NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Cleveland State rallied from a 20 point second half deficit to take the lead, but Iona scored the final five points of the game to claim a 78-73 win in the season opener on Friday night in the Haynes Athletics Center.
Marlin Mason scored 16 points, hitting all six of his shots from the field, including two three-pointers. Trey Lewis added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Kaza Keane scored 13 points in his CSU debut.
Andre Yates added 14 points, while Anton Grady grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
"I thought this was a very good college basketball game," head coach Gary Waters said. "We played hard to get back in the game and take the lead, but we didn't execute down the stretch. We took a few ill-advised shots that could have extended our lead. We have a tough early season schedule and we will need to learn from this game."
Iona took a 39-32 lead at the half, as the Vikings battled foul trouble with three starters – Grady, Mason and Yates – combining to play just 20 minutes due to foul trouble.
CSU's bench of Derek Sloan, Kenny Carpenter and Demonte Flannigan provided a lift in the first half to help the Vikings build a 30-26 lead with 4:49 to play on a Keane layup. However, the Gaels ended the half on a 13-2 run to take a seven point lead into the half.
The run continued early in the second half as Iona used hot three-point shooting to take a 20 point advantage (58-38) just five minutes into the half.
However, back-to-back three-pointers from Mason and another from Yates ignited a CSU spurt and pulled CSU within 11 points. Iona's lead was still 12 points (66-54) midway through the half, but once again the Vikings used the three-point ball to spark another run, taking a 71-70 lead on a Grady layup with 4:11 to play.
Iona's Schadrac Casimir stopped the bleeding with a big three-pointer to give the Gaels a two-point lead (73-71) with 2:27 left, but Lewis answered with a mid-range jumper from the wing to tie the contest with just over a minute left. Iona came right back with a layup to take a two-point lead and after a CSU miss, Isaiah Williams split a pair of free throws to put the Gaels up three with 24 seconds left.
The Vikings used their final timeout, setting up a play that freed Lewis for a good look on a three-pointer from the right wing, but it was just long and Iona hit two free throws to seal the win.
Both teams shot well from three-point, hitting 10 apiece. However, the Gaels used a 22-of-37 effort at the free throw line compared to 9-of-13 for CSU. The Vikings held a 39-31 advantage on the glass.
The Vikings return to action on Monday (Nov. 17) when CSU opens the home season at 7:00 p.m. against Tiffin in the Wolstein Center.
