Marist suffered the season’s 14th loss on Friday night as Siena took down the Foxes 70-57 at the Times Union Center.
Prior to this game, Marist had won two in a row and three of their last five after starting the season 1-11. The Red Foxes entered the matchup having not beat Siena on the road since 2013. The Saints were looking to snap a three-game skid in Friday night’s meeting and notch their eighth straight home win this season.
“They were just quicker to the ball than us,” said head coach John Dunne. “They had a week’s rest and got up big.”
Siena got off to a hot start with a 9-0 run in the first 4:15. Freshman guard, Tyler Sagl, answered the call for the Red Foxes after hitting three shots from deep and scoring nine of Marist’s first 16 points in the opening half. Another 16-0 run for Siena helped give them an 11-point lead heading into the intermission.
After a strong start to the second half, a three-point play by freshman guard Tyler Saint-Furcy helped cut the deficit to three mid-way into the second half. Throughout the rest of the half, Siena was ultimately able to hold off the Red Foxes and capture their first win since January 9th.
“They were pressuring us so much that we just had to drive it,” said Dunne. “There were definitely times when we missed some kicks. We really got to the rim a lot too and didn’t reward ourselves with enough makes.”
The season’s offensive struggles continued for the Red Foxes after shooting just 32.8 percent from the field and tallying only five assists in the game compared to Siena’s 14. A lone bright spot came from the charity stripe where the Red Foxes were a perfect nine for nine in the defeat.
“Our competitive spirit has been solid this whole year,” said Dunne. “We’ve been fighting, and we fought, and we came back. We just missed a couple of shots there in the second half.”
Sagl led the way for Marist for the second consecutive outing with 17 points on four for ten from the perimeter. Saint-Furcy contributed ten points and sophomore forward Braden Bell gave solid minutes off the bench with nine points and seven rebounds. Elijah Burns was the top scorer for the Saints with 19. Manny Camper & Jalen Pickett pitched in with 13 & 12.
“You can’t underestimate how good Pickett is,” said Dunne. “When the game started getting close, he made a couple of big plays for them. Burns can roll hard, can catch, he’s coordinated, strong, a good finisher, and he made his free throws, but it was more off rolls and other guys making plays.”
Siena improves to 8-9 on the season and 4-4 in the MAAC with the victory. Marist falls to 4-14 on the year and 3-6 in the conference with the loss. The Red Foxes will travel to Niagara next Friday and take on the Purple Eagles for the first time this season.
Edited by Dylan Kusmuk
Hey Coach…points don’t come for being competitive, 4-14, Pitiful.