Marist men’s basketball scored 49 points in the second half en route to a key road conference win over Manhattan (4-5, 1-1 MAAC) on Sunday afternoon 82-75. Five Red Foxes scored in double figures in a balanced offensive display.
“I think both teams started the game cloudy, but being able to win a Sunday afternoon game is super important. I’m glad we got it done,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
Sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli finished with 24 points off of pretty jump-shooting and steady drives. Redshirt freshman center Jason Schofield scored all of Marist’s (6-2, 2-0 MAAC) 12 bench points, 10 of which came in the second half.
Junior guard Elijah Lewis turned in his best performance as a Red Fox. He played patiently on offense, getting to his spots in the mid-range to finish with 18 points, one off of 1,000 for his career. He then put in work defensively adding eight rebounds and two steals.
“[Lewis’] not settling, he’s driving it into the paint and he’s got a really nice game. I think he’s doing a great job of putting his will on the offensive end,” said Dunne.
Marist shot 62% in the second half and perfectly from the free-throw line. The win moves them to 2-0 in the MAAC, putting themselves in a great position before finishing their non-conference schedule this month.
Neither team scored for the first three minutes and looked sluggish with several turnovers. Manhattan worked a 9-0 run over three minutes, forcing a Marist timeout. Freshman forward Will Sydnor, the Jaspers leading scorer, made two three-pointers in the opening minutes.
The Red Foxes settled in after the timeout and scored eight in a row getting to the cup. Manhattan’s lack of rim protection is an area Marist needed to exploit to find an advantage. They finished 13-15 at the rim, dominating the paint in the victory.
Lewis’ three-point play gave Marist its first lead at the 7:30 mark of the first half. He added seven rebounds and aggressive on-ball defense in the half.
Lewis continued his effort with two more buckets, sparking a 9-0 Marist run to open up a five-point lead. Manhattan made one field goal in over seven minutes but produced from the free-throw line adding 10 points.
Manhattan junior guard Masiah Gilyard added nine points in the first half; Syndor had a four-point spurt, retaking the lead in the final minute to put up 10 in the first half.
Marist answered with five straight points from Pascarelli, who scored 16 points in the half, giving the Red Foxes a 33-32 lead at halftime. He scored from all areas of the court and hit both of Marist’s three-pointers.
Pascarelli started the second half with a deep rainbow three-pointer as both teams came out of the locker room much better offensively. In the first six minutes of the second frame, Marist scored 17 to Manhattan’s 14, leading 50-46.
Schofield scored 10 quick points off the bench punishing Manhattan in the low post. His buckets gave Marist a four-plus point lead for the first segment of the second half.
“Schofield gave us nice juice. They were a little undersized and we knew were going to ride him a little bit,” said Dunne.
Pascarelli and Lewis continued to hum offensively and forced a Manhattan timeout with the Red Foxes’ lead stretching to nine. Marist tied their first-half output with 8:16 left in the game.
As Manhattan failed to get stops on defense, the Marist lead ballooned to 12, gaining full control of the game while time ran out for the Jaspers to get back into it.
Manhattan could not take advantage of a small Marist drought and trailed by around 10 for the last four minutes of the game. The Jaspers began to foul with 38 seconds left trailing by eight but Pascarelli hit both free throws to reach 24 points.
Sophomore guard Jaden Wintson scored a layup before Manhattan forced a turnover and Sydnor drilled a three-pointer. Marist broke the press and closed the game with two dunks after a slight scare.
Four Jaspers eclipsed 10 points but could not slow Marist down in the second half. After a massive win at St. Peter’s Friday night, Manhattan loses their fifth straight against Marist.
Marist gets nine days of rest before finishing its non-conference slate, beginning with a road contest against Stony Brook on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Tipoff at Stony Brook Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Edited by: Aidan Lavin
Photo Credit: Jaylen Rizzo
