Box Score New Rochelle, N.Y. (February 3, 2003)—Mount St. Mary's ran into a hot-shooting Iona team on Friday night, falling to the host Gaels, 81-51, at the Hynes Center. Redshirt freshman
Dola Adebayo led the Mount with a career-high 13 points in his first collegiate start.
Adebayo finished 5-for-11 from the field for his 13-point effort while adding a career-best six rebounds.
Jaylin Gibson,
Jalen Benjamin and
George Tinsley each added eight points in the loss with Tinsley pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Walter Clayton, Jr., led all scorers in the game with 20 points with Nelly Joseph Junior recording 15 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Daniss Jenkins added 13, Berrick JeanLouis 12 and Sadiku Ibine Ayo 12 in the win.
Adebayo got the Mount (7-16, 3-9 MAAC) off on the right foot with a three-pointer for the game's first basket. The Gaels answered with the next 15 points to take a double-digit advantage in the opening four minutes. Adebayo stopped the run with a putback bucket, and back-to-back scores from Benjamin and
Jaylin Gibson cut the deficit to 17-to-9 at with just under 12 minutes left in the opening half.
The Gaels (15-7, 8-3 MAAC) countered with an 11-0 run that was capped by a Clayton, Jr., three-point for a commanding 28-to-9 lead just past the midpoint of the half. Iona pushed its advantage out to 30 points at the break at 48-18.
Iona shot 60.6 percent (20-of-33) from the field in the opening half while holding the Mountaineers to 8-of-25 (.320) shooting. The Mount committed 15 first-half turnovers that led to the Gaels holding a 22-to-6 advantage in points off turnovers in the game.
Clayton, Jr., led all scorers with 17 points in the opening half while JeanLouis, Junior Joseph and Jenkins each had eight for the Gaels. Adebayo led the Mount with five points in the half.
The Mountaineers battled in the second half with each team scoring 33 points. The Mount got as close A Benjamin three-pointer cut the Mount's deficit to 65-47 with just under six minutes remaining in the game.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since Dec. 17, 1949, with the Gaels now holding a 3-1 lead in the all-time series.
The Mountaineers are back in action on Sunday, February 5, with a 2:00 p.m. road game against Quinnipiac. The Mount's will then return to home to face MAAC leader Siena on Friday, February 10, at 7:00 p.m.
