Marist completed the regular-season series sweep of Canisius with an 82-61 win over the Golden Griffins at the McCann Center on Saturday night. The victory was the 25th in the last 26 games against the Griffs and the Red Foxes’ 15th straight win dating back to last season.
The Red Foxes blitzed a depleted Canisius squad out of the gate and never looked back. Marist dominated the paint for the second consecutive evening. The Red Foxes outrebounded Canisius 43-23 and outscored them 40-20 down low.
“We noticed they got a little tired at the end of last night’s game, and we wanted to push the tempo a little more today,” said Marist head coach Brian Giorgis. “We got off to a much better start, but credit to Canisius for hanging around after that. We need to communicate better on defense, but I was pleased with what we did on the offensive end.”
Marist turned in another strong shooting night, going 33-of-62 (53 percent) from the field. The Red Foxes only went six-of-20 (30 percent) from beyond the arc, but they did clean things up at the charity stripe, going a perfect 10-for-10. The home team demonstrated unselfish play all evening long, finishing with 20 assists.
“We got some great help off the bench today from Zaria (Demember-Shazer) and Kendall (Krick), said Giorgis. “We need different people to step up, and that’s exactly what happened with four players scoring in double-figures.”
Sarah Barcello scored a team-high 18 points,15 of them coming in the first half, equaling the career-high total she set in last nights game.
Willow Duffell notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Off the bench, Zaria Demember-Shazer equaled Duffell with 12, setting a new career-high. Kendall Krick equaled her career-high with 11 points on four-of-five shooting.
“Having (Demember-Shazer and Caitlin Weimar) as my mentees as post players have helped form our bond,” said Duffell, the senior. “We’re together 24/7, and we’re only going to get closer to each other over winter break.”
Canisius improved on last night’s shooting effort with a 21-for-54 (39 percent) performance from the floor. Freshman Dani Haskell led all scorers with 19, and Shaunae Brown was the only other Griffin in double-figures with 13.
The Red Foxes did not repeat their slow start from a night earlier. After Duffell scored off an offensive rebound, Barcello scored the next nine points, giving Marist an 11-0 lead four minutes into the game. Demember-Shazer blocked a Dani Haskell jumper, got the rebound, and took it the length of the court, converting a jumper of her own for a 19-3 advantage. The Red Foxes shot 11-of-19 in the first quarter and shut down the Griffins offense to lead 26-6 after ten minutes.
After a 6-0 Canisius run to start the second stanza, Weimar made a layup and drew a foul, making the free throw to put Marist up 17. Kendall Krick drove to the basket for an easy score to put the Red Foxes up 43-21 in the final minute of the half. On the other end, Shaunae Brown hit a mid-range jumper to make it a 20-point game heading into the locker room.
The Golden Griffins started the half on a quick 7-0 run, with a Haskell three cutting it to 43-30. Marist quickly stabilized things, answering with a 7-0 run of their own, punctuated by a Krick triple. Allie Best got in on the action, hitting a three that made the score 59-33, but Canisius hit two late threes to trim the deficit back to 20 and continue the trend of even basketball after the first quarter.
The Griffs cut the deficit to 15 early in the fourth quarter but could not get any closer, thanks to solid play from the Red Fox reserves.
“We’re still young, and we have a long way to go,” said Giorgis. “I keep forgetting we’ve only had 11 practices because I’m starting not to sugarcoat things anymore. I think we have a pretty good team, so I’m starting to get on their case as I would to some teams in the past.”
Marist will have a quick turnaround as they host Albany on Tuesday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Edited By Mackenzie Meaney
Photo By Marist Athletics
