Iona had erased an 11-point UMass lead, igniting on a 22-6 run over stretch of six minutes in the second half to establish a 78-73 lead. The 4,011 fans at the Mullins Center – which collectively roared when UMass guard Trey Davis made a 3-pointer to make it 67-56 with 11:54 remaining – were flummoxed.

The game could’ve gone two different ways. Davis, who finished with 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting, had a hand in helping UMass grab control yet again.

He hit two straight jump shots to bring UMass within a point and watched fellow guard Jabarie Hinds steal an inbound pass from Iona forwad David Laury. Hinds hit the layup, UMass took a 79-78 lead which capped off a sudden 6-0 burst, and the Minutemen went on to win 87-82 Tuesday night at the Mullins Center.

“It’s a good win,” UMass guard Derrick Gordon said. “This definitely is going to lay over going into conference play with everybody’s confidence being sky-high and everybody on their A-game.”

Gordon paired with Davis to combine for 44 points and 10 assists, adding 19 points of his own to go along with three assists and two steals.

“I was really proud of our team the way we started with good energy,” Minutemen coach Derek Kellogg said. “I thought we played great in some different spurts and then we took a couple shots and responded pretty well at the end of the game.”

It was Gordon who nailed a jump shot from the free throw line with 1:16 to give UMass an 83-81 lead which broke an 81-81 tie that spanned for over two minutes.

The Gaels’ Isaiah Williams missed an open 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and Iona fouled UMass center Cady Lalanne, who missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw. Williams was fouled with 36 seconds remaining but made only one.

Gordon responded by making two free throws to push the lead to 85-82. Minutemen guard Donte Clark then stole a pass from Gaels guard Ibn Muhammad near half court, finishing in the offensive end with a thunderous fastbreak dunk to make it 87-82.

It was a fitting exclamation point as UMass preserved the lead.

“I was so excited when he got that steal,” Davis said. “I told him in the locker room, I said ‘Thank you, dawg.’ Now we can calm down a little bit and it’s not as tense … when he got that, I was like ‘Thank God.’”

Davis committed two crucial turnovers during Iona’s 22-6 run, but also shot 5-of-6 on 3-pointers and hit back-to-back 3-pointers on two separate occasions.

“It’s nice to see him make shots,” Kellogg said. “I think everybody that watched us and been around us, when he makes shot it opens things up some, driving lanes and thinks of that nature.”

Davis excelled in a game which featured a heavy dosage of undersized lineups and quick tempo. UMass shot 51.6 percent and he led the Minutemen with seven assists.

Still, Davis was critical with his performance in the second half.

“We’ve got to finish our games,” Davis said. “We’ve got to be better with managing that and I think it falls on me as a point guard. I’ve got to slow it down when we’re not getting buckets and they’re creeping up on us.

We’ve just got to do a little bit better with that, but that’s going to come.”

Laury, who was Iona’s most explosive threat during the run, finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes, while guard A.J. English finished with 16 points, 12 assists and five rebounds.

UMass forward Maxie Esho finished with 11 points, while Cady Lalanne and Hinds both scored 10 points respectively.

The victory provided the Minutemen with one final non-conference victory this season. They’ll now turn their attention to conference play and a Jan. 3 game at home, where they are 5-0 this season, against St. Bonaventure.

“For people who don’t know, I think Iona is a very good basketball team,” Kellogg said.

“They’ve got some high-level players, some talented guys. For us to come away with a win after looking at their schedule and who they’ve beaten is pretty good for us.”

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.