After their highest-scoring game of the season, Marist men’s basketball (8-7 overall, 3-3 MAAC) followed that with a season-low 48 points to fall to Mount St. Mary’s 65-48.
Senior guard Dakota Leffew paced the Mount (7-10 overall, 3-3 MAAC) with 21 points and five three-pointers while standout freshman guard De’Shayne Montgomery added 11 points. The Red Foxes found little production outside of junior guard Noah Harris tying a season-high in points with 15. Both sophomore center Max Allen II and freshman guard Josh Pascarelli struggled, combining for seven points and 3-14 shooting.
“I thought our guys matched their intensity in the first half. The ball just wouldn’t go in the basket. We just didn’t play to our potential on the offensive end,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
The Red Foxes ended their four-game losing streak last time out with a dominant win over MAAC preseason favorites Rider. The Mountaineers returned home after two road losses to MAAC frontrunner Saint Peter’s and the reigning MAAC champions in Iona. Mount St. Mary’s is 2-0 in MAAC home games and 0-3 away from Emmitsburg.
“[Mount St. Mary’s] was really juiced up. Their backs were against the wall a little bit, I knew they were going to have a lot of urgency tonight,” said Dunne.
Marist was again without two key players off the bench in sophomore guard Isaiah Brickner and junior forward Jackson Price.
The Red Foxes started sluggish with six turnovers in the opening nine minutes. The length and size of the Mount proved difficult for Marist to generate quality offense. Senior guard Kam Farris ended a seven-minute scoring drought with a contested step-back jumper.
Graduate student forward Javon Cooley scored four straight to bring Marist within one possession, down 11-8 with 9:14 left in the first half.
Leffew responded with a three-pointer, and he scored eight of the Mount’s first 16 points. The senior was the only Mount player with any offensive rhythm.
Mount St. Mary’s opened their largest lead of 12 points with another three from Leffew. The Mountaineers were hot from behind the arc making 5-11. Cooley drained a huge three from the corner and was up to seven points.
The All-MAAC first-team guard Leffew nailed a deep three to reach 16 points in the first half and four makes from behind the arc. Marist sophomore forward Jaden Daughtry finished a three-point-play to keep Marist within single digits.
The first half finished with both teams shooting under 40 percent overall, but the Mount’s six three-pointers gave them a 29-21 lead at the break. Outside of Leffew, freshman guard De’Shayne Montgomery added six points. Cooley led Marist with eight and both Harris and Daughtry added five points.
After 20-point performances, Pascarelli was held to 0-5 shooting and Allen was limited to 0-1 shooting and went 1-4 from the free throw line. The Red Foxes were handily outrebounded 21-14, and the absences of Brickner and Price were felt on the glass.
“[Max] didn’t get as many touches as he normally gets. When he did get deep touches, they were coming and doubling him or crowding him,” said Dunne.
Daughtry began the second stanza with a strong rejection and Pascarelli scored his first points in transition. The Mount hit back quickly with a corner three from sophomore forward Dola Adebayo.
Junior forward Jedy Coridilla scored after an offensive rebound, the Mountaineers’ seventh. Allen made his first basket with 14:50 remaining in the game.
Leffew scored his first points of the second half with his fifth three-pointer and the Mount led by 15 with 9:38 left in the game. Marist was running out of time to stem the tide and get back into the game.
Cooley reached double-digits with a mid-range jumper but Montgomery hit a three in transition after Allen’s shot was stuffed. The Red Foxes had yet to find the formula offensively and the deficit was doubled out of halftime.
“When you drive into the paint, you have to make the right play, play off of two feet. We were trying to make ten points plays and we were missing each other. I think we lost our poise in the second half,” said Dunne.
Harris scored eight straight to cut the deficit to 10 and tied a season-high 15 points off the bench. After a missed free throw, senior guard Joshua Reaves nailed a three to halt the run. The Red Foxes struggled all game to control the glass, and a crucial mistake ended any prospects of making a comeback with 4 minutes left to go.
“Noah has a nice stroke and he made some shots early. He’s a high IQ guy that we can plug into different positions, “ said Dunne.
Reaves came off a screen and laced the kill shot to bring Mount St. Mary’s to 11 team three-pointers. Leffew reached 20 points for the second straight game and the Mount closed the game on a 12-5 run in the final five minutes.
The Red Foxes finished with poor shooting across the board; 37 percent overall, 29 percent from deep, and 58 percent from the line with 14 turnovers and only seven team assists. After a team-best performance of 83 points and a season-low in turnovers, this young team could not get it going and fell to .500 in MAAC play.
The Mount shot 44 percent from three and controlled the glass with 15 more rebounds where their physicality greatly affected Marist throughout the game. Mount St. Mary’s led the entire way except for the opening 22 seconds.
“For us, we just have to regroup, we got another one Sunday to feel better about ourselves,” said Dunne.
The Red Foxes move to an incredible eight straight losses at Knott Arena dating back to 1992.
Marist will return home to faceoff against the Siena College Saints on Sunday, January 21st. Tipoff at McCann Arena is set for 2 p.m.
Edited by: Aidan Lavin
Photo credit: Kira Crutcher
