Iona guard Jermel Jenkins scored 17 points off the bench and Lamont Jones and Taaj Ridley added 12 points apiece as the visiting Gaels defeated Canisius College 69-57 Friday night in the Golden Griffins' home opener in the Koessler Athletic Center. Iona improves to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, while the Griffs slipped to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in league action.

Canisius junior Harold Washington scored a game-high 22 points in the loss for the Blue and Gold to go with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Sophomore Reggie Groves added 11 points and four assists for the Griffs, while junior guard Alshwan Hymes chipped in 10 points and two assists. Sophomore Chris Manhertz pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds as the Griffs ended up out-rebounding Iona by a 29-27 clip.

The difference in the game was Iona's ability to score off Canisius' mistakes, as the Gaels scored 21 points off 21 Canisius turnovers. The Gaels shot 46.6 percent from the field, 25 percent from 3-point range and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line in the win.

"I thought we had a great opportunity to knock off a very talented team here tonight," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "We didn't come in here just looking to be in the game. We worked hard over the last eight days on our defense and we guarded a pretty high-octane offense, but in the end we had too many turnovers. That's their game, they turn you over, break out and go score."

A 3-point field goal by Groves with 11:06 left in the game made the score 51-49 in favor of Iona, but the Gaels were able to get away from the Griffs with a 10-1 run over the next 4:11, capped by a lay-up by Ridley with 6:55 left on the clock that made the score 61-50 in favor of the visiting team. Washington drained a pair of charity tosses with 5:51 left in regulation time to cut the Gaels' cushion to 61-52, but nine points was as close as the Blue and Gold would get for the rest of the night as the Griffs scored just two baskets in the game's final 11:06 - a pair of lay-ups by Hymes in the final 2:04 of the contest.

Canisius held the game tight in the first half after the Griffs shot 59.1 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from 3-point land in the game's opening 20 minutes. Iona held a 33-28 lead with 3:44 left before the break, but Washington hit a jumper from just outside the paint and freshman Josiah Heath slammed one home from the baseline with 3:09 left before intermission to make the score 33-32 in favor of Iona. That was the score as the two teams went into the locker room at halftime after both teams failed to score in the final three-plus minutes of the first stanza.

Iona forward Mike Glover, who came into the game as the MAAC's leading scorer, finished the night with six points and three rebounds, while senior guard Scott Machado registered eight points and a game-high seven assists in the winning effort. The Gaels, who started the night as the nation's highest scoring team, were held under 89 points for the first time all season.

Heath's eight points are a career-high, and he also recorded five rebounds, an assist and a steal in 34 minutes of action. As a team, Canisius shot 48.7 percent from the floor, 57.1 percent from 3-point range and 73.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Canisius will continue its three-game homestand Sunday when the Griffs play host to Fairfield in the Koessler Athletic Center. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.