WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey – The Marist men's basketball team was defeated at Monmouth by a score of 83-72 on Sunday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game.
The Red Foxes trailed by as much a 24 in the second half, and cut its deficit to eight in the final minutes.
Freshman guard Brian Parker and red-shirt junior guard Khallid Hart led Marist with 24 points apiece. Parker led Marist with 12 rebounds, and had his third double-double of the season. Freshman forward Ryan Funk had 16 points in 13 minutes off the bench.
Monmouth's Justin Robinson led all scorers with 28 points. Robinson drained six three-pointers, shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, and scored 20 of his points in the first half. Micah Seaborn and Deon Jones scored 16 and 13 points, respectively. Jones led the Hawks with seven rebounds.
Monmouth led the contest wire-to-wire. The Hawks led 21-18 with 7:21 left in the first half when Robinson hit three-pointers on the next three possessions, which opened a 21-7 spurt for Monmouth over the next 6:02. The Hawks' largest lead of the first half was 17, and they led 42-29 after the first 20 minutes.
The Hawks' largest lead of the game was 24, when Seaborn drained two free throws with 10:40 to play, which made the score 62-38. Monmouth led by 20 with seven minutes to play, but Marist cut its deficit to single digits thanks to a 15-4 run over 3:25. A three-point play by Funk got Marist to within eight with 1:13 remaining, but the Red Foxes came no closer. Marist outscored Monmouth 28-17 over the final seven minutes.
Monmouth shot.458 (27-for-59) from the field, while Marist shot .343 (23-for-67). The Hawks were .455 (10-for-22) from three-point range, which Marist was just .194 (7-for-36). The Red Foxes held a 44-38 edge in rebounds.
Marist is now 4-14 overall and 1-8 in the MAAC. Monmouth is now 15-5 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
Marist will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 28 against Niagara at McCann Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be carried on ESPN3 through the MAAC's television package. Tickets are available for sale on GoRedFoxes.com.
Notes: This was the fifth time this season Hart and Parker both exceeded 20 points in the same game. … Only four Red Foxes scored in the game. Beyond Hart, Parker and Funk, junior center Kentrall Brooks had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. … Marist's three-point percentage was its second lowest of the season. The Red Foxes shot .167 (4-for-24) from deep against Holy Cross. … The Red Foxes' rebound margin of plus-6 was its best of the season. … All 16 of Funk's points came in the final 5:30 of the game. … Funk tied his career high in scoring, which was previously set at Manhattan on Dec. 6.
