Marist men’s basketball needed every person in the building to will them to victory in an overtime classic 91-88 win over Army in their home opener.
Sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli once again put together an offensive clinic, sinking five three-pointers as a part of his 25-point barrage. His fifth three deep proved the most important, giving Marist an 89-86 lead with 12 seconds left in overtime. Sophomore forward Jaden Daughtry scored two free throws to seal the win, finishing with 11 points.
“The crowd was amazing, I’m super glad that we got the win. Offensively, I thought we did really good things down the stretch getting Josh either curling to the rim or for him to make plays off the dribble,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
Army’s guard duo of senior Jalen Rucker and sophomore Ryan Curry gave the Marist defense fits, scoring 23 and 28 points respectively. Curry made six three-pointers and scored 10 of Army’s 12 points in the overtime period.
“They were killing us on our drop coverage so we just started switching everything in the second half. We were getting beat on relocations later on in the clock. They’re well conditioned and those two guys can play,” said Dunne.
Sophomore guard Jadin Collins-Roberts tied the game in regulation with less than a second left after Rucker finished a tough drive with five seconds left. Marist’s point guard finished with seven assists despite a tough shooting night (2-9 from the field).
“When your shot [is] not falling, [Collins-Roberts] still has the mental toughness to drive it. If he didn’t have the mental strength he wouldn’t have been able to make that layup [to tie the game],” said Dunne.
Redshirt freshman center Jason Schofield provided a major boost off the bench in the second half, scoring 13 points with perfect shooting from the field and free throw line. The Poughkeepsie native made his debut tonight after redshirting last season.
“I don’t even know how many people I had here. It was great to do that in front of [family],” said Schofield.
The Black Knight’s largest lead of the game of five points came in overtime. Marist responded with a 12-4 run to win by three with their backs against the wall.
In regulation, the Red Foxes’ offense started strong going 8-14 from the field with six assists in the first ten minutes. Army stayed close with offensive rebounds and getting to the free-throw line with dribble penetration.
Continuing their efficient scoring from the last game, Pascarelli and senior center Jackson Price scored four of Marist’s first six baskets.
Rucker ran the Army offense, coming off of screens and forcing switches to attack off the dribble. The 5’10’’ guard constantly got downhill, leading all scorers with 11 points in the first half. The Red Foxes cooled off from three-point range, missing their last seven from deep; finishing the half 4-15 from behind the arc.
Marist led by as many as seven but Army responded with five straight points to keep the game at four points or less for most of the half.
Curry started the second half with a wing three-pointer and followed that with a steal and score for a quick five points to give Army a lead.
Army started the second half hot going 5-7 from the field in the first three minutes. Pascarelli hit a three-pointer to cut it to one but Dunne called timeout not satisfied with the team’s defense.
Schofield ended a 2:32 scoring drought with a three-point play to tie the game at 46. Pascarelli then nailed a three-pointer off a Schofield handoff. With the momentum just starting to shift Marist’s way, Curry answered with a three-pointer.
Schofield scored twice more to reach 11 points now but Army kept playing. Rucker nailed a three-pointer to give Army a one-point lead with 11:10 left in the game as both offenses played efficiently.
“If we didn’t have Jason, we don’t win the game. He came in big for us and right away had some nice buckets,” said Pascarelli.
Daughtry scored a three-pointer to give Marist their biggest lead of the second half, 62-58 with 7:17 left to go but Rucker hit a late shot-clock three-pointer to reach 19 points out of the timeout.
After both teams traded buckets, a Curry three-pointer gave Army a 70-68 lead before the under-four media timeout.
Lewis tied the game with free throws, then neither team scored for two minutes. Pascarelli ended that with a baseline drive.
With the game in the balance, Curry and Rucker scored huge buckets, Curry a three-pointer to shush McCann Arena, and Rucker took the lead with five seconds left.
Collins-Roberts, shooting just 1-8 at that point, tied the game with a layup with 0.8 seconds left.
In overtime, Pascarelli scored first but Curry hit two more three-pointers to give Army a four-point lead.
Daughtry tied the game at 84 after a Price three-point play. Curry answered with a layup and Pascarelli scored five in a row to give Marist their late lead.
“Just sticking together, that was a dog fight tonight. Credit to Army, they came in here and played great. I thought we kept going and didn’t put our heads down,” said Pascarelli.
Curry made free throws on the other end to cut it to one and Pascarelli missed two free throws to give Army one more chance with 1.8 seconds left. On the ensuing inbound Daughtry drew a foul and made two clutch free throws to all but seal the win. He added three steals in two blocks in 25 minutes.
“[Daughtry] played with fantastic energy in the second half. I thought he played with good pace and is becoming a nice offensive player,” said Dunne.
Marist is 6-1 in OT in the last five years, displaying poise in the crucial moments, and getting another win tonight after some free basketball.
“We never put our head down, we kept fighting back. We executed and thought we did a pretty good job,” said Dunne.
The Red Foxes stay home to face Dartmouth on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Tipoff at McCann Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Edited by: Aidan Lavin
Graphic/Photo Credit: Jaylen Rizzo
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