Iona Basketball: Scott Machado Scores 22 Points In 85-70 Win at Marist

The weekend of Metro Atlantic basketball ended late Sunday afternoon in Poughkeepsie as visiting Iona improved to 10-5 in the conference and 16-10 by outlasting Marist 85-70.  The Iona win creates a three way tie in the MAAC standings among the Gaels, Rider and Saint Peter's behind conference leader Fairfield.

Iona pulled out to a fast 14-2 lead in the opening 4:03 highlighted by an opening dunk by conference leading scorer Mike Glover and three point shots by Kyle Smyth and Rashon Dwight. 

Iona extended the lead to 15 at 24-9 at 9:04 into the game after layups by Dwight and point guard Scott Machado and another dunk by Glover.  The Gaels worked the ball inside against Marist led by the play of Machado who finished the day with 22 points and 11 assists.   Iona led 42-33 at the half with 22 points in the paint.

Marist Guard Sam Prescott had a dominating day making 11 of 19 from the field and 7 free throws for a career best 34 points.

Other Sunday action in the MAAC:

Loyola beat Canisius 72-57 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Fairfield 70-69 over Saint Peter's in overtime in Jersey City.

Manhattan defeated Siena 84-81 in Riverdale, New York

Rider defeated Niagara 61-50 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. 

Marist came back with in two points of Iona at 48-46 with 16:29 left in the game on a three point shot by Sam Prescott his seventh point of the half. 

Iona pulled away with a 12 point run starting with a layup by Scott Machado at 8:59 and reaching 72-58 at 6:01 left on a free throw by Rashon Dwight.

Sophomore Guard Sam Prescott from Philadelphia helped get back Marist back into the game with 23 second half points ending the day with a career high 34 points.  This included making 11 of 19 from the field and five three point shots.  He was flawless in making 7 free throw attempts. 

Prior to this, Sam's best offensive day in his Marist career was 21 points versus Loyola as a freshman in 2010.

Senior Forward Korey Bauer had 11 rebounds in 30 minutes and sophomore guard Devin Price had 11 points and four assists.  Freshman Anell Alexis had 10 points and two steals coming off the bench for Marist.  

Iona junior point guard Scott Machado game back from an off game versus Siena Friday night to score 22 points his second highest total of the year, second only to his 28 point effort against Richmond back in September. 

Machado shot 7 of 13 from the field with only one three point shot but made 7 of 9 from the free throw line which was a key improvement from Friday night when he missed 5 of 7 free throws. 

Scott Machado went into the game as the NCAA Division One leader in Assists Per Game Average with 7.5.  Machado had 11 of Iona's 18 assists on the day as Iona tried to work on playmaking and setting up for inside shots through much of the game. 

This was the eighth game of the year Machado has had ten or more assists in a game. 

Rashon Dwight had his best conference performance of the year with 19 points on 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 4 on free throw. 

The senior guard's offensive total for the day was second only to the 19 points he scored against Cleveland State in the second game of the year. He added two assists and two rebounds in his 33 minutes of playing time.

Rashon helped the Gaels off to a fast start with a three point shot at 2:29 of the first period which gave the Gales a 10-0 lead.  His two free throws and layup iced the game in the last 1:18 for the Gaels.

Iona junior forward Mike Glover showed a strong inside game with 15 points on 4 of 8 field goals in 24 minutes.  His moves to the baskets generated fouls and he came through making 7 of 12 free throw shots.  All of Glover's field goals were close in dunks or layups as he showed confidence in taking he ball to the basket.

Mike went into the game as the MAAC conference scoring leader averaging 19.2 points per game.  he added six rebounds in the game down from his season average of 10.4.

Senior Iona Alejo Rodriquez continues to improve his contributions to Iona's inside game grabbing six rebounds including five on defensive against Marist.   The 6' 8" forward from New York City contributed nine points in the game on 4 of 5 shots from the field and 1 of 2 from the free throw line.

Alejo is averaging nearly seven rebounds a game to combine with Mike Glover and sophomore Chris Pelcher to give Iona a strong presence off the backboards.

Sophomore Kyle Smyth helped Iona get out to an early 7-0 lead by sinking a three point shot just 1:52 into the Marist game.  He added a rebound and an assist in 11 minutes playing time, his shortest playing time this year.   

Junior guard Jermel Jenkins came off the bench to play 31 minutes against Marist to add seven points on 3 of 8 on field goals and 1 of 3 from the line.  He added two rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Jermel was coming off his second best offensive performance of the season Friday night when he had 19 against Siena.  Back in November he had 21 points against Albany.

Iona 6' 10" forward Chris Pelcher made a dunk with 7:43 to go followed by a tip-in two trips down the floor later to help propel Iona through a twelve point run and to a 72-58 lead with 6:01 to play.

The sophomore from Albany scored six points on the day and added two rebounds in ten minutes playing time giving Mike Glover a few minutes off.  His point total was his highest in a MAAC game this season.

Junior guard Trinity Fields played nine minutes versus Marist contributing three rebounds and 1 of 2 from the field for two points.

"Good Game.

Marist did a tremendous job fighting back into the game, they rebounded really well, Prescott went off...

Our team will take a defensive lapse after taking a lead.  They made shots and Prescott had a career day, even when we double teamed.

We were trying to get inside a bit more today, get our big guys into the game and work that part of the game.  Sometimes on the road you want to establish inside-out.

Mike Glover was spotty, he came ready to play. He had a lot of energy but Marist was physical towards him.  He gave us a solid game.  Mike Glover can score on anyone."

On playing full court press, "It is who we are. It helps us get more players into the game.  I like playing with more energy.  Our overall size is not great, if we just set up in a half court it would not be advantageous for the team we have this year.

Alejo is playing better as season progresses.  Chris Pelcher came off the bench and played solid minutes for us.

Scott Machado was terrific in second half.  He came up really big with both passes and baskets.  I was really proud of him."  

The "Bracket Buster" Games Saturday move MAAC Conference play to Wednesday night this week.

Canisius will play at Niagara

Saint Peter's will be at Siena

Iona will be at Manhattan

Rider will be Loyola

and Marist will be Fairfield

Iona will play Saturday at Liberty in Virginia