In the debut of their new black uniforms, Marist men’s basketball took care of last-place Rider 81-52 behind a ferocious offensive performance at McCann Arena.
Despite not having senior forward Jaden Daughtry, who missed the game due to illness, Marist had no problems against a Rider team that ranks last in the MAAC Conference in a host of categories. The win is the Red Foxes’ fourth in a row and marks their third winning streak of at least four games this season. They set season-highs in both field goal percentage at 58.5% and 3-point shooting at 61.1% while graduate student guard Rhyjon Blackwell led the way.
Blackwell scored 23 points, 21 of which came in a dominant first half in which he seemingly could not miss; he tied his career-high with eight field goals made and set a new season-high with five 3-pointers before the break. He is averaging over 18 points per game in Marist’s last three contests.
“[I’ve been] taking advantage of the time that I’m given on the court and playing to win,” Blackwell said. “I try not to take anything for granted, but I do the most that I can with the time that I’m given.”
Blackwell has operated as Marist’s sixth man all season. He leads the team in scoring and his wealth of experience has provided leadership both on and off the court; Marist is Blackwell’s fourth collegiate stop and second at the Division I level.
“Playing Division I is my dream, it’s been my dream since I was a kid,” Blackwell said. “I learned a lot of lessons at the Division II level as well, I played at the highest level at Division II, and I took those lessons that I learned from there as well as my other colleges and am applying them now in my life.”
“I wish I [could] coach Rhyjon for the rest of my career,” said Marist head coach John Dunne. “Not only is he a really good player and one of the best scorers in the league, he’s extremely coachable.”
Redshirt sophomore center Jason Schofield and sophomore guard Justin Menard also contributed 12 and 10 points respectively. Menard finished just shy of a double-double with nine of Marist’s 23 assists, which tied their highest mark of the season against a Division I opponent.
Schofield scored Marist’s first four points, a pair from the free throw line and a bucket by way of a tough finish beneath the basket. Rider grabbed four offensive rebounds in the first three-plus minutes and took a ridiculous ten shots by the first media timeout; they made just three, while Marist took only three shots by that point but found themselves ahead 7-6.
Menard made a 3-pointer heading into the first media timeout that began a 17-2 Marist run over the next six-plus minutes. The Red Foxes distributed the scoring throughout the run; Blackwell scored five, freshman forward Myles Parker scored three, and sophomore forward Parby Kabamba, senior guard Elijah Lewis and junior guard Jadin Collins-Roberts all contributed two.
Already trailing by 10, the Broncs turned to a full-court press following the second media stoppage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half. The increased defensive intensity did not stop Marist’s offensive onslaught; Lewis soared for a fast-break jam off a pass from Kabamba to go ahead by 11.
Over the following two minutes and change, Blackwell made two more triples to raise his output to 13 points and put the Red Foxes ahead 33-15.
He did not stop there.
Blackwell scored eight more first half points to help Marist build a 48-23 halftime lead; their 48 first half points evened their high-mark for points in a half this season.
Rider came out re-energized over the opening minutes of the second half despite the large deficit. They opened on an 11-4 run in which sophomore guard Flash Burton scored seven points, including a deep shot-clock beating 3-pointer; Burton led Rider with 18 points in the game.
As he usually does, Blackwell opened the half on the bench, but he wasted no time asserting his presence again. Quickly after returning to the floor, he converted a pretty finish at the basket to set a new career-high with nine made field goals.
Blackwell’s basket started another Red Fox run. From the 14:40 to the 10:59 mark, Marist held the Broncs scoreless; the team went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead.
Shortly after, a brief Rider mini-run fueled by a Marist turnover and strong work on the offensive glass by the Broncs proved short-lived when Parker drilled a corner triple — his third of the evening — off a skip-pass from Menard.
Menard’s energy and enthusiasm on the court after high-level plays both by himself and his teammates has become a staple for Marist this season.
“His energy level is as good as anyone I’ve coached in 30 years,” Dunne said. “He talks, he’s got energy every day — it’s hard sometimes to get college players to talk — he’s vocal every day.”
While Blackwell stayed out of the scoring column for the remainder of the game, Collins-Roberts, Schofield and Parker all had six second-half points as the Red Foxes pulled away to an easy victory.
The win marks the end of a three-game stretch for Marist against teams near the bottom of the MAAC standings. They defeated Canisius and Niagara prior to facing Rider, but will face Fairfield, Merrimack and Siena — all teams that sit in the top six in the MAAC — over their next three contests.
The Red Foxes will suit up in Fairfield, Conn. on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
Edited by Mike Schiavone
Graphic + Photo by Quinn DiFiore
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