Dec. 22, 2009
Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Marist men's basketball team dropped a non-conference game at Lehigh on Tuesday, falling by a score of 66-55. The Red Foxes trailed by 14 at halftime, and got to within four with four minutes to play, but would draw no closer.
Red-shirt junior guard Daye Kaba (Cergy, France) led the Red Foxes with 11 points, all of which came in the second half. Sophomore guard R.J. Hall (Bloomfield, N.J.) added nine on a trio of three-pointers, and freshman forward Rob Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) scored eight.
Lehigh (5-6) led the contest from start to finish, scoring the first six points in the game and jumpint out to a 14-point lead at 24-10 with 8:43 remaining in the first half. The Mountain Hawks took a 33-19 halftime lead.
A 9-2 run to open the second half gave Lehigh its largest lead of the game at 42-21 with 15:53 to play. The Red Foxes answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead back to 14. With 8:58 to go, a three-pointer by freshman guard Candon Rusin (Surf City, N.C.) brought the margin under 10 for the first time in the second half at 50-41.
With 4:16 to go, a three-pointer by Hall capped a 7-0 Marist run and brought the Red Foxes to within four at 54-50. It was the closest the score was since the opening minutes, but Marist would draw no closer as Lehigh answered with a 7-0 run of its own to put the game away.
The Red Foxes shot .357 (20-for-56) from the field and .333 (9-for-27) from three-point range. Lehigh shot .432 (19-for-44) from the field and .455 (5-for-11) from three-point range. Marist shot just 6-for-12 from the free-throw line, while Lehigh sank 23 of its 33 attempts. Lehigh held a 38-35 edge in rebounds, while both teams committed 13 turnovers.
Hall led Marist with four assists, while red-shirt senior guard Javon Parris (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Three Lehigh players - Marquis Hall (16), Zahir Carrington (12) and Gabe Knutson (11) -- scored in double digits. Carrington hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds, all of which came on the defensive end.
Marist (0-8) will return to action on Monday, when the Red Foxes host Vermont of the America East Conference. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
