ALBANY, NY – Siena Basketball erased a 10-point second half deficit to defeat archrival Iona 70-64 in front of a season-high crowd of 6,383 in the annual Gold Rush game at MVP Arena. Anthony Gaines posted a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds for the Saints, who went on a decisive 25-7 run down the stretch to hand the first-place Gaels their second straight loss.
 
Colby Rogers added 15 points and Jackson Stormo scored 14 for Siena (11-9, 8-4), which secured the program's first win in eight tries against Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. Freshman reserve Javian McCollum chipped in 11 points punctuated by a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line for the Saints who shot a stellar 24-28 (86%) from the charity stripe in the second half to seal the comeback.  
 
Tyson Jolly notched 15 of his 20 points in the second half for defending MAAC Tournament Champion and unanimous preseason favorite Iona (19-5, 11-2). Elijah Joiner added 15 points.
 
The nationally televised primetime showdown between the MAAC's two most successful programs lived up to the billing. The Gaels led by as many as a modest six points in the opening stanza, but Siena responded with a 12-3 run as a first half defensive stalemate resulted in a 24-all tie at the break.
 
Iona went on a 9-2 spurt early in the second half to open as much as a 10-point advantage at 42-32 at the 13:33 mark. But the Saints' defense clamped down and allowed the offense to go to work to spur on the rally.
 
Siena responded with its game-changing 25-7 run spanning 9:55 to take a 57-49 lead at the 3:38 mark. Stormo, who had eight of his points during the run, provided the go-ahead thunderous slam to make it 49-47 with 7:14 to go, before capping the run with a key layup.
 
The Saints, who held the MAAC's leading offense to 13 points under their average and second lowest scoring output of the season, forced the Gaels to miss nine of 11 shot attempts during the run. Siena limited Iona to just 35.9% shooting overall.
 
After connecting on just 2-8 free throws in the first half, the Saints converted with clutch makes down the stretch to secure just their third victory over Iona in the last 13 meetings between the programs in Albany.
 
Siena has little time to savor the victory, as the Saints have to turn right back around and hit the road for an early afternoon game on Super Bowl Sunday. Winners of five of their last six, Siena will seek to avenge its only loss during that span when they take on resurgent Rider at 1 p.m.