Late Surge Carries Iona Past QU Men's Basketball 84-74

Monday, January 23

New Rochelle, NY

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

8-12, 5-5MAAC

Iona College

13-8, 6-4MAAC

Team	1	2	F
Quinnipiac	34	40	74
Iona	41	43	84

Late Surge Carries Iona Past QU Men's Basketball 84-74

1/23/2017 10:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The Quinnipiac men's basketball team battled back from a 13-point deficit to tie the score in the second half, but defending MAAC champion Iona was able to fight off the challenge and pull away at the end for an 84-74 win on Monday evening at the Hynes Athletic Center.

With the loss, the Bobcats see their record level off at 5-5 in the MAAC, while falling to 8-12 overall. Iona improves to 13-8 overall and 6-4 in the MAAC with the win. Freshman guards Mikey Dixon (New Castle, Del.) and Peter Kiss (New York, N.Y.) led the Bobcats with 20 and 16 points, respectively, while Rickey McGill and E.J. Crawford each had 20 for Iona. Dixon's 20 points increased his scoring average for the season to 16.8, moving him up from ninth to sixth nationally among freshmen.

The Bobcats pulled even at the 9:42 mark of the second half, when Dixon converted two foul shots after an Iona technical foul to even the score at 57-57. Taylor Bessick blocked a go-ahead drive from Dixon, and McGill hit two foul shots and a jumper to push the lead to four at 61-57.

A Dixon three-pointer pulled the Bobcats back within 63-62 with 7:21 left, but Iona scored the next six points on two foul shots from Jon Severe, and then a layup and two free throws from McGill, who had 15 pf his 20 points in the second half. Junior guard Reggie Oliver (Apopka, Fla.) answered with a short floater, and Dixon answered a Crawford jumper to make the score 71-66 with 4:00 left, but Iona used another 6-0 run to get the lead back up to double figures at 77-66 with 2:20 to go.

Dixon had a steal and layup in traffic with 1:30 left to make the score 77-70 and the Bobcats forced a steal with their press and had a chance to close to within four, but could not connect from three, and Iona was able to seal the game at the line.

Iona took a 41-34 lead into halftime on the strength of nine three-pointers, including three each from Jon Severe and E.J. Crawford. The Gaels threatened to open up a larger lead at the break, pulling ahead by as many as 13 (35-22) with 5:30 left in the opening half. However, sophomore guard Andrew Robinson (Takoma Park, Md.) hit a big three with 1:35 left and Kiss and Dixon each had two-point baskets in the final minute to close the Bobcats to within 41-34 at the halftime buzzer.

Iona finished with a 51-34 edge in the rebounding department, matching the largest deficit that the Bobcats have had in Head Coach Tom Moore's 10 seasons, a figure that Iona also accomplished last year in Hamden, and matched by Gonzaga earlier this season at the AdvoCare Invitational. McGill had a strong overall stat line of 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Severe had 17 points.

Quinnipiac will be back in action on Friday, when it travels to take on first-place Monmouth for a 7 p.m. contest, which will be televised live on ESPNU.