RIVERDALE, NY — Junior A.J. English drained a patented step back three point field goal with 25.3 seconds left to propel the Iona College men’s basketball team to a 70-67 victory over archival Manhattan in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at Draddy Gymnasium. English and freshman Schadrac Casimir scored 22 points apiece to lead the Gaels to their seventh straight victory.
The Gaels led by as many as 12 points in the contest and trailed for just six seconds in the victory. Iona’s seven point halftime lead was erased with 9:16 remaining on junior Shane Richards’ three-pointer with 9:16 remaining. Casimir coolly answered his Jasper long ball mate with a trifecta of his own just six seconds later to give Iona a two-point advantage.
Following a layup by senior Emmy Andujar that tied the score at 65-65 with under a minute to play, English took it upon himself to take the game winning shot as he gained a speck of separation from 6-10 defender Ashton Pankey and calmly sank what turned out to be the game winning field goal in the Gaels three point victory.
English and Casimir combined for 14-of-25 shooting from the field and 10-of-15 from beyond the arc. Senior David Laury recorded 11 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and three assists in the win. Junior Kelvin Amayo added nine points, five rebounds and four steals while junior Ibn Muhammad ended the contest with a career best eight assists.
Iona dominated the stat sheet in all but one important category, turnovers. The team’s 21 giveaways were the most the team took on this season. The Gaels out shot (52.2%) and out rebounded (34-29) the Maroon & Gold.
Andujar was the Jaspers’ leading scorer and rebounder with 17 points and nine rebounds.
