In their first game of 2026, Marist men’s basketball suffered their second consecutive loss on the road Friday against Saint Peter’s following a striking second-half shooting drought.
The Red Foxes (8-5, 2-2 MAAC) led at the break but scored only 21 points in the second half as the Peacocks (7-5, 4-0 MAAC) pulled away. They shot 32.7% from the field as a team and were out-rebounded 43-35 en route to a 69-59 loss in which they scored less than 60 points for a second straight contest.
Marist’s first loss of conference play came on Monday against pre-season MAAC Conference favorites Quinnipiac. The Red Foxes continued their season long trend of poor 3-point shooting by going just 3-for-16 from deep, but kept themselves in the game into the final minute with a strong defensive performance. Sophomore center Tarik Watson contributed a season-high 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
The Peacocks got off to a 3-0 start in conference play, albeit the first two of those wins came against Canisius and Niagara, the only two teams picked to finish below them in the MAAC preseason coaches’ poll. Despite the fast start, Saint Peter’s came in ranked just 291st in KenPom’s rankings in large part thanks to an offense that struggled mightily during their non-conference slate to the tune of a 44.5% effective field goal percentage.
The Peacocks shot out to a quick 7-0 lead in the opening minutes, highlighted by an opening possession steal by redshirt senior guard Brent Bland; the Peacocks lead the country with a 15.7% steal rate. Their offense quickly slowed as Marist’s defense tightened up and began forcing Saint Peter’s into several highly contested 3-pointers, usually a positive formula for the Red Foxes as they have held opponents below 29% from beyond the arc this season. Graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell then drew a foul on a wing 3-point attempt with just under 15 minutes remaining in the half and converted from the charity stripe to tie the game 7-7.
Both teams played a physical brand of basketball in the early going while Saint Peter’s utilized a smothering full-court press at times. Marist kept their offense afloat in large part from the foul line. Despite playing in every game this season, sophomore forward Parby Kabamba shot his first foul shots of the season to bring the Red Foxes within one with 9:37 to go. Two possessions later, junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts converted twice from the line to give Marist a 19-18 lead and improve the team to a perfect 9-9 on foul shots; they did not miss their first free throw until Tarik Watson went 1-for-2 with 6:37 to go.
While they continued to rack up free throws on the offensive end, the Red Foxes’ defense bent slightly at the other end. After a jumper from freshman forward Myles Parker gave the Red Foxes a 26-22 lead, the Peacocks ran the floor for back-to-back alley-oop dunks to redshirt sophomore forward Lucas Scroggins. The even score proved to be short-lived after senior guard Elijah Lewis converted a 4-point play for Marist to open up a six point lead; Lewis had 13 points and three rebounds in the first half including several mid-range jumpers.
With 1:01 to go in the half, the Red Foxes opened up a nine point lead, but they let it slip away in what proved to be a grim sign of things to come. A 3-point play by junior forward Bol Agu and a buzzer-beating triple by senior guard Eric Morgan Jr. brought Saint Peter’s within one possession at the break despite Marist shooting a tremendous 16-for-18 from the free throw line in the half.
The Peacocks began the second half just as they ended the first with four quick points to extend a 10-0 run across both halves. They racked up four offensive rebounds over the first 2:01 of the half — the same amount they had the entirety of the first period — and built a six point lead with 15:42 to go after freshman guard TJ Robinson picked Collins-Roberts’ pocket for his squad’s fourth steal of the night.
Saint Peter’s also flipped the script in terms of foul trouble. After sending Marist to the line 18 times in the first half, the Red Foxes shot only five free throws in the second half. Simultaneously, the Peacocks made their way to the line much more efficiently and secured the double bonus with 7:30 to go already leading by seven.
From Marist’s 38-29 lead near the end of the first, Saint Peter’s outscored the Red Foxes 40-21 the rest of the way while Marist shot a measly 8-for-30 from the field. Without getting to the line as efficiently as they did in the first half and Lewis failing to score again, the Red Fox offense dried up almost entirely while the Peacocks played an emotional, physical brand of basketball in which they found success on the offensive glass and scored 18 second chance points in the second period.
The Peacocks’ success came almost entirely without the help of Bland, their leading scorer. He entered the evening averaging nearly 16 points per contest, but contributed just five on Friday. Marist’s poor shooting and rebounding combined with double-digit scoring from senior forward Zaakir Williamson, redshirt sophomore guard Bryce Eaton and Morgan Jr. allowed Saint Peter’s to compensate for Bland’s lack of production and secure a 69-59 win.
The loss is Marist’s first time losing two consecutive games this season. In both losses, they shot below 20% from beyond the arc and were outrebound by at least seven.
The Red Foxes return home to face Iona on Sunday, Jan. 4. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
Edited by Hayden Shapiro
Photo by Quinn DiFiore
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