BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Anthony Johnson and Herbie Allen each scored a game-high 16 points in leading the Fairfield University men's basketball team to a 68-59 win over Iona College on Sunday afternoon. Johnson made seven of eight shots from the floor, while played all 40 minutes for the Stags.

            Iona jumped out to an early lead as Milan Prodanovic hit a three-point shot on the team's first possession of the game. The Gaels remained in front until Johnson scored off a lay up to tie the game and Allen hit a jumper on the next possession to give Fairfield its first lead at 17-15 with 10:38 on the clock.

The Stags eventually jumped out to a 27-21 advantage with 5:29 remaining, the team's biggest lead to that point. Iona answered with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to erase that deficit and take a three-point advantage at 32-29 with 3:01 left in the first half. Fairfield managed to cut the lead to one point when Allen's jumper made the score 34-33 with 43 seconds remaining, which is how the half ended.

The visitors continued to build on its tenuous lead with free throws as four of its first eight points came from the free throw line which resulted in a four-point lead at 42-38 with just under 17 minutes remaining. Greg Nero made one of two shots to make it a one possession game at 42-39, before Dexter Gray nailed a three-point basket on the next possession to double the lead at 45-39.

Fairfield scored the next eight points to turn the six-point deficit into a two-point lead, as Johnson tallied four of the points during that spurt. Kyle Camper recaptured the lead for Iona with a three-point field goal, but Mamadou Diakhate pushed the Stags in front by a point with a lay up on the Stags' next possession. Gary Springer regained the lead for Iona with a basket at the 8:23 mark, making the score 50-49.

Allen responded with another three-point basket to push the Stags in front at 52-50, a lead which Fairfield would not surrender the rest of the way. In fact, the home team led by as many as eight points at 63-55 with 2:29 remaining before winning the game by nine points.

Four Iona players scored in double figures, led by Gray's 14 points and Prodanovic's 11 markers. Jonathan Han played a pivotal role in the Stags' win with eight assists and four points in 36 minutes of action. His eight assists raised his career total to 375 which places him eighth all-time on Fairfield's career assist list, surpassing Kyle Commodore's (1996-99) total of 370 assists.

Fairfield returns to action on Saturday February 16 when it hosts MAAC leader Rider University at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Game time is slated for 2 pm.