With a minute to go, in a 68-64 MAAC opener victory for Marist men’s basketball, Marist head coach John Dunne called a timeout after losing the lead for the first time since the 12 minute mark in the second half.
Following the timeout, his out-of-bounds play was executed to perfection starting with a side-out lob from freshman guard Jadin Collins which was thrown down by sophomore guard Isaiah Brickner giving Marist a 64-63 lead. Marist went on to defeat Iona at home for the first time since 2013.
“I’ve run that play for years and sometimes guys don’t have the guts to throw it… [Collins] threw it and, not only did he throw it, he threw a perfect pass for a dunk,” said Dunne.
The Red Foxes (4-2, 1-0 MAAC) traveled to New Rochelle, New York to take on Iona University in a rematch of last year’s MAAC tournament final. Prior to the game, Iona unveiled their 2023 MAAC championship banner they captured by defeating Marist.
“We look forward to every game, but still, after losing that championship game to them, we’re looking forward to this game,” said Brickner.
For the first time in six matchups, Marist took down Iona, but any pace of play was continuously eliminated by the referee’s whistle. In the first half alone, Iona and Marist were called for 13 and nine fouls respectively.
The Gaels (2-5, 0-1 MAAC) are led by new head coach Tobin Anderson following former head coach Rick Pitino’s departure to St. John’s University. Anderson joined the Gaels program after his Fairleigh Dickinson University squad upset top-seeded Purdue in the NCAA tournament last season.
Anderson’s team deployed full court pressure right out of the gates, reminiscent of his FDU tournament team.
Collins finished with a career-high 16 points and handled the pressure with ease going coast-to-coast for an early basket, but Marist would turn the ball over three times following the Collins lay-in.
Graduate student forward Javon Cooley settled the Red Foxes down with a left wing three-pointer. Despite Cooley shooting 2-for-3 from distance, the Red Foxes shot 4-for-15 as a team from the three-point line.
It was a defensive battle early, with Marist forcing three Iona shot clock violations,but Marist also struggled offensively to get any easy looks.
With eight minutes to go in the first half, both teams were already in the bonus and reliant on the charity stripe for most of their offense. In the first half, Iona shot 12-for-21 from the free throw line and Marist went 11-for-19.
Following freshman guard Jeremiah Quigly’s one-and-one conversion, Iona continued applying their full-court press forcing a turnover by sophomore guard Isaiah Brickner. Brickner finished the first half with five turnovers and six in the game.
Iona’s full court pressure continued agitating Marist forcing two more consecutive turnovers, and Iona led 18-16 heading into the eight-minute media timeout behind an Iona student section that began to come to life.
While most points came from the free throw line, Cooley hit his second three of the half with 50 seconds left in the first half to give Marist a 25-24 lead.
Iona failed to capitalize on the opportunity to take the lead going 1-for-4 from the free-throw line, including two misses from Iona’s season scoring leader graduate student Idan Tretout, in the final minute resulting in a 25-25 game at halftime.
Coming out of the break, Iona continued to cause problems for Marist in the back court.
“We had to stay mentally strong. That was about it, just got to stay mentally strong,” said Collins.
Tretout went back to the free-throw line following a steal but again missed both. Marist allowed an offensive rebound off the second miss and Tretout responded with a three-pointer.
Scoring began to pick up with both teams trading baskets but following freshman guard Josh Pascarelli’s corner three and two free-throws from sophomore center Max Allen, the Red Foxes took a 43-41 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
Pascarelli found himself open in the opposite corner on an inbounds play and converted his second consecutive jumper off a Brickner assist, extending their lead to four.
The referee’s awarded Marist four consecutive free throws, giving Marist a 52-45 lead with less than nine minutes to go.
The following Marist possession, multiple players hit the deck fighting for a loose ball finding the hands of a composed Brickner who set sophomore forward Trace Salton up for an easy layup giving Marist a 54-46 lead.
The Red Foxes grew their lead to as big as 10 but, at the under four minute timeout, they led 60-53.
At the three-minute mark, Iona’s leading scorer junior guard Greg Gordon grabbed his own miss and put it back in to close the gap to a 60-56. Brickner hit two free-throws on the opposite end but Gordon scored another layup and with two minutes remaining Marist led 62-58.
After a Brown layup, Gordon continued his dominant run by converting an and-one off a Collins mismatch in the post giving Iona a 63-62 lead with less than a minute remaining.
Dunne called a timeout to draw up the Brickner lob play, giving Marist the lead back and Collins made his way to the free-throw line after a Gordon missed layup.
“[Brickner’s] mad athletic,” Collins said, referring to the Brickner lob.
Collins converted both free throws, increasing his total to 16 points and Marist, once again, took control with a 66-63 lead.
Cooley added the finishing touches with two more free-throws for a 68-64 Red Fox victory.
Marist plays its first home MAAC game on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. against Manhattan College (3-3). The Jaspers have faced two top-five teams in the nation this season in the University of Kansas and the University of Connecticut.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Photo Credit: Marist Athletics, Graphic by Ben Monrad
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