Marist men’s basketball failed to muster enough offense to defeat the top offense in the MAAC and top-of-the-standings Quinnipiac Bobcats on their senior night, losing 73-64.
For the first time this season, the Red Foxes (16-12, 11-8 MAAC) lost when four or more players scored over ten points as five eclipsed double-digits; the unprecedented result comes after 35 percent shooting from the floor.
“I think [Quinnipiac’s] physicality in the first half kind of got us rattled, we missed some chippy’s we could have made,” said Marist head coach John Dunne. “I thought in the second half we settled in a lot better but we just missed some wide-open looks.”
The dynamic duo of graduate student guard Matt Balanc and sophomore forward Amarri Tice paved the way to the Bobcats’ (22-8, 14-5 MAAC) MAAC regular season title-clinching win. Balanc finished with 17 points and Tice added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Junior forward Jackson Price led Marist with 12 points and freshman guard Jadin Collins added 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
The Bobcats began the night in first place of the MAAC despite a four-game skid to end February. Quinnipiac has since won two straight to begin March. Marist entered today in fourth place in a tight standings group with several teams vying for a first-round bye in the MAAC tournament.
Marist used a 10-0 run to jump out to an early lead but the Bobcats responded with a 9-2 run to get within one. A layup from sophomore forward Amarri Tice regained Quinnipiac’s lead with 12:00 left in the first half.
Quinnipiac stretched their lead to six with a fast break layup from Balanc, the 11th fast break point. The Bobcats’ pace in transition prevented Marist from setting their half-court defense.
Freshman guard Josh Pascarelli ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Red Foxes who struggled on offense after a hot opening to the game. That sparked a 7-0 run to pull Marist within one possession.
Senior forward Richie Springs provided a lift off the bench with a season-high 12 points, the catalyst for the Bobcats’ 17 bench points.
After the Bobcats’ ninth turnover, Collins scored with two seconds left to cut the deficit to 37-36 at the break. Tice followed Springs with nine points and five rebounds.
Marist shot only 38 percent from the field but hit 10 free throws and limited Quinnipiac to 3-11 from three-point range. The Bobcats did their damage on the interior with 20 paint points despite Otieno sitting for all but three minutes of the first half.
In the opening minute of the second half, Otieno was forced to exit again after being called for his third personal foul. The absence of the Bobcats’ big man did not matter as Quinnipiac started the half shooting 4-7 and a Tice dunk forced a Marist timeout with 15:10 remaining in the game.
“When we’re having trouble scoring, I’m trying to play smaller with [Javon] Cooley stretching the floor at the four,” said Dunne. Sophomore forward Jaden Daughtry played just eight minutes in a game where a wing defender may have helped the Red Foxes limit the likes of Balanc and Tice.
Sophomore center Max Allen II scored six of the Red Foxes’ ten points to cut the deficit to one. Both teams struggled to hit a three-pointer, but Tice drew fouls with tough drives in the lane to give Quinnipiac some breathing room.
The Bobcats did not score a basket for five minutes but led 56-51 with 7:49 left in the second half. A Marist basket was waived off after review when the initial score was given for a Bobcats’ goaltend.
“Those are good officials, they don’t want to take points off the board,” said Dunne. “I think it’s a bad rule because it’s the second time it happened this year when we got the offensive rebound, but we don’t get the ball back.”
Tice completed a three-point play to climb to 16 points, and a layup by junior guard Doug Young gave Quinnipiac a double-digit lead with Marist in a five-minute scoring drought. Pascarelli again hit a key three-pointer to spark an 8-2 run.
“We have been resilient all year and sometimes that’s not easy when you’re playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores. I think it speaks to the maturity of our young players,” said Dunne.
With 1:20 to go, the Red Foxes trailed 67-62 looking to mount a comeback, but Balanc reached 17 points with an inside drive to seal the win for the Bobcats.
Tonight marked just the third time Marist lost after recording more assists than their opponent (16-3 on the season), evidence of how poor the offensive efficiency was for the Red Foxes. Quinnipiac shot a putrid 22 percent from deep, but the Red Foxes failed to take advantage.
“There are little things we have to clean up if we’re going to win Saturday and make a run in the tournament. We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit tonight,” said Dunne.
Marist finishes their regular season with a senior day home contest at McCann Arena on Saturday, Mar. 9. Their opponent is the Niagara Purple Eagles, with tipoff set for 2 p.m.
Edited by Jimmy Tsiantoulas
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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