FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Trailing by 21 points to visiting Iona midway through the second half, Fairfield University Men's Basketball cut the deficit as low as five points late in Sunday's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matchup at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. However, the Gaels shot 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the final three minutes to keep the Stags at bay and hold on for a 70-61 decision. The game was played before a standing-room only crowd of 3,605 – the largest in the young history of the new on-campus venue.
 
After the Sunday setback, Fairfield stands at 10-13 overall and 6-7 in the MAAC. Iona improves to 16-7 overall and 9-3 in the conference to keep pace with first-place Rider, which improved to 10-3 in league play with a win today at Manhattan.
 
"Iona's a very good basketball team and obviously is well-coached; and I think we're a good team that just hasn't played well for the last couple of games. We've got to play better, but I think we have what it takes to be in it right up to the end." said Head Coach Jay Young.
 
"I thought the difference today was the first five minutes of the second half where we just didn't come out ready to play," added Young. "Credit to our guys for fighting back, but also credit to Iona. They played hard and they deserved the win today."
 
Supreme Cook led the Stags offensively with 16 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free throw line. Cook also hauled in four rebounds and recorded a pair of blocked shots. Allan Jeanne-Rose joined Cook in double figures with 10 points, and James Johns Jr. added nine.
 
TJ Long headed up a team effort on the boards with six rebounds, while Jake Wojcik and Jeanne-Rose nabbed five apiece. The Stags outrebounded the Gaels, 39-32, including 13 from the offensive glass.
 
Iona made up that deficit in the turnover department, where the signature Rick Pitino press accounted for many of the Stags' 15 miscues that led to 16 Gaels' points. The Stags totaled seven points from seven Iona giveaways.
 
Jeanne-Rose scored Fairfield's first five points of the day, followed by a Cook layup and a deep three-pointer from Long that knotted the game at 10-10. Iona slowly climbed in front by as many as 12 points before a Makai Willis dunk and a Caleb Fields layup in the final two minutes sent the game into the half facing a more manageable 28-20 deficit.
 
Iona came out firing in the second half, outscoring the Stags, 24-11, over the opening 10 minutes of the stanza to build its largest lead of the day at 52-31 with 10:21 left. Fairfield responded with its best stretch of the game as six different Stags contributed to the scoring on a 20-4 run over the ensuing 7:17 of action, punctuated by a Fields step-back jumper to cut the deficit to 56-51 with 3:04 left.
 
However, the Stags would draw no closer as Daniss Jenkins ended the run with a personal five-point spurt of his own to double the margin to 61-51 with just 1:49 to play. Fairfield continued to keep the pressure on with a Johns three-point play, a Leach triple and a pair of Fields layups, but the Gaels kept pace – primarily at the stripe with the Stags fouling to stop the clock – to salt away the 70-61 final.
 
Jenkins and Nelly Junior Joseph shared the game high with 18 points apiece for Iona. Joseph also corralled 16 rebounds. Walter Clayton Jr. was the third Gael to reach double figures with 13 points.
 
Up next, the Stags are back on the road and back on ESPNU on Friday, Feb. 10 to complete the home-and-home at first-place Rider. The Broncs have ridden a seven-game winning streak to the top of the MAAC standings at 13-9 overall and 10-3 in league action