Small college basketball roundup: Iona, St. Francis, and Stony Brook open season with wins

A number of New York City-area teams were in action on Friday's opening night of college basketball:

Fordham Rams 76, Texas State Bobcats, 86:

Chris Gaston had a double double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Branden Frazier and Bryan Smith added 18 and 16, respectively, but Fordham turned the ball over 23 times, dropping the season opener in San Marcos, Texas.

Hofstra Pride 62, Monmouth Hawks 91:

Hofstra had all kinds of trouble shooting the ball, finishing at a 29% clip for the game. The Pride were outscored by 19 in the first half, and were unable to stop Monmouth guard Andrew Nicholas, who scored 28 points.

Iona Gaels 65, Denver Pioneers 58:

Iona started off the season on a winning note, riding 20 points from Lamont Jones and 19 from Sean Armand en route to the home victory over Denver.

St. Francis Terriers 76, Lafayette Leopards 65:

St. Francis rode an eight point halftime lead to a an eleven point decision at Lafayette.

LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds 74, Morehead State Eagles 77

LIU mounted a furious 10-0 run to pull the Blackbirds within a point with seconds left, but Barkari Turner of Morehead State sunk two free throws, and LIU's C.J. Turner missed a three pointer at the buzzer as the Blackbirds dropped the first college basketball game at the Barclays Center. Jamal Olasewere scored 28 for LIU.

Fairleigh Dickinson Knights 75, Xavier Musketeers 117

Four players sat out for disciplinary reasons for Fairleigh Dickinson, and it showed as they were blasted by Xavier in Cincinnati. Lonnie Robinson was the lone bright spot with 20 points.

Stony Brook Seawolves 60, Marist Red Foxes 57

Marist missed a pair of three pointers in the finals seconds to give the victory to Stony Brook. Adam Kemp had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.