Marist men’s basketball failed to execute on either side of the ball en route to a 79-66 loss to Harvard in their season opener. Freshman four-star guard Robert Hinton dropped 27 points in his collegiate debut and the Crimson shot 62 percent from the field.
“[Hinton]’s a really good player. He takes and makes tough shots,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
Sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli paced Marist with 24 points, but all other Red Foxes shot a combined 16/47 (34%). Pascarelli was the only Marist player to score in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Harvard’s interior defense was a nuisance to Marist all game, forcing misses on second-chance opportunities and tough looks inside the arc.
“Harvard was switching a lot, they have a ton of length at each position. We didn’t do a good enough job of kicking the ball out and finding a better shot,” said Dunne.
The Red Foxes secured 12 offensive rebounds but only turned that into six points while committing more turnovers (11) than recording assists (10).
The Crimson maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half and led by as much as 21. Five players pitched in eight or more points behind Hinton who showed tremendous poise and scoring touch.
“We need to get better defensively. We gave up too many plays at the rim. We gave up too many rhythm threes to shooters,” said Dunne.
Marist surprised the MAAC with a historic 18-13 season in 2023-24, culminating in the third seed in the MAAC tournament and were mere seconds away from a second consecutive MAAC final appearance. The Red Foxes lost two starters (Javon Cooley and Max Allen II) while bringing eight newcomers (four transfers and four freshmen) into the mix. The Red Foxes aim to make a deeper run in Atlantic City and were picked second in the coaches poll.
The Crimson finished last season with a 14-13 record, good for fifth in the Ivy League. Harvard lost two of their top three minutes getters in Ivy League Rookie of the Year Malik Mack (Georgetown) and dependable forward Chisom Okpara (Stanford). They were replaced by seven freshmen, including Hinton, an ESPN top 100 guard from Los Angeles.
Harvard gained the edge early with sophomore forward Luca Ace-Nasteski starting 3-3 from the field for seven points in four minutes.
After a four-point possession from Marist, the Crimson scored eight in a row to lead 22-14 with 11:01 left in the first half. The Red Foxes made just 5-15 shots early while struggling to get stops on defense.
Marist found some buckets thanks to sophomore guard Jadin Collins-Roberts’ playmaking, assisting on three of their next four makes, closing the gap to 27-25. Two Crimson starters, Ace-Nasteksi and Chandler Pigge both exited with injury in the first half.
Marist took the lead on junior guard Elijah Lewis’ first Division I score, a three-pointer assisted by junior guard Caleb Mackrey. The Crimson entered a three-plus minute scoring drought, which Hinton ended with a pair of free throws.
Hinton then scored seven straight to reach 13 points, providing Harvard with a five-point cushion with over four minutes left in the first half. A baseline drive and slam by sophomore forward Thomas Batties II forced a Marist timeout trailing 36-28.
A four-minute plus 12-2 run from Harvard gave them a nine-point lead in the closing moments of the first half. Pascarelli scored twice, keeping the deficit at seven at the half. Junior forward Jaden Daughtry’s two fouls limited him to five minutes, allowing Harvard more room offensively.
“Josh is fearless, if they’re going to switch and take his threes away, he’s got a good ability to get to his pull-up game. He finished a little bit around the rim today too,” said Dunne.
The Crimson scored 10 points in less than three minutes to begin the second half, forcing Dunne to call an early timeout. Marist quickly committed two turnovers after just four the entire first half. When the Red Foxes turned the ball over, Harvard and Hinton continued executing and converting offensively.
A dunk from freshman guard Austin Hunt on the fast break gave Harvard a 61-44 lead with 13:23 left in the second half. Dunne burned his last timeout needing to stop the bleeding.
Harvard’s defense continued suffocating Marist, limiting them to 4-11 from the field in the second half along with six turnovers.
Daughtry put his imprint on the game with back-to-back steals, with the first leading to a three-pointer and the other an emphatic one-handed slam. The Daughty-led run continued for Marist up to 10 straight points to cut the deficit to 11.
“[Daughty]’s got a big heart, we just need him to be a little more disciplined. I think we struggled a bit on the backboard and he’s a big part of our success when we’re rebounding the ball well,” said Dunne.
Freshman forward Parby Kabamba spelled Daughtry, grabbing six rebounds in 19 minutes.
Harvard did not relinquish their lead and iced the game in the closing minutes. Marist struggled on both ends of the court and trailed by double digits for much of the second half. Senior forward Jackson Price was limited to two shot attempts due to Harvard’s defense.
Lewis and Collins-Roberts were 3-12 and 5-12 each, unable to support Pascarelli offensively while Marist added only 10 bench points to Harvard’s 19.
“[New players] just have to get their feet wet at the Division I level. A little bit of nerves from those guys. I think they settled in as the game went on,” said Dunne. “They just need to get valuable minutes and get the experience.”
Marist stays on the road next game, facing off against the defending Atlantic-10 regular season champions Richmond Spiders on Saturday, Nov. 9. Tipoff at the Robbins Center is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Edited by: Aidan Lavin
Graphic/Photo Credit: Jaylen Rizzo