Behind a stifling defensive performance, Marist men’s basketball won their third straight game on Sunday in a 58-46 defeat of Niagara to end their weekend trip to western New York.
After defeating Canisius on Friday, Marist held the Purple Eagles, who were without junior guard Justin Page, their leading scorer, to just 29.1% from the field. They also forced Niagara into 15 turnovers and led for all but 54 seconds. The combined 104 points between the two teams is the lowest in a game for Marist this season.
While they had an uncharacteristic performance allowing 86 points to Canisius, the Red Foxes’ defense has been their calling card all season. They rank in the top-10 nationally in scoring defense and consistently give themselves a chance to win, even in games where they may run into some inconsistency on offense.
Senior forward Jaden Daughtry played well for the Red Foxes on both ends. He scored eight first-half points and contributed two assists, two blocks and two steals; he ranks in the top-10 in both defensive categories in the MAAC Conference. Senior guard Elijah Lewis had 10 points and six assists while graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell scored 13.
As they did throughout most of the game, Niagara struggled mightily to find offense in the early going. Through the game’s first seven-and-a-half minutes, they scored just two points, shot 1-for-9 from the field and turned the ball over five times. Marist’s defense looked as strong as it has for most of the season after its rare hiccup against Canisius.
Meanwhile, Daughtry made three of his first four shots to rack up six points in the first 10 minutes. He entered averaging just 5.2 points per game, but managed to create some looks for himself within 10 feet of the basket.
The Red Foxes hit a scoring drought in the middle of the half, in which they did not score from the 10:15 mark to the 5:43 mark. But, they kept up their high-level defensive play to maintain a lead; the Purple Eagles shot just 7-for-27 from the field in the first half and turned the ball over nine times. Niagara did not make a field goal from the 10:29 mark until 2:59, which allowed Marist to withstand their own offensive cold stretch.
The Red Foxes got back on the board by way of a score from freshman forward Myles Parker and two scores from junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts, the second of which was an impressive, high-arcing left-handed shot off the backboard.
A Niagara possession late in the first half represented a microcosm of their offensive struggles. They hauled in two offensive rebounds, but missed three high-quality looks before sophomore forward Parby Kabamba finally rebounded the ball for Marist.
Entering the second half with an eight-point advantage, the Red Foxes immediately found themselves in foul trouble. Daughtry and sophomore guard Justin Menard both picked up their third fouls in the first 90 seconds and found themselves on the bench. Then, with 17:50 to go, junior forward Vice Zanki nailed a 3-pointer to slice Marist’s lead to three and force a timeout from Marist head coach John Dunne.
From late in the first half into the early portion of the second half, Niagara went on a 14-0 run that catapulted them all the way to a brief one-point lead with 15:46 remaining. Marist fought back out in front for a few minutes, but the Purple Eagles hung around; graduate student guard Reggie Prudhomme knocked down a triple to knot the game at 35 with 11:38 to go. They had a chance to take the lead again on their following possession, but Daughtry, who re-entered the game with his three fouls, swatted away a lay-in attempt by junior forward Drew Larson.
Then, Marist began to build a cushion behind Collins-Roberts, Menard and Lewis.
Collins-Roberts hit a 3-pointer in front of the Marist bench to go ahead by three before he found Menard for a on the ensuing possession; he delivered a laser beam of a cross-court skip-pass into a Menard 3-pointer. With 4:35 to go, Lewis hit a mid-range jumper to give the Red Foxes their largest lead of the half to that point at 48-39.
Senior forward Justin Hawkins led all scorers with 14 points and made a 3-pointer with 2:45 to go to keep the Purple Eagles within striking distance. They did not get any closer the rest of the way; Collins-Roberts and Menard teamed up for another score, this time with Collins-Roberts scoring beneath the basket off a feed from Menard to help finalize the victory.
Marist returns home to face the last-place Rider Broncs on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Edited by Ava Battinelli
Graphic by Xavier Angel
Photo by Xavier Angel
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