) their largest lead of the contest at 26-12. Siena (5-8, 2-1 MAAC) hung around over the next several minutes and Iona was unable to build on the advantage. After a Glover layup put Iona ahead 32-19 at the 4:39 mark, the Saints went on a 12-2 run to end the half and trailed by just three points.
In the second, Siena took its first lead since the first minute of the contest on a transition layup by freshman Rakeem Brookins at 16:43. With the score tied at 48 and 13:30 left to play, the Saints scored 11 of the game’s next 13 points to take a 59-50 advantage. Iona answered with a 10-0 run capped by a freshman Sean Armand (Brooklyn, NY) three-pointer at 5:54. The two teams traded leads over the next four minutes and a Machado jumper from just inside the free throw line gave Iona its last lead with 94 seconds remaining. On the next possession, Siena senior Ryan Rossiter converted a conventional three-point play that gave the home team the lead for good. Iona was unable to come up with a score while the Saints went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to come out with the six-point win.
Machado shot 9-for-20 from the field and had seven assists and six rebounds to go along with his 21 points. The 20 field goal attempts matched his career-high set earlier this season vs. Richmond.
Glover did not miss from the field (7-for-7) or the free throw line (4-for-4) and had 18 points. He snapped his eight-game double-double streak with eight rebounds. Senior Rashon Dwight (Newark, NJ) had seven points and three assists while his classmate Alejo Rodriguez (New York, NY) posted six points and seven boards.
Iona dropped its 10th straight to the Saints with the loss. There were three ties and 13 lead changes in the contest.
The Maroon & Gold continues MAAC play next weekend when they host Saint Peter’s on Friday (Jan. 7) and Loyola on Sunday (Jan. 9) at the Hynes Center.
–ICGAELS.COM–