English, Iona hold off Siena 87-81

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A.J. English had 22 of his 32 points in the first half Monday night and Iona recovered from a near collapse in the second half to beat Siena 87-81.

Siena erased the 25-point margin Iona built in the first half when the Saints took their first lead of the game at 73-72 with 3:41 left. Twelve seconds later, the Gaels (17-10, 14-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) took the lead back on English's 3-pointer which also broke Iona's 7:28 scoreless slump.

Siena (19-10, 12-6) quickly tied it at 75 and Deyshonee Much's 3-point play gave Iona the lead for good at 78-75. The teams traded free throws, and then English and Ibn Muhammad hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 85-76 with 49 seconds left.

Much had 23 points for Iona, which led 57-36 at halftime.

Javion Ogunyemi and Lavon Long had 18 points each for the Saints. Brett Bisping added 17.