Marist men’s basketball gritted out another tight win in their first win in program history over Stony Brook University 68-66 in Long Island Tuesday evening. Four Marist (7-2, 2-0 MAAC) players scored in double figures in the Red Foxes’ third straight win and seven in their last eight.
“Cutting the deficit at the end of the first half [was important]. To start the second half, we had really good energy on the offensive backboard,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
The game was a tale of two halves. The first, controlled by Stony Brook (3-8) knocking down numerous shots to lead by six at the half. The second featured toughness and a comeback by Marist finding their groove on offense and locking down on defense.
Junior guard Elijah Lewis led all scorers with 16 points, surpassing 1,000 career points in the process. Another efficient night from Lewis reveals his increasing comfort in a Marist uniform.
“[Lewis] has got good instincts, he’s got that craftiness inside around the rim. He’s going to be super dangerous when those three-balls start falling regularly,” said Dunne.
The Red Foxes needed some hustle to complete this comeback, and junior forward Jaden Daughtry provided that and more. In the second half alone, he changed the momentum of the game. Daughtry did it all, attacking the offensive glass, dishing out four assists and scoring eight of his 10 points in the second stanza including two three-pointers.
Junior guard CJ Luster paced Stony Brook with 15 points, but the Seawolves shot 38% in the second half to give away their halftime lead despite an eight-point advantage from the free-throw line in the second half. Stony Brook went 18-22 from the line for the game.
“We took away the three and they weren’t as comfortable in the paint because of some of the double teams. We did a better job of locking in,” said Dunne.
Marist sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli scored a quiet 15 points but came up big in the closing moments with six points in the game’s final three minutes.
The Seawolves scored on five straight attempts to open a 19-14 lead in the first half. Marist closed out late on Seawolves’ shot attempts, giving a poor shooting team enough open looks to develop a rhythm.
Stony Brook continued to pour in points with three-pointers off of drive-and-kicks and two paint scores by junior forward Nick Woodward. On the other end, Marist missed tons of three-pointers and suffered multiple scoring droughts.
Sophomore guard Jared Frey came off the bench on fire with 10 points, including a logo three-pointer to give Stony Brook a turbo boost of offense.
“We overhelped off some shooters. The kid number six [Frey] can get it going and jeez he hit one from the half-court logo. Sometimes shooting is contagious,” said Dunne.
After that score, Marist closed the half on a 14-6 run to trail 36-30 at halftime, holding Stony Brook to no field goals for the last five minutes.
Offensively, the Red Foxes shot 9-16 from two-point range, taking advantage of Stony Brook’s 361st-ranked 2PT defense. However, half of Marist’s shot attempts came from behind the arc, 12 percent more than their average 3PT rate, going just 4-16 in the first 20 minutes.
“Stony Brook’s a team that almost dares you to shoot. Sometimes, it’s hard to pass up those shots. We did a better job of getting the ball in the paint, driving the ball and not settling [in the second half],” said Dunne.
With both teams trading buckets to begin the second half, Lewis nailed his second three-pointer to cut the Marist deficit to three. Stony Brook held on to their lead with good free-throw shooting as the Red Foxes found some efficiency on offense.
With Marist creeping back into it, Luster hit a three-pointer in transition to break a four-minute Stony Brook drought. Daughtry sparked the Red Foxes accounting for their last six points to cut the lead to one. He attacked the offensive glass and hit a three-pointer.
Lewis gave Marist their first lead since the 13:04 mark of the first half with a smooth drive to the rim.
With Stony Brook in another field goal drought, Pascarelli hit a clutch triple with three minutes left with the game tied at 58. A minute later, Daughtry followed with a huge three-pointer to give Marist a 65-59 lead.
“[Daughtry’s] played under control, taking the right threes. Everything else he did to help us win was equally important,” said Dunne.
Luster cut Stony Brook’s deficit down to two with a tough layup with 52 seconds left. Pascarelli hit another clutch jumper with 23 seconds left but Stony Brook responded with a three-point play by senior forward Andre Snoddy with 10 seconds left.
Pascarelli missed the front end at the line, giving Stony Brook one last chance down one with five seconds left.
Snoddy lost the ball out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left and Pascarelli made one free throw after being fouled. Stony Brook did not have the time to get a shot off and Marist completed the second-half comeback. The Red Foxes are now 6-1 in games decided by single digits this season.
Senior forward Jackson Price chipped in eight points in the second half to finish with 10 while freshman center Jason Schofield dealt out seven assists. Marist wins their second straight road game versus an in-state opponent.
“We have confidence down the stretch, I do think we have an unselfish group and I hope that will continue,” said Dunne.
Marist returns home for one more game before Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 21 hosting UMBC. Tipoff at McCann Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Edited by: Aidan Lavin
Photo/Graphic: Jaylen Rizzo
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