NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Iona junior
forward Mike Glover scored a career-high 39 points and added 14 rebounds, while
teammates Scott Machado and Jermel Jenkins added 18 and 16 points, respectively
as the Gaels defeated Canisius College 94-85 Friday night in the Hynes Athletic
Center in New Rochelle, N.Y. The win was Iona's fourth straight and improved
the Gaels to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins
slipped to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in league action.
For Canisius senior forward Elton
Frazier scored a career-high 26 points, while fellow senior Julius Coles
chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds for his third career double-double. Senior
Greg Logins added 10 points in the loss for the Blue and Gold.
After a back-and-forth contest
through the first 15 minutes of the first half, Iona used a 13-2 run over a
span of 2:43 to take a 45-34 lead into the halftime break. In the second half,
Iona pushed its lead to 18 points midway through the second stanza, but the
Griffs fought back, keyed by Frazier's efforts, to cut the Gaels' margin to
just five points with 2:18 left in regulation time. Senior Robert Goldsberry got the Griffs started with a 3-pointer from the
wing and then Frazier scored the next 10 Canisius points to get the Blue and
Gold within nine at 79-70.
Coles cut the Iona lead to just six
at 79-73 with a 3-pointer with 5:05 left on the clock, but Iona countered with
a layup by Glover. Frazier scored again on Canisius' next trip down the floor
to make the score 81-75, but Glover would go to the line and nailed two charity
tosses to make the score 82-75 with 3:12 left. Moments later, with Canisius
trailing 84-79, Iona was able to put the game away with two 3-pointers within
40 seconds, capped by a 3-ball from Jenkins with 1:11 left on the clock to put
Iona up 90-79.
"We told our guys that you're never
really out of it against Iona because they do what they do and a good effort
can keep you in the game," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "I thought we started to make our charge back
when we started rebounding the basketball and pushing it back at them in
transition. We got a good charge from some guys off the bench tonight, and
Elton had a career high, but it wasn't a career effort because he plays like that
every single day in practice."
Canisius shot a season-high 50.7
percent from the field in the loss, but turned the ball over 15 times, which
turned into 18 Iona points. Iona shot 47.3 percent from the floor and 38.9
percent from 3-point land while posting 21 assists on 35-made buckets.
The Griffs will return to action Sunday, Dec. 5, when the team
travels to Marist. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m., in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Game Notes: This was the 55th
all-time meeting between the two schools, with Iona holding a 29-26 lead in the
series... Frazier's previous career-high point total was 25, set Jan. 9, 2010 in
a win at Marist... The 94 points allowed were the most for the Griffs in a MAAC
game since Feb. 10, 2008 when Manhattan posted a 97-87 win in Riverdale, N.Y...
The 85 points scored were the most for Canisius in a conference game since that
contest at Manhattan... Freshman forward Chris
Manhertz came off the bench to score his first six career points and he
also registered a career-high seven rebounds in 14 minutes of play.
