Marist men’s basketball fell in a narrow defeat at the hands of Harvard, 56-54.
The game was competitive from start to finish, with 19 total lead changes, 12 ties and the largest lead of the game being only 5 points.
Knotted at 51 with a minute to play, senior guard Rhyjon Blackwell knocked down a clutch three from the wing to put Marist (2-2, 0-0 MAAC) in front.
In response, Crimson senior guard Chandler Pigge sank an acrobatic three-pointer with senior forward Jaden Daughtry draped all over him, but missed the free-throw to convert the four-point play. Pigge finished with 14 points, including three triples.
Now tied at 54, Blackwell missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer with ten seconds remaining and sophomore guard Robert Hinton pulled down the rebound.
As Hinton surged up the court looking to take the lead, senior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts made contact with him at the half-court line, resulting in a blocking foul.
Since Harvard (4-1, 0-0 Ivy) entered the bonus at the twelve-minute mark, Hinton had the opportunity to seal the game with five seconds remaining. Amid the loud crowd in McCann Arena, Hinton calmly knocked down both clutch free throws.
Marist head coach John Dunne’s last-second play call ended disastrously—senior forward Jaden Daughtry slipped on the catch and did not get his desperation shot off before the buzzer sounded.
The defeat marked Marist’s second loss to Harvard in back-to-back years. The Crimson defense played physical, active basketball, holding Marist to 19-for-50 from the field and forcing 15 turnovers.
“They’re very good defensively. They do a lot of switching; they took us out of rhythm with their switching,” said Dunne. “There are a lot of teams in our league that like to switch, so we’ll learn from the film.”
Marist, however, continued its elite defensive play, notching its fourth-straight game holding its opponent beneath 40 percent from the field, led by defensive juggernaut Daughtry. The forward did not make a field goal on offense, but logged four blocks and two steals.
Sophomore forward Parby Kabamba had a career night: he led Marist in scoring for the first time with a career-high 17 points, and shot a blazing 7-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep.
“I was not trying to force anything, but someone had to step up, so why not me?” said Kabamba. “Today was my day, I did what [the coaching staff] asked me to do and everything worked out.”
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm through nine minutes of play, but the size of the Crimson frontcourt proved challenging to contain early. At the second media timeout, Harvard led the rebound battle 10-4 and held a 12-10 advantage.
It continued to be a physical battle, as neither side grabbed a lead greater than three. At the sound of the halftime buzzer, the two teams had exchanged the lead 10 times and tied five times, but the Red Foxes led 24-23.
Neither team could take the lid off the rim as both sides shot less than 36 percent from the floor and under 30 percent from distance.
The second half started bumpy for the Red Foxes: six quick turnovers saw the Crimson take their largest lead of the game, 34-29. In a contest as tight as this one, five points felt significant.
What began as a sluggish, defensive battle erupted into fireworks midway through the second half.
The energy inside McCann started to shift: after senior guard Elijah Lewis barreled inside for an and-one, Kabamba splashed his second three to bring Marist within one as the arena exploded.
However, the physical Red Fox defense did not avoid foul trouble—the Crimson entered the bonus with just under 12 minutes to play in the game.
In a complete flip from the first half, both teams exchanged scoring blows as the pace of play heated up. Another electric and-one from Lewis saw the Red Foxes jump back in front, 43-42, with nine minutes remaining.
The Crimson did not crumble under the emergence of the Red Fox offense as they continued to find high-percentage shots from the restricted area and generate free throws, clawing back to take a three-point lead with seven minutes left.
The floor continued to heat up as the game crept down to the wire—both teams exchanged tough three-pointers as Harvard kept the lead 51-49 with 3:45 to go.
Decisive foul calls and poor clutch-time offense caused Marist to fall in the narrow loss.
The Red Foxes now have nearly a week off before getting back to work, as Army comes to town on Friday, November 21, at 7 p.m.
Edited by Ryan Eichem
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo by Quinn DiFiore
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.