The Iona Gaels and the Fairfield Stags meet Sunday in college basketball action from Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Iona is sitting at 15-7 so far. The Gaels beat Mount St. Mary’s in their last matchup. As for Fairfield, they’re 10-12 on the season following a loss to Quinnipiac. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Iona Gaels
Iona posted a solid 11-5 run to start the year, losing to Hofstra, Santa Clara, New Mexico, SMU and Quinnipiac along the way. The Gaels are 4-2 since then with wins over Fairfield, Manhattan, Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary’s.
In the Mount St. Mary’s game on Friday, the Gaels stormed out to a 48-18 halftime lead. Iona cruised on 33 points from there in an 81-51 win. Walter Clayton was the lead scorer with 20 points and Nelly Junior Joseph doubled on 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Fairfield Stags
Over on the Fairfield side, they started out their season on a sketchy 6-9 run. The Stags have gone 4-3 since then. The wins in that time came versus Saint Peter’s, Canisius, Siena and Mount St. Mary’s; the losses were to Iona, Rider and Quinnipiac.
Matched up against Quinnipiac on Friday, the Stags fell behind 26-21 at the break. Fairfield didn’t get any closer than that on a 40-30 second-half deficit and lost 66-51. Allan Jeanne-Rose was tops in scoring on 17 points.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably go with Iona in this one. The Gaels have won eight of their last 11 games, falling to only Quinnipiac, Rider and Siena in that time. The last time Iona met Fairfield was on January 13 at Hynes Athletic Center. The Gaels posted a 75-69 win in that one despite a two-point halftime deficit. Considering Fairfield hasn’t hit 70 points for nine straight games, a good offensive effort will probably do it for Iona here. It’ll take a fast start, but the Gaels should be fine if they play well.