Iona Gaels at Fairfield Stags
· NCAA Men's Basketball
68 - 80
Cruz, Taliaferro boost Fairfield past Iona 80-68
Fairfield (6-15, 3-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) won for the third time in its last nine contests whereas Iona (7-12, 5-3) started the day in a second-place tie with Canisius having won five of seven.
Cruz and Taliaferro each scored five points in the first three minutes as the Stages built a 10-0 lead. They extended the lead to 26-7 over the next 6 1/2 minutes and the Gaels never recovered from their slow start. Fairfield led 42-25 at halftime shooting 16 of 34 (47 percent) from the field including four 3-pointers.
E.J. Crawford made a pair of free throws with 3:06 to play to get Iona within 73-64 before Cruz and Taliaferro each made a pair of foul shots and Fairfield led by double digits the rest of the way.
Crawford scored a career-high 28 points for Iona. He set his previous career high of 26 on Jan. 29, 2018 in a 103-100 overtime road loss to the Stags.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 68 - 80 |
| 2nd 0:00 | End of 2nd half | 68 - 80 |
| 2nd 0:06 | Niksa Nikolic made Layup. Assisted by E.J. Crawford. | 68 - 80 |
| 2nd 0:33 | E.J. Crawford Defensive Rebound. | 66 - 80 |
| 2nd 0:34 | Neftali Alvarez missed Free Throw. | 66 - 80 |
Statistics
 IONA |
 FAIR |
|
|---|---|---|
| 24-49 | FG | 27-59 |
| 49 | Field Goal % | 46 |
| 3-14 | 3PT | 6-19 |
| 21 | Three Point % | 32 |
| 17-27 | FT | 20-25 |
| 63 | Free Throw % | 80 |
| 31 | Rebounds | 33 |
| 7 | Offensive Rebounds | 10 |
| 24 | Defensive Rebounds | 23 |
| 6 | Assists | 12 |
| 4 | Steals | 8 |
| 3 | Blocks | 2 |
| 19 | Turnovers | 11 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 19 | Total Turnovers | 11 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 1 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 1 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 9 | Points Off Turnovers | 23 |
| 0 | Fast Break Points | 15 |
| 0 | Points in Paint | 40 |
| 23 | Fouls | 23 |
| 0 | Largest Lead | 23 |
Game Information
Location: Fairfield, CT
Attendance: 2,479 | Capacity:
2025-26 Metro Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrimack | 17-3 | - | 23-11 |
| Saint Peter's | 14-6 | 3 | 17-12 |
| Siena | 13-7 | 4 | 23-12 |
| Marist | 12-8 | 5 | 19-12 |
| Quinnipiac | 12-8 | 5 | 19-13 |
| Fairfield | 11-9 | 6 | 21-13 |
| Mount St. Mary's | 11-9 | 6 | 15-17 |
| Iona | 10-10 | 7 | 18-14 |
| Sacred Heart | 9-11 | 8 | 14-19 |
| Manhattan | 8-12 | 9 | 12-20 |
| Canisius | 5-15 | 12 | 10-21 |
| Niagara | 5-15 | 12 | 8-22 |
| Rider | 3-17 | 14 | 4-25 |