NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. -- The Marist men's basketball team lost at Niagara, 94-72, in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game on Thursday evening at the Gallagher Center. An ice-cold start to the game put the Red Foxes in a deficit that they would never be able to overcome versus a high-scoring Purple Eagle squad.
Sophomore Chavaughn Lewis (Queens, N.Y.) led the Red Foxes with 17 points. He shot 8-for-12 from the field, and added five rebounds and five assists. Red-shirt senior Dorvell Carter (Bronx, N.Y.) had 11 points and six rebounds off of the bench, while junior Adam Kemp (Sherrill, N.Y.) just missed a double-double with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Isaiah Morton (Vineland, N.J.) had six points and a career-high eight assists.
Niagara scored the game's first 13 points as Marist was scoreless until the 12:49 mark of the first half when Carter found Eric Truog (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) for a layup near the basket. Spotting the Purple Eagles 13 would prove to be the Red Foxes' undoing as the hosts came into Friday night's game averaging 73.0 points per game.
The Red Foxes would trade baskets for a stretch during the first half, including a span when Carter netted seven consecutive points from 11:37 to 9:33.
A 5-0 run from 7:50 to 6:56 was the largest scoring run for Marist in the opening period as they carved a 13-point lead down to eight at 26-18. Morton was involved in both plays as he found an open Devin Price (Inglewood, Calif.) on the wing for the initial three-point basket and cut through the lane for the second field goal.
Niagara would close the final portion of the half by a 25-12 margin to take a 51-30 lead into the locker room. The Purple Eagles outshot the Red Foxes from the field and from three-point range at 54.1 (20-37) to 38.7 (12-31) and 50.0 (5-10) to 23.1 (3-13).
In the second half, Niagara continued its hot shooting, consequentially Marist was never able to get the game back into single digits.
The Red Foxes' best span of play in the second period was an 18-7 run from 5:02 to 1:24 to shave 11 points off of the Purple Eagles' lead. Kemp led Marist during this stretch with seven points. Sophomore Manny Thomas (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored five, while freshman Phillip Lawrence (Baltimore, Md.) aided his front-court mates with four points. Lawrence would finish with a career-high six points.
For the game, Niagara outshot Marist 52.2 (35-67) to 43.5 (27-62) on the way to the 94-72 victory.
Marist is now 4-10 overall and 1-2 in the MAAC; Niagara improved to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Red Foxes return to action on Saturday at Canisius. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
