In one of the more hostile MAAC environments, Marist men’s basketball gritted out a win in New Rochelle for the second year in a row, defeating Iona 70-65. The win kept the Red Foxes undefeated in conference play, starting 3-0 in the MAAC for the first time since 2001-02.
Marist got scoring from everywhere with six players scoring eight or more, but sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli poured in 16 points across 37 minutes. Redshirt freshman center Jason Schofield added 12 massive points off the bench, providing a spark in the second half to push Marist past their opponent.
“When he’s shooting the ball anywhere from eight feet and in, you’re feeling confident that it’s going to go in,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
The Red Foxes committed 23 turnovers amid Iona’s dogging press and ball pressure but countered that with 50% shooting from the field and converting 15-of-19 free throws. Marist held the Gaels to a putrid 7-for-32 shooting in the second half adjusted to the press and created numerous easy buckets in the second frame.
“We just spread our guys out more; started two guys at half court. We cleared up some more space and we sent somebody long every now and again,” said Dunne regarding breaking Iona’s press.
To open the game, Marist looked shaky with four turnovers, but two 3-pointers from Pascarelli gave them an early lead.
Iona’s best player, senior guard Dejour Reaves, scored the first 11 Gael points, including three makes from behind the arc.
Both teams continued to score triples, with Marist junior Caleb Mackrey hitting twice and junior guard Christian Winborne adding another for Iona. At the 10:53 mark of the first half, the Red Foxes started 6-for-7 from 3-point range, while the Gaels went 5-for-10.
Marist maintained a slim lead throughout the rest of the first half but continued to cough up possession due to Iona’s unrelenting ball pressure. When the Red Foxes kept hold of the ball, their offense hummed at a good clip. Their momentum halted at the 4:50 mark, failing to make a field goal for the rest of the half.
Iona tied the game with under a minute left with a Winborne steal and slam. Junior forward Yaphet Moundi gave the Gaels their first lead in 12 minutes with free throws after another steal. That capped a 5-0 to push Iona ahead 37-36 at halftime.
“We made our fair share of mistakes, and it wasn’t a clean win. But it doesn’t matter man, we just got one on the road,” said Dunne.
Out of 13 Marist missed field goals, seven came at the rim, leaving tons of points on the table in a tight game.
Iona extended their lead to open the second half 45-40 forcing a Marist timeout. The Gaels found some space in transition and converted off of their press. The Red Foxes answered with eight straight to ease the Gael crowd.
Collins-Roberts stretched his legs to cap a 14-to-3 run to force an Iona timeout. Marist had a nice stretch of settled offense where they got two feet in the paint and pushed through Iona’s ball pressure.
“[Iona] came out strong and we came back hard [after a Marist timeout] and we knew we had to keep going,” said Pascarelli.
Who else sparked that Marist run? None other than Schofield, whose offensive spurts have boosted the Red Foxes time and time again this season.
Iona did not force the same number of turnovers and therefore suffered on offense, shooting 4-for-21 in the second frame at the 7:48 mark. Marist extended their lead to nine in the process with 10-for-15 shooting in the second half.
“What [Dunne] tells you is going to happen like 99% of the time. Exactly what he said, Iona was going to do. At halftime, he told us to stay poised and we were a lot better in the second half,” said Collins-Roberts.
Marist’s scoring halted for five straight minutes, but Iona scored just five points in that span and could not tie the game in the closing moments.
With 1:03 left, senior forward Jackson Price corralled an offensive rebound to put Marist ahead by six. Junior forward Jaden Daughtry then slammed down a lefty hammer to break the press and put an Iona defender on a poster.
Reaves finished with 17 points to lead all scorers while two Gaels added 10 points each.
Marist sealed the win with some free throws and sent a statement to the MAAC. Any road win in the conference is important, and a win in Hynes is a little more sweet than the rest.
“We’re not going to get caught up in the record. I’m enjoying this group immensely regardless of the record. When you have a team that buys into constructive criticism, that cares about one another and plays selfless basketball, you don’t take that for granted,” said Dunne.
Marist finishes the weekend by hosting a MAAC heavyweight in Quinnipiac on Sunday, January 5. The matchup marks the number one and two teams picked in the preseason poll and two of three MAAC teams with a 3-0 record. Tipoff at McCann Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Photo From Jaylen Rizzo
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