The Iona Gaels aren't known for defense. When they get on the court, they simply try to score as many points as humanly possible.

It's been working for them so far this season. Iona took its home court last night for a nationally televised game against Canisius averaging 82.2 points per game while compiling an 18-5 record.

Both of those numbers will improve after last night's 105-86 pounding of Canisius in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Lamont "Momo" Jones seemed determined to single-handedly test the limits of how many points a player and a team can actually score, as his 43 points set a record for the most any player has ever scored in Iona's Hynes Athletics Center (built 1974) and led the nation's fifth-ranked offense to its highest output of the season.

Gaby Belardo didn't participate in the team's pregame walk-through and almost didn't play because of his back injury, which wasn't helped by the flight down to the game. He didn't start the game but gave off the bench for a season-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting.

Alshwan Hymes added 23 points and Josiah Heath pulled down eight rebounds, but nobody could stop the duo of Jones and NBA prospect Scott Machado, who had 14 assists.

The game gave Canisius followers a sense of déjà vu, as all three games over the past seven days have followed a similar storyline: a strong first half in which the Griffs either have the lead or are within striking distance; followed by a second half where the lack of depth sets in and the players get tired, resulting in a lopsided score.

The Griffs have been outscored 141-100 in the second half of the last three games, but that's not indicative of how the full contests went. Canisius led 35-33 at halftime last Friday against Manhattan and trailed by only two possessions on Sunday versus Loyola and last night at Iona.

All three starts were respectable efforts from the MAAC's last-place team, going up against the conference's three best teams. But the Griffs simply don't have the manpower to stay in games.

Head coach Tom Parrotta said on Sunday that he continues to be proud of his players' effort and that the morale in the locker room hasn't taken a dive with the team's record.

He also usually mentions the team's lack of depth, which took an even bigger hit last weekend when it was announced that Parrotta had suspended Reggie Groves.

Parrotta spoke about Groves for the first 5 ½ minutes of his 11-minute press conference after Canisius' 78-66 loss to Manhattan Friday night, saying that he chose to suspend his sophomore guard indefinitely for academic reasons, though he is not ineligible by NCAA standards.

"If I was to say if it was a major thing or minor thing, it's minor. Things are nipped here when they're minor so they don't turn into major," Parrotta said. "This is the time [during a struggling season] to step up and make sure the conditions for your program are very much adhered to."

Parrotta did not say when Groves would be able to return to action, only that he "want[s] to get some favorable response back from some academic folks to be able to have that conversation to move forward."

Groves was averaging 6.0 points and 2.6 assists in nearly 30 minutes per game.

The Griffs (4-18, 1-11 MAAC) have a shot to improve their conference record on Saturday with a game at Marist, the only MAAC team they have beaten this season.