Jan. 2, 2010
Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Paced by five double-digit scorers, the Marist men's basketball team earned a 72-66 home victory over Manhattan in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game on Saturday at the McCann Center for its first victory of the 2009-10 season. Freshmen Sam Prescott (Philadelphia, Pa.) tied for the team lead with 13 points apiece.
Freshman guard Candon Rusin (Surf City, N.C.) added 11 and shot 3-for-4 from three-point range. Freshman forward Rob Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) scored 10, as did red-shirt junior guard Daye Kaba (Cergy, France). Junior forward Korey Bauer (Whitehall, Pa.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
As a team, Marist shot .500 (23-for-46) from the field, .412 (7-for-17) from three-point range and .704 (19-for-27) from the free-throw line. The Red Foxes also committed just 12 turnovers.
A three-pointer by Rusin gave Marist a 5-4 lead 4:32 into the game, and the Red Foxes never trailed after that. Rusin's shot started Marist on a 17-5 run over the next 6:36 as Marist jumped out to a 19-9 lead. After a jumper by Manhattan's Antoine Pearson cut Marist's lead to four, the Red Foxes closed the half on an 8-1 run as they took a 32-21 lead into halftime.
With 14:11 to play, a three-pointer by Prescott gave Marist a 45-32 lead, which matched the Red Foxes' largest advantage of the contest. However, Manhattan answered with a 10-2 run over the next 3:31 to cut its deficit to five. The Jaspers would close to the gap to four on four occasions in the final minutes of play, but would draw no closer as the Red Foxes shot 8-for-9 from the free-throw line in the final minute to secure the victory.
Manhattan's Rico Pickett led all scorers with 26 points. Pickett shot 9-for-14 from the field, drained both of his three-point attempts, and shot 6-for-7 from the free-throw line. Darryl Crawford added 17 points and six rebounds, and Patrick Bouli led the Jaspers (6-7 overall, 1-2 MAAC) with eight rebounds.
Marist (1-11, 1-2) committed just 12 turnovers in the contest.
The Red Foxes will return to action on Monday, when they head to the road to take on MAAC rival Saint Peter's. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
