Mount St. Mary's visits Iona after Benjamin's 21-point performance

Published Feb. 3, 2023 3:43 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (7-15, 3-8 MAAC) at Iona Gaels (14-7, 7-3 MAAC)

New Rochelle, New York; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Iona -15; over/under is 135.5

BOTTOM LINE: Mount St. Mary's visits the Iona Gaels after Jalen Benjamin scored 21 points in Mount St. Mary's 73-62 loss to the Saint Peter's Peacocks.

The Gaels have gone 7-1 in home games. Iona ranks third in the MAAC with 23.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Nelly Junior Joseph averaging 5.6.

The Mountaineers are 3-8 in MAAC play. Mount St. Mary's averages 13.6 turnovers per game and is 3-6 when winning the turnover battle.

The Gaels and Mountaineers square off Friday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Walter Clayton Jr. averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Gaels, scoring 15.3 points while shooting 39.8% from beyond the arc. Joseph is shooting 54.4% and averaging 15.7 points over the last 10 games for Iona.

Benjamin is averaging 14.5 points and four assists for the Mountaineers. Dakota Leffew is averaging 12 points over the last 10 games for Mount St. Mary's.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gaels: 7-3, averaging 73.1 points, 35.5 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 6.9 steals and 6.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points per game.

Mountaineers: 2-8, averaging 58.3 points, 28.7 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 41.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.