Marist men’s basketball survived a late-game surge by Sacred Heart on Friday to win its second straight game behind a terrific performance from junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts.
Collins-Roberts, Marist’s captain, had spent much of this season making a limited scoring impact. He last scored in double figures on Dec. 5 against Mount St. Mary’s; in seven games since, he averaged only a tick over four points per game.
That all changed on Friday night.
Collins-Roberts poured in a season-high 19 points on a blistering 8-for-11 from the field to lead the way in the Red Foxes’ (10-5, 4-2 MAAC Conference) 76-72 win. He also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals in one of Marist’s best individual all-around performances of the season. He helped fend off two strong offensive performances for Sacred Heart (5-12, 1-5 MAAC); junior forward Yann Farell had 22 points while redshirt senior forward Anquan Hill had 19.
Marist’s offense started out sluggish, just as they have in most games this year, allowing Sacred Heart to build a quick advantage. The Pioneers made six of their first 11 shots from the field while the Red Foxes began 2-for-7 to find themselves trailing 17-4 with 13-10 left in the first half.
Then, similarly to how they did against Iona, Marist began to find its groove.
Collins-Roberts picked off a Sacred Heart pass and finished at the other end before sophomore forward Parby Kabamba and graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell buried a pair of 3-pointers to begin a run of 5-for-7 shooting for the Red Foxes.
Marist’s offense sparkled to the tune of a 55.2% shooting percentage in the first half. Redshirt sophomore center Jason Schofield made all four of his attempts to contribute eight points alongside three rebounds. Senior forward Jaden Daughtry, who entered shooting just 25% from beyond the arc, drilled both of his 3-pointers in the half.
Despite the offense finding its footing, Marist consistently trailed thanks to similarly hot shooting by the Pioneers. Sacred Heart made five of their first eight 3-pointers and equaled their largest lead of the night at 32-19 with under six minutes to play in the half. Farell and Hill led the way for the Pioneers in the first half; they had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Hill’s return proved vital for the Pioneers. He missed his squad’s previous six contests over which they went 1-5. Prior to getting injured, Hill averaged 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds, a key presence under the basket for a Sacred Heart team that struggled without him.
Sacred Heart’s offense is their strength; they entered with the twelfth-ranked defense so far in MAAC play, but the third-ranked offense despite Hill’s consistent absence over the last month. They light it up from deep; in the Pioneers’ first 16 games of the season, they made 167 3-pointers, 24 more than any other MAAC team. At the half, they led Marist 44-38, behind seven 3-pointers.
The Red Foxes got even early in the second half behind solid work from their big men and Collins-Roberts. Schofield and sophomore center Tarik Watson converted two tough shots around the rim to make the score 46-42 before Collins-Roberts made back-to-back layups, the first of which came off a rocket of an overhand pass by Daughtry, to even the game for the first time since 0-0. While Marist chipped away at Sacred Heart’s defense, they also forced three turnovers in the early portion of the half.
Then, Collins-Roberts delivered his third assist to Watson, who laid it up to put the Red Foxes ahead 50-48. After two free throws from the Pioneers evened the game, freshman forward Myles Parker took back the lead with a jump shot from the soft spot of Sacred Heart’s zone just below the free throw line.
The game continued to go back-and-forth; Hill converted inside to even the game before Collins-Roberts made a pretty left-handed floater to reach double figures and claim a 54-52 lead with 12:21 to go.
Marist extended its lead to six with a pair of free throws by Parker and began to pull away behind more offense from Collins-Roberts. After going 1-for-2 from the charity stripe, Collins-Roberts drove and finished through the Pioneer trees to give Marist its largest lead of the night, 63-54. Then, with 5:37 to go, he drilled his first 3-pointer since Dec. 7 to once again put the Red Foxes ahead by nine.
Collins-Roberts’ offensive production proved especially welcome as Marist’s leading scorers, senior guard Elijah Lewis and Blackwell, had relatively quiet nights with seven and five points, respectively.
Sacred Heart continued to fight back, highlighted by a 4-point play by Farell that left them trailing by five with 2:31 to go. Daughtry committed the foul, his second against a 3-point shooter in the game. Four possessions later, Farell once again tried to will his team to a comeback. He converted through contact again, this time from beneath the rack for a 3-point play that brought the Pioneers within one possession with 32 seconds left; Sacred Heart, the nation’s seventh-best free-throw shooting squad, made 18 of their 20 attempts.
The Pioneers played the foul game the rest of the way and nearly managed to mount a comeback after sophomore guard Mekhi Conner nailed a 3-pointer, but Lewis converted two free throws on the other end to solidify the Marist win.
Marist returns to the floor Sunday on the road against Rider. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo and graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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