POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's basketball team defeated Iona on Thursday night, 78-74, in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at McCann Arena.

The teams battled down to the wire, but the Red Foxes persevered for their first home win over the Gaels since 2008. While Marist led by double-digits for most of the game, Iona brought the game to a single-possession difference in the final minute. But clutch free throws by senior forward Ryan Funk and freshman guard Darius Hines preserved the victory. 
 

SUMMARY

• The Gaels and Red Foxes went bucket-for-bucket to start the half until Marist pulled ahead 15-12 with a Hines three-pointer just before the first media timeout.
• Marist started the game by making 8-of-10 field goals to pull ahead 24-18.
• Marist's lead built up to 40-24 with four minutes left in the first half thanks to an 11-0 run.
• The Red Foxes shot 69% from three and 50% from the field in the first half to lead 47-34 at the break.
• The Gaels fought back to close the gap to 50-44 with 16 minutes left in the game.
• Iona surged to put the game within five, but Marist caused a pair of turnovers to go on a 6-0 run to lead 58-47 with 14 minutes left.
• Marist's lead was between seven and 11 points for the next nine minutes, until a basket by E.J. Crawford brought Iona to within 64-59 with 5:13 to go. However, Funk answered with a three on Marist's next possession.
• Iona got within one score on a basket by Tajuan Agee with 40 seconds to play, and twice got within two points in the final 30 seconds. But led by Funk & Hines, the Red Foxes went 5-for-5 from the line in the final 10 seconds. Hines' two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining extended Marist's lead from two to its final margin of four.

KEY STATS

• Aleksandar Dozic matched his career high in blocks (three) and reached a new season high in rebounds (nine). He finished with 14 points.
• Hines' three three-pointers were a career-high. He finished with 14 points.
• Senior forward Isaiah Lamb scored a team-high 15 points, all of which came in the first half.
• Sophomore guard Austin Williams got seven rebounds to match his career high.
• The Red Foxes outshot the Gaels from the field, .431 to .407, and from three, .458 to .379.
• Iona's Crawford led all scorers with 22 points.

GAME NOTES

• The win marked Marist's first win at home against Iona since Dec. 5, 2008.
• This was the third game this season where five Red Foxes reached double-digit scoring. Marist is 3-0 in these instances.
• A senior has led Marist in scoring in 20 of its 21 games this season

RECORDS

• Marist is now 8-13 overall and 3-6 in the MAAC.
• Iona is 7-13 on the season and 5-4 in conference. 

QUOTE

"We're really happy. It's been a while since we've beaten Iona here, so I'm really proud of the guys," praised head coach John Dunne. "Our first half was tremendous offensively. We didn't start off the second half well, but we didn't hang our heads when things got hard. We're understanding it takes all of us to win, whether you start, finish, come off the bench. Hopefully we can improve upon this with on Saturday."

UP NEXT

Marist stays home to welcome Fairfield on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and tickets are available now.