After back-to-back losses to Quinnipiac and Saint Peter’s, Marist men’s basketball entered Sunday afternoon’s matchup with Iona at their lowest point this season.
40 minutes of basketball later, they may be at their highest.
The Red Foxes (9-5, 3-2 MAAC) annihilated the Gaels (10-6, 2-3 MAAC) at the McCann Center in an 83-38 win, their largest margin of victory since moving to Division I in 1981-82. They made eight 3-pointers, their most since they hit 13 against Georgia Tech on Dec. 16, and forced 24 turnovers in their best all-around performance of the season.
Marist dominated in every aspect of the game; while Iona turned the ball over 24 times, Marist did so only six times. The Red Foxes took 24 more shots than the Gaels did and scored 27 points off turnovers compared to Iona’s five.
A plethora of players contributed to the outburst; redshirt sophomore center Jason Schofield, senior guard Elijah Lewis, freshman forward Myles Parker and graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell all scored in double figures. Blackwell led all scorers with 17 and tied his season-high with three 3-pointers.
Despite the incredible result, the early portion of the contest felt eerily similar to the struggles Marist had in their previous two games. During their back-to-back losses to Quinnipiac and Saint Peter’s, the Red Foxes shot a combined 6-for-33 from deep. They opened 0-for-5 from downtown against the Gaels, and it seemed their scoring struggles were set to continue.
The game opened with an offensive standstill on both ends while Marist’s struggles from the field continued; the Red Foxes opened the game 2-for-9 from the floor with a couple of mid-range makes by Lewis and Blackwell. Marist had plenty of opportunities — by the first media timeout with 13:41 to go, they had taken five more shots than Iona, but only made one more to lead 8-7.
Then, a switch flipped.
Senior forward Jaden Daughtry started a sudden 3-point barrage with an elbow 3-pointer before sophomore forward Parby Kabamba banked in a triple of his own on the subsequent possession. After a smooth mid-range jumper from sophomore guard Justin Menard, who played for Iona last year, Blackwell and Menard cashed in from deep on back-to-back possessions to catapult Marist to a rapid 10-point lead as the McCann Center crowd roared.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Marist began converting at will from all over the floor. Kabamba splashed home a pretty turnaround jumper before Blackwell nailed a deep two from the corner. Meanwhile, the Red Fox defense suffocated Iona’s usually potent offense. The Gaels turned the ball over a whopping 13 times during the first half, including seven steals by the Red Foxes.
Three of those steals came from Lewis, who continued his strong first half by converting an incredible 3-point play on which he drew a foul while shooting a turnaround mid-range jumper with 4:32 to go. Lewis and Blackwell led Marist with nine points each at the half.
The Red Foxes produced their largest halftime advantage of the season, a 42-22 lead that also represented the fewest points scored in a half all season by the Gaels. Iona entered the game leading the MAAC in points per game, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, but struggled mightily to the tune of a 1-for-7 mark from deep in the first half. They did shoot a respectable 43.5% from the field, but took only 23 shots compared to Marist’s 36, a result of their 13 turnovers.
Iona’s carelessness continued to burn them into the second half. They turned the ball over four more times in the first four minutes of the half, leading to four more easy points for the Red Foxes. Junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts, who had a quiet first half outside of four defensive rebounds, began to get involved; he converted a sweet reverse layup and mid-range jumper for his first four points.
Parker continued his productive afternoon with back-to-back fast break layups, the second of which put Marist ahead by 29 with 14:11 to go. One possession later, Blackwell nailed his second triple off Iona’s 21st turnover.
The game felt more like a scrimmage the rest of the way as both coaches turned to the deeper portions of their benches. For the last five minutes, Marist head coach John Dunne turned to a lineup of senior guard Martin Kawa, redshirt freshman guard Ricky McKenzie, senior forward Trace Salton, freshman center Jordan Gabriel and walk-on sophomore guard Antoni Vlogianitis to close out the win.
The victory solidified Marist’s standing as a top defense in the MAAC. Entering the game, Iona scored below 60 points just once all season in a 59-point showing against Mount St. Mary’s, but they had no answers against Marist. Iona’s conference-leading 3-point and field goals percentages proved worthless against the Red Foxes as they shot just 1-for-14 from deep and made only four field goals the entire second half.
Marist has the next four days off and returns to the floor on Friday on the road against Sacred Heart. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Isabel Cortes
Photo by Ryan Eichem
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