GAME NOTES: The Iona Gaels take aim at their first four-game win streak of the season today as they size up fellow Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference member Fairfield on the road in Connecticut. The Gaels moved to within a game of .500 in conference play on Friday night when they dismissed Canisius at home by a score of 66-59. The victory pushed Iona's MAAC mark to 6-7. As for the Stags, they too played on Friday night and also had similar results as they set down the Manhattan Jaspers in a 66-61 decision on the road. The victory was the second in a row for Fairfield which has won back-to-back games four different times in 2007-08, but has yet to string together three consecutive wins. Iona won the first meeting of the season between the schools with a 67-52 triumph at home back on January 18th, which means the Gaels have boosted their lead in the all-time series versus Fairfield to 52-36.

Gary Springer put together an impressive double-double effort on Friday night with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Gaels as they dismissed Canisius at the Hynes Center. Dexter Gray actually led all scorers with his 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, followed by Milan Prodanovic with 11 points for a team that survived just 39.3 percent shooting from the field and a 17-of-29 effort at the free-throw line. The Gaels have seen a different high scorer in each of the last four games, but Gray is at the top of the list overall at the moment with his 11.0 ppg. Prodanovic accounts for 10.3 ppg and Springer another 10.2 ppg, the latter trying to cover up his inability to pass (12 assists) with a team-best 7.2 rpg. The Gaels are currently eighth in the conference in scoring at 65.6 ppg and third in scoring defense, allowing 68.8 ppg, yet that still shows the program with a minus-3.3 ppg in scoring margin heading into action today.

Except for Yorel Hawkins who tallied just three points for the Stags two nights ago, every starter hit for double figures in the win over Manhattan, beginning with Herbie Allen and his 15 points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds. Mike Evanovich tacked on 12 points, while Greg Nero and Jonathan Han added 10 points apiece to help the unit overcome 17 turnovers. Fairfield is next-to-last in the MAAC with just 63.8 ppg and unfortunately, having the best scoring defense in the league with just 68.4 ppg allowed doesn't mean all that much if the offense can't get on track. Part of the problem is that the Stags are averaging a league-low 32.8 rpg. However, permitting just 32.5 rpg to rank first in the conference does work in their favor. Han is the lone double-digit scorer at the moment with his 11.1 ppg and he is shooting 46.7 percent from three-point range, in addition to being one of the top passers in the MAAC with just over six assists per contest.

Iona is not a very good road team this season with just three victories, and for the team to have to turn around and head out less than 48 hours after the last game is certainly going to count in Fairfield's favor.