Marist men’s basketball suffered a 68-55 home loss to Merrimack on Monday afternoon, squandering a chance to move into second place in the MAAC Conference and snapping its four-game winning streak. Merrimack’s three-headed monster of guards that play over 87% of the team’s minutes — freshman Kevair Kennedy, junior Ernest Shelton and sophomore Tye Dorset — led the way on the offensive end.
While Merrimack’s trio contributed 20, 18 and 17 points respectively, their squad’s active zone defense held the Red Foxes to 38.1% shooting from the field. Outside of redshirt sophomore center Jason Schofield and graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell, who each scored double digits, Marist struggled to take the lid off the basket.
“Their zone is very good, I think he’s probably the best zone coach I’ve ever seen,” Marist head coach John Dunne said of Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo post-game. “They’re active, they gameplan with their zone. I thought we had a good gameplan against it, we just didn’t execute it at times.”
Schofield’s impact was vital for Marist, but he committed his fourth foul with just over 13 minutes to go in the game. At that point, he checked out for all but one minute and 17 seconds the rest of the way. Over that stretch, Merrimack pulled away by outscoring Marist 26-16 to build most of its advantage.
“There was one [foul] in the first half and one in the close second half that just can’t happen,” Schofield said. “I’ve definitely got to get better at that and improve to help my team more.”
The game began sloppily for the Red Foxes with a couple of unforced errors in the earlygoing, but Schofield kept them afloat with a couple of contested post-hooks. Schofield is shooting over 55% from the floor on the season and has provided a steady presence beneath the basket.
Meanwhile, the Warriors found steady opportunities beneath the basket against Marist’s stellar defense; each of their first 12 points came either around the basket or on free throws earned in the paint. Merrimack did not attempt a jumpshot until 13:27 to go in the first half.
The Red Foxes struggled mightily from 3-point land early on; they missed their first six attempts, multiple of which crashed off the backboard. But, between Schofield’s underneath presence, a smooth score around the hoop by Blackwell and a 3-point play by freshman center Jordan Gabriel, Marist found themselves ahead 14-12.
The Marist defense began to come to life near the middle of the half, highlighted by a 1-for-7 stretch from the field for Merrimack. The Red Foxes, though, also became ice cold offensively once again; the Warriors held them scoreless for four and a half minutes following Gabriel’s 3-point play until sophomore guard Justin Menard drilled a 3-pointer with 6:45 to go for Marist’s first made triple.
Merrimack’s trio of Shelton, Dorset and Kennedy, the MAAC’s second leading scorer, helped them build a 29-25 lead by halftime. They combined for 23 points with just one made 3-pointer, showing their proficiency at finding opportunities around the basket. On the other end, the Red Foxes shot just 29% from the field in the first half and went 1-for-11 from 3-point range; they had plenty of solid looks that they failed to convert.
Merrimack started the second half hot from the field; they made four of their first six shots, highlighted by a Kennedy 3-point play to build a 39-32 lead with 16:37 to go. Marist continued to hang in the game in large part thanks to Schofield, who continued his tendency to score early in halves. Just as he did in the first half, Schofield took the lid off for Marist’s offense and contributed their first three points; he also scored first in both halves against Fairfield on Friday. Back-to-back scores near the basket from Schofield brought the Red Foxes within one.
On the subsequent Merrimack possession, Schofield committed his fourth personal foul on a driving Dorset, who converted a 3-point play to extend his squad’s lead to four. After a Dorset triple with 10:37 to go, Merrimack had its lead up to nine.
Without Schofield in the game, the Warriors never looked back.
Five consecutive made free throws for the Warriors granted them a 55-41 lead with just under 10 minutes to go. Seemingly out of options to generate offense and defense beneath the basket, Dunne turned back to Schofield despite his four personal fouls, a solution that proved to be short-lived. A missed free throw and an ill-advised pass later, Schofield found himself back on the bench in favor of sophomore forward Parby Kabamba with his team still trailing by 14.
The Warriors’ lead grew as large as 19 with two minutes to play before Marist cut it down slightly in the closing moments. The Red Foxes’ struggles to crack Merrimack’s zone proved to be key in the loss.
“Defensively, we were, I wouldn’t say great, but we were good enough to win,” Dunne said. “[We] just weren’t good enough on the offensive side of the ball. We got a lot of good looks in the first half for sure, didn’t make them, the shots that we had been making.”
Over their four-game winning streak, Marist averaged 78 points per game to go along with their high-level play on the defensive end. Without that consistent scoring, the Red Foxes fell short.
Marist returns to the floor on Thursday for a road matchup with Siena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo by Quinn DiFiore
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