POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's basketball team won its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the season on Tuesday night, as the Red Foxes defeated Manhattan by a score of 78-63 at McCann Arena. Marist is now 6-8 overall (1-1 MAAC), while the Jaspers dropped to 3-12 (1-2 MAAC).

 

GAME SUMMARY

• The Red Foxes' defense was tenacious in the first half, holding the Jaspers without a field goal from the 12:10 mark, until there was just 3:24 remaining . Over that time period, Marist used a 20-2 run to get out to a 32-14 lead.  
• The Red Foxes took a 43-26 lead into the locker room.
• The Jaspers began the second half hot from the field, going on an extended 18-7 run which cut Marist's lead to just 50-44 with 10:45 remaining in the game.
• The Red Foxes answered with a run of their own, which included a dunk from sophomore Austin Williams, from a beautiful bounce pass by red-shirt junior Aleksandar Dozic, that gave Marist a 62-51 lead. The play started a 7-0 run for the Red Foxes, which extended their lead with 16.
• After Manhattan cut its deficit to 10 with 3:06 to go, senior Ryan Funk iced the game by drilling his fifth three of the game, which gave the Red Foxes a 72-58 lead. Manhattan never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.

 

KEY STATS

• Senior Brian Parker tied for the game high with 17 points. He also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists.
• Funk also had 17 points. He shot 5-for-8 from three-point range.
• A total of five Red Foxes scored in double figures. Parker and Funk were joined by freshman Darius Hines (15), senior David Knudsen (11) and Dozic (11).
• Nehemiah Mack led Manhattan with 17 points. He shot 4-for-6 from the field, 3-for-5 from deep, and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
• The Red Foxes shot .561 (23-for-41) from the field for the game, while the Jaspers shot just .396 (19-for-48).
• Marist shot .533 (8-for-15) from three-point range, compared to Manhattan's .320 (8-for-25).
• Marist posted a .774 (24-for-31) clip from the free-throw line, while Manhattan was .607 (17-for-28) from the stripe.
• Marist forced 18 Jasper turnovers, and scored 18 points off those turnovers while Manhattan scored just eight points off the 14 Red Fox turnovers.
• Marist had the advantage in bench points, 34-21.

 

GAME NOTES

• Parker's jumper at the 18:33 mark of the first half moved him into sole possession of seventh place all-time on the Red Foxes' all-time scoring list. He finished the game with 1,572 career points, which is 14 behind Will Whittington for sixth place in program history.
• Funk's three in the final minutes moved him into sole possession of fourth place all-time in three pointers made for Marist.
• Hines' 15 points were good for a new career high.
• Herasme's three steals in the game marked a new career high.
• The Red Foxes' 43 first half points was tied for the Red Foxes' highest mark in the first 20 minutes this season.
• Today marks the second game all season five Marist players scored in double figures, and the Red Foxes are 2-0 in those games.
• Marist's field goal percentage of .561 was a season high, and marked the fifth time this season the Red Foxes shot at least 50 percent from the field in a game.

 

PLAY OF THE GAME

Herasme starting trouble again! pic.twitter.com/chsjfBl48X

— Marist Basketball (@MaristMBB) January 9, 2019

QUOTE

"I'm really proud of our team for our competitive spirit," head coach John Dunne said. "You aren't going to be able to beat Manhattan without matching their intensity, which we did. I thought with the exception of a handful of plays, we really battled."
 

UP NEXT

The Red Foxes welcome Siena Saints to McCann Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 11 in a contest that will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. Tickets are available here.