Dec. 10, 2010
Box Score | Video: Postgame Press Conference
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist men's basketball team suffered a 91-78 loss in a non-conference game to defending Patriot League champion Lehigh at the McCann Center on Friday night. The contest featured 20 lead changes and seven ties, but the Mountain Hawks pulled away by outscoring the Red Foxes 16-4 over the final five minutes.
Junior point guard R.J. Hall (East Orange, N.J.) led the Red Foxes in points with a season-high 18 to go along with four assists and two steals. Hall shot 7-for-11 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range. Red-shirt freshman forward Menelik Watson (Manchester, England) scored 14 and grabbed five rebounds on the strength of 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Senior forward Korey Bauer (Whitehall, Pa.) came off the bench to record a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes.
Lehigh's C.J. McCollum led all scorers with 35 points, going 10-for-20 from the field, 6-for-11 from three-point range and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. McCollum also tallied nine rebounds, six steals and three assists. Holden Greiner had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks and an assists, and Gabe Knutson poured in 15.
After spotting Lehigh an early five-point lead, the Red Foxes used a 12-0 run to go up 19-11 with 10:40 left in the first half. Although the Mountain Hawks reclaimed the lead late in the first half, a driving lay-up by Hall in the waning seconds of the half gave Marist a 39-38 halftime lead.
For a stretch of 20 minutes, 23 seconds of game time between the end of the first half and the first 15-plus minutes of the second half, neither team led by more than three points. However, with 6:16 to play, a three-pointer by Anthony D'Orazio put Lehigh up 74-72, and gave the Mountain Hawks the lead for good. The Red Foxes got as close as one on a jumper by Hall with 5:18 left at 75-74, but Lehigh answered with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Lehigh shot .586 (17-for-29) in the second half from the field, and .636 (7-for-11) from three-point range en route to scoring 53 points over the final 20 minutes. Lehigh shot .483 (29-for-60) for the game, .526 (10-for-19) from three-point range and .821 (23-for-28) from the free-throw line. Marist shot .455 (30-for-66) from the field, .333 (8-for-24) from three-point range, and .667 (10-for-15) from the free-throw line. The Red Foxes held a 37-35 edge in rebounds, while Lehigh committed just nine turnovers as compared to 13 for the Red Foxes.
Lehigh is now 5-5 overall; Marist is 2-8.
The Red Foxes return to action on Sunday, when they complete a stretch of five games in 10 days when they travel to defending America East Conference champion Vermont. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
