The Merrimack Warriors came into McCann Arena and snatched the No. 2 seed from Marist men’s basketball, dominating the second half to win 75-53 in the Red Foxes’ (20-8, 13-6 MAAC) final home game of the season.
“We’re still the same team that’s won 20 [games]. That’s the first game I feel like that’s just totally got away from us since the first game at Harvard,” said Marist head coach John Dunne.
Sophomore guard Adam Clark poured in 22 points and nine assists, pushing the Warriors (17-14, 14-6 MAAC) to their second straight win. Junior forward Bryan Etumnu followed with 16 points as Merrimack shot 52% from the field in the lopsided win.
Redshirt freshman center Jason Schofield scored a career-high 17 points on 8-10 shooting, posting up in the Warriors’ 2-3 zone and finishing over defenders. Junior guard Elijah Lewis added 16 points but the Red Foxes committed 20 turnovers leading to 23 Warrior points. Merrimack is fifth in the country in defensive TO% and showed the potential of their unique defense tonight.
“[Jason] hit a roadblock. He hurt his ankle, missed two games, he came back. It was still a little tender for a week or so. He played well today so we rode him,” said Dunne.
Photo Credit: Cassidy Connors
Merrimack outscored Marist 43-26 in the second half, shooting 60% from the field including 14 points from Clark. Etumnu added eight points on 3-3 shooting in the second frame. The 14 turnovers in the first half proved too much for Marist to overcome.
Senior forward Jackson Price returned to the lineup after an eight-game absence. The forward averages 10 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Tonight, he played just six minutes and scored two points.
Marist started strong in the first half but Merrimack immediately turned up the heat and forced turnovers. A 19-2 run gave the Warriors a 24-11 lead. The Red Foxes had no answer and turned it over possession after possession, racking up eight in 10 minutes.
The Warriors also started the game 9-15 from the field to aid the efforts toward a double-digit lead. After two timeouts, Marist worked a 7-0 run putting Lewis in the middle of the zone to facilitate better offense.
“Just taking what the defense was giving me. We didb’t see it at first, but we ended up seeing it. When I couldn’t get it, Sco was posting up,” said Lewis.
Photo Credit: Cassidy Connors
Merrimack did not score for over seven minutes and Marist got the lead after nine straight Lewis points with 3:45 left in the first half. After that run, the Red Foxes did not score and the Warriors took a 32-27 lead into halftime.
To begin the second half, Merrimack scored the first seven points to push their lead back to double digits. Graduate student guard Matt Becht nailed a deep 3-pointer and Dunne called a timeout three minutes into the second frame.
Schofield kept Marist in this game, shooting a perfect 7-7 in the paint, attacking the teeth of the zone. Price scored his first bucket in his return cutting the deficit to single digits.
While Schofield sustained the offense, sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli never got going, taking only six shots to finish with six points. Merrimack made an effort to run him off the 3-point line and allow others to take shots.
“He’s a marked man. We tried to get him some dribble hand-offs out of the zone that we did in the first game,” said Dunne. “You have to get your points on relocations and drive-and-kick. You can’t just run a set for a guy and think you’re going to get him a good shot against a really good defensive team.”
Clark began his takeover, scoring 12 of Merrimack’s last 16 points to answer Marist’s efforts. His buckets quieted McCann Arena and after another Warrior runout, the Red Foxes called timeout trailing 62-46 with 7:43 remaining in the game.
“Just plays at his pace. He’s super calm all the time. He can score in the post, score in the mid-post. His 3-point shooting isn’t his strength and we go under a ball screen late then he drills it. That was a tough one to swallow,” said Dunne.
From there, Merrimack sucked the energy out of the gym, slowing the pace and dominating the second half. Tonight is their second straight win against the two highest seeds in the conference. With the win, they take the No. 2 and push Marist down to No. 3.
The Red Foxes lost their third straight and now stare down a tough regular season finale, traveling south to face Mount St. Mary’s with the No. 3 seed in Atlantic City on the line.
“I think we want to feel good about ourselves going into the tournament. Win or lose, we just have to play well, play better,” said Dunne.
Marist finishes their regular season on the road playing Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday, March 8. Tipoff at Knott Arena is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Edited by: Aidan Lavin
Graphic: Raegan Van Zandt; Photo: Kira Crutcher
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