It is hard to ask for a more thrilling MAAC opener.
Marist thwarted a second-half comeback from Mount St. Mary’s in a gritty 64-56 home win. After an avalanche of turnovers to open the second half, the Red Foxes rallied behind clutch shotmaking and stops on the other end in the final minutes to pull away.
The victory is Marist’s third-straight and their fourth at home.
For the seventh straight contest, the Marist defense held its opponent to less than 40 percent from the field—an absurd streak that has the Red Foxes first in the NCAA in three-point percentage allowed and fifth in defensive field goal percentage (through Dec. 3rd).
The Mount shot just 19-for-55 and committed 21 turnovers in the loss—an uncommon number for the team, as they average around 16 turnovers per game on the young season.
Marist leaned on its guard play to spark the offense: graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell led all scorers with 16 points, and junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts tallied 11, with most of his buckets occurring in crunch time.
Two quick threes followed by a post hook from redshirt sophomore Luke McEldon prompted a quick timeout from head coach John Dunne. Marist opened the game 0-for-5 until sophomore guard Justin Menard nailed a triple.
After jumping out 8-0, the Mount’s shooting percentage plummeted to 30 percent as Marist scored seven straight.
A monstrous fastbreak poster slam followed by a swat on the other end from senior forward Jaden Daughtry put the exclamation point on a 13-1 Marist run over seven minutes, as the Red Foxes then led 13-9.
With seven minutes to play, the Mount made just one of their last 16 field goal attempts, a scoring drought that opened the door for the Red Foxes to extend their lead.
Marist continued to push the break and found success, leading 30-20 as the first half came to a close.
Blackwell notched 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting as Marist closed the first frame shooting 45 percent from downtown—their second-highest mark behind their home victory against Vassar.
Marist held its opponent to below 25 points for the fourth consecutive half; Mount St. Mary’s shot just 27 percent from the field and lost the turnover battle 12-4.
The Mount erupted for a 12-2 run to cut the 10-point Marist advantage to two. The Red Foxes opened the half sloppily, committing five turnovers in just three minutes, giving Mount St. Mary’s easy offense on the other end.
After unsuccessfully rolling out their full-court press in the first half, the Mount dialed it up again after their hot start, forcing two more turnovers and reclaiming the lead, 37-34. Dunne called his second timeout in just over five minutes, leaving the Red Foxes with one to spare for the next 14 minutes.
Everything was clicking for the Mount while Marist struggled to piece together any positive offensive possessions; after boasting a plus-8 turnover margin at the end of the first half, by the eleven-minute mark of the second half, the Red Foxes sat at a minus-1 deficit.
“Turnovers are something we have to get better at. We’re battling and we have to improve over the course of the year,” said Dunne. “Sometimes when adrenaline is high, we fail to see the game well enough.”
Despite trailing by just six points, the momentum had completely turned over to the Mount with ten minutes to play.
The Red Foxes did not bow out. Blackwell poked the ball loose, and Collins-Roberts found freshman forward Myles Parker for a much-needed three to put them within one.
Marist failed to tighten up their passing, resulting in three more turnovers over two minutes, putting them down four with five minutes to play.
Blackwell converted on a fadeaway to knot the game at 48 with three minutes left, and senior forward Elijah Lewis stepped back in the mid-range for the lead as part of a prompt 6-0 Marist resurgence.
A timely corner three from graduate student guard Xavier Lipscomb, his third triple of the night, outmatched a clutch layup from Collins-Roberts the possession prior.
With Mount St. Mary’s now leading 53-52, Collins-Roberts battled into the lane and kissed an and-1 layup off the top of the backboard for Marist to jump back out in front 55-53.
“The whole team was telling me, ‘You’re fine, they can’t guard you,’” said Collins-Roberts. “I just tried to play my game.”
After redshirt senior forward Justin Amadi came up empty on a pair of free throws, a foul on the other end put Blackwell at the charity stripe, where he nailed both.
Daughtry swiped a clutch steal and barrelled into the paint to draw more free throws, splitting the pair. Now up 58-53 with 30 seconds to play, a hard foul from the Mount saw the home crowd erupt to their feet as tempers ran high.
“It was a turning point. It’s fun getting the crowd into it; it gets me more into it. I just love doing that,” said Collins-Roberts of his showmanship after the scrum was broken up.
After the Mount scrambled on offense while playing the free-throw game on defense, Daughtry notched another clutch steal and hammered it home on the other end to shut the door for good.
“I know I’m in the game to get stops, blocks and rebounds—I’m going to do what I gotta do to get stops,” said Daughtry, who finished with four steals. “As far as the dunks on the other end, I always look for those.”
Marist will play the last game of its six-game homestead this Sunday, facing another MAAC opponent in the Manhattan Jaspers at 2 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by August Lieberman
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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