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Iona MBB Survives Saint Peter’s In OT To Remain Unbeaten At Home

Written By: Robert Cox

The Iona College men’s basketball team defeated Saint Peter’s 68-61 in overtime in a contest that featured wild finishes to the first half, regulation and overtime to keep the Gaels unbeaten at 9-0 at the Hynes Center in 2014-15. Junior A.J. Englishscored 21 points and senior David Laury added an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double to help the Maroon & Gold stave off the Peacocks at home.

After hitting just 4-of-its-first-24 field goal attempts in the first 14 minutes of the contest, Iona trailed 19-8 at the 5:45 mark. The Gaels finished the half with a 15-4 flurry on a 6-for-7 including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to knot the score at 25-25. The wild first half ending featured an apparent buzzer beating tip-in by the Peacocks but after video review the bucket was waved off as the backboard light turned on milliseconds before Marvin Dominique’s tip try.

The streaky shooting continued in the second half for the Gaels. Much like the first half, Iona was ice cold to begin the frame to the tune of 2-for-15 over the first eight minutes. Saint Peter’s could not take advantage, however, and lead by just three points despite the Gaels’ shooting woes. Following graduate Jeylani Dublin‘s layup at 11:30 and two English free throws at 9:53, the Maroon & Gold took its first lead since its opening possession of the first half at 35-34. The Peacocks ended a 4:54 scoreless drought on the ensuing possession and the see-saw battle was on. Six lead changes and four tie scores over the next 8:03 highlighted the second half battle. With 1:29 left Trevis Wyche was fouled after corralling an offensive rebound. On his first shot attempt, Laury was whistled for a technical foul and Wyche and Desi Washington hit four straight field goals and the Peacocks earned a 51-48 advantage. After an Iona miss and a Saint Peter’s turnover, English cut the deficit to one with two free throws. Washington was fouled on a three-point attempt with 25 seconds left and calmly sank the ensuing free throws to put the Peacocks ahead 50-54 with 25 seconds left. English and Washington traded a pair of free throws and the deficit remained four with 15 ticks remaining. The wild finish to regulation then commenced. Washington stole the ball from English who quickly forced a turnover by Wyche and drained a huge three pointer from the wing to make the score 56-55 as eight seconds remained. A quick foul sent Dominique to the free throw line. After a 1-for-2 effort made it a two point game, all eyes were on English to make a play to tie or win the game. With at least three defenders looking for English to take a game-winning try from beyond the arc, English found a wide open Kelvin Amayo under the basket for the game-tying layup with 0.6 left. Saint Peter’s three quarter court heave fell short and overtime followed.

Prior to the overtime frame, Iona’s largest lead of the contest was two points, on an opening possession layup by David Laury. Two English free throws put the Gaels ahead 64-61 in the 45th minute of the contest. The Maroon & Gold got a defensive stop with Amayo pulling down his 11th rebound of the contest before being fouled. The 49.3% free throw shooter hit both to give Iona a four point cushion. Junior Ibn Muhammadsealed the game with two more free throws after a tip-in by the Peacocks was waved off for basket interference.

The Gaels withstood two stretches of nine straight field goal misses in the contest and shot a season-low 34.4% from the field for the game. Saint Peter’s held a 0.1% advantage in the statistic. Iona had a season-high 47 rebounds including 15 on the offensive glass and was +10 in the statistic for the first time this season.

English added seven assists and five rebounds to his 21 points. Laury posted his 11th double-double in the last 17 games. Dublin posted a season-high eight points while rookie Schadrac Casimir had seven and Amayo recorded six points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Washington led the visitors with 18 points including seven straight free throws in the final 90 seconds of the second half. Dominique had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double and Tyler Gaskins added 14 points in the loss.

The Gaels are back in action Monday at Fairfield at 7:00 pm in a game that can be seen live on SportsNet New York, ESPN3 and WatchESPN.com.