The Iona College men’s basketball team may have reached its lowest point of the season on Friday evening against Quinnipiac.

With the game tied at 65 and Quinnipiac in possession of the ball, Iona junior guard Ben Perez was called for a controversial foul that sent Bobcats senior Cameron Young to the free throw line with 1.1 seconds left in the game.

Young, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference leading scorer, converted 1-2 free throws to lead Quinnipiac to a 66-65 victory and ensure the Gaels’ losing streak extended to four games.

“It’s frustrating, but we got to make plays,” Iona Head Coach Tim Cluess said. “Sometimes you go through these things and I’m hoping we turn around.” 

Iona’s (7-15, 5-6 MAAC) offensive struggles that led to the loss to Siena on Feb. 2 carried over against Quinnipiac (12-10, 7-4 MAAC). The Gaels shot 40 percent from the floor and went 5-25 from the three-point. Iona’s three-point shooting struggles are uncommon for a team that’s known for beating opponents with long range shooting.

“We can’t shoot 5-25 from three and expect to win,” Cluess said. “We are fortunate to have a chance to win the last couple of games because of how poorly we shoot the basketball.”

Iona was trailing 53-43 in the second half when junior guard E.J. Crawford scored eight straight points to cut the Gaels’ deficit to four points.

Iona took its first lead since the first half when junior point guard Asante Gist converted back-to-back three pointers to give his team a 62-58 lead with less than five minutes to go in the game.

Quinnipiac regained the lead off a Rich Kelly three-pointer. Crawford, who scored a game-high 22 points, responded with a three-pointer of his own before Quinnipiac’s Abdulai Bundu tied the game at 65 with under two minutes remaining in regulation.

Iona was on the verge of playing in overtime, but a foul call going in Quinnipiac’s favor put Iona a game under .500 in the conference.

Junior forward Tajuan Agee posted a double-double, 17 points and 12 rebounds. Senior point guard Rickey McGill scored 12 points, while Gist added 10 points. Junior guard Isaiah Still scored two points in his first game back since Jan. 11.

Young tallied 18 points and five rebounds for Quinnipiac, while sophomore Jacob Rigoni chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds.

Iona sits in sixth place in the MAAC, but the Gaels mathematically still have a shot at the second and potentially the first seed in the conference if they can turn things around during the final seven games of the season.

“We got to communicate better with each other throughout practice, pregame and during the game,” Cluess said. “If they are willing to do that, these two and four losses can become seven and eight point wins.”