Throughout the first four games of the season, the men’s basketball team has shown promise but hasn’t been able to get the results that they’ve been looking for. Acquiring a 1-3 record, the team has underperformed the third-place finish they were predicted to have in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. But, with it still being super early in the season, there is still time for the team to turn everything around.

Throughout their next seven games, the team has been better but still underperforming expectations, only going 2-5. The team’s first game after their first win saw them travel to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the West Virginia

Mountaineers. The team lost the game, 86-43, with only two players, guard James Patterson and forward Luke Jungers, scoring in double figures for the Gaels. Next, the Gaels would head back to the Hynes Athletic Center to host Cornell. Once again, the Gaels would lose, the final score being 68-84. In this game, the star players were Dejour Reaves and Yaphet Moundi, who had 19 points and five rebounds and 13 points and nine rebounds respectively. After that game, the team would travel down to Nassau in the Bahamas to participate in the 2024 edition of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championships. The Gaels would face the Tarleton State Texans on Nov. 29, the Indiana State Sycamores on Nov. 30, and the Rice Owls on Dec. 1.

The game on Nov. 29 saw the Gaels play the Texans, and Iona would come out of the game with a win, the final score being 62-51. But the next two games, against Indiana State and Rice, saw the Gaels lose, the final scores being 80-83 and 66-70 respectively.

Throughout those three games, Reaves and freshman guard Adam Njie were the Gaels’ two best players. In those three games, Reaves would average 19 points and Njie would average 17 points and 5 assists. On Dec. 6, the Gaels would open MAAC play on the road against Sacred Heart. Despite a 17-point outing from Reaves, the Gaels would drop their first MAAC game of the season to the Pioneers, 83-59. The Gaels would continue

MAAC play at home when they hosted the St. Peter’s Peacocks on Dec. 8. A back-and-forth affair early on, the Gaels were able to take the lead and win, the final score being a 9-point win, 72-63, giving the Gaels their first win in conference play. Much like many games this season, Reaves led the Gaels in points with 19, but Patterson and Njie weren’t that far behind with 18 and 16 points respectively.

Over winter break, the Gaels will play six games. On Dec. 22, the Gaels will travel to play Colgate on the road before hosting Harvard seven days later. Then, after the new year, Iona will only play MAAC teams, hosting Marist and Quinnipiac on Jan. 3 and Jan. 12 and going on the road against Siena and Farfield on Jan. 5 and Jan. 10.