Nov. 30, 2009
Box Score
WORCESTER, Mass. - The Marist men's basketball team dropped a 68-56 decision at preseason Patriot League favorite Holy Cross on Monday at the Hart Center. The Red Foxes trailed by 18 at halftime and cut the deficit to eight with under two minutes to play, but would draw no closer as they fell to 0-4 on the season.
Red-shirt junior guard Daye Kaba (Cergy, France) and freshman guard Candon Rusin (Surf City, N.C.) tied for the team lead in scoring with 12 points apiece. Kaba also added a team-high five assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes. Rusin drained three three-pointers and also had a team-high three steals in a team-high 34 minutes. Sophomore guard Mike Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) added nine points, draining all three of his three-point attempts.
Buoyed by a .615 shooting percentage in the first half, Holy Cross jumped out to a 36-18 halftime lead. The Crusaders reached a game-high lead of 20 at the 17:38 mark of the second half on a jumper by Andrew Keister. The Red Foxes then started to chip into the lead, going on an 11-4 run over the next 5:53 to cut Holy Cross' lead to 44-31.
Holy Cross ran its lead back up to as high as 19, and held a 64-48 lead with 3:50 to play. The Red Foxes then went on an 8-0 run, which was punctuated by a Rusin three-pointer with 1:57 to play. However, Holy Cross then scored the game's final four points.
Marist shot a season-high .538 (7-for-13) from three-point range, and committed a season-low 11 turnovers. The Red Foxes hit four of their six three-point attempts in the second half.
Holy Cross shot .579 (22-for-38) from the field and .870 (20-for-23) from the free-throw line. The Crusaders hit 19 of their 22 free-throw attempts in the second half.
Holy Cross' Mike Cavataio scored a game-high 19 points, and Andrew Keister had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Marist fell to 0-4 overall; Holy Cross now stands at 1-6.
The Red Foxes will return to action on Thursday, when they play their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener at Fairfield. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
