NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.  – The Niagara men’s basketball team was defeated by the Iona Gaels, 82-58, in its second conference game of the season on Sunday at the Hynes Athletics Center.

"We are going through the peferct storm right now," head coach Joe Mihalich said. "We are not healthy and are playing some really good teams, like Iona. We have our young guys in some tough situations. We need to stay the course, get better and get healthy."

The backcourt duo of Anthony Nelson and Marvin Jordan combined for 28 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in the game. Nelson has scored in double-figures in four straight games and is averaging over four assists per game since returning from injury. However, Nelson's and Jordan's efforts were not enough to keep Niagara (2-6, 0-2 MAAC) from falling against Iona (5-3, 2-0 MAAC) for only the third time in the last 10 meetings . Niagara starts conference play 0-2 and has a four-game losing streak for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

The Gaels went on a 26-5 run to take a 32-12 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. Iona finished the half shooting 57 percent from the field and had a 43-29 halftime lead. In the second half, Iona continued to shoot well from the field (55 percent) and had its lead ballooned to 28 points.

Forward Mike Glover finished with a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds en route to a double-double. Kyle Smyth and Alejo Rodriguez had 17 and 11 points, respectively. Kashief Edwards had his four-game double-digits scoring streak halted; he finished with nine points and had six rebounds.  

Niagara continues its road journey with a rivalry contest at the Buffalo Bulls on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast by Time Warner.