BUFFALO, New York – Down 13 with under six minutes to play, the Marist men's basketball team rallied for a 78-71 overtime victory at Canisius on Monday night in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game.
 

Summary

• Thanks to four early points apiece by junior center Tobias Sjoberg and senior guard Brian Parker, Marist jumped out to an early 10-2 lead.
• Canisius took its first lead at 17-16 on a three-point play by Malik Johnson at the 9:16 mark.
• A Scott Hitchon layup gave Canisius its largest lead of the first half at 27-20 with 4:41 to play.
• Marist answered with an 11-0 run, and took a 31-30 lead to the locker room.
• There were nine lead changes in the first 7:44 of the second half.
• Marist went scoreless for a span of 6:37, which enabled Canisius to take a 61-48 lead.
• With 5:12 to play, the Red Foxes' scoring drought was broken by a jumper from red-shirt junior center Aleksandar Dozic. The basket started the Red Foxes on a 12-0 run that included a three-pointer by freshman point guard Darius Hines, two from senior guard David Knudsen, and one from freshman guard Matt Herasme. The Red Foxes went up 62-61 with 1:36 to play on Herasme's three.
• Jibreel Faulkner's basket with 55 seconds to go put Canisius back in front, but Knudsen's three on the ensuing possession put Marist up 65-63. Faulkner answered with a layup with 22 seconds to play. The Red Foxes were unable to get a shot off on their final possession, and the game went to overtime tied at 65.
• There was no scoring for the first 2:22 of overtime until Dozic's basket at the 2:38 mark. Marist never trailed in overtime. The Red Foxes held the Golden Griffins without a field goal for the first 4:42 of the extra period, and went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final 55 seconds.

 

Key Stats

• Dozic led the Red Foxes in points (17), assists (six), and tied for the team lead in rebounds (five) with sophomore guard Austin Williams.
• Knudsen followed with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half or overtime.
• For Canisius, Johnson and Takal Molson tied for the game high with 19 points. Johnson also had game highs with nine rebounds and seven assists.
• Marist went 16-for-18 (.889) from the free-throw line.
• Marist went 2-for-8 (.250) from three-point range in the first half, and 6-for-15 (.400) in the second half.
• There were a total of 14 lead changes and eight ties.
• Knudsen was the game's individual leader in plus-minus (+22).

 

Notes

• Dozic's point total was a season high, and his assist total tied a season high.
• Herasme's eight points set a career high. He went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 20 seconds of overtime.
• This was Marist's second win at Canisius in the last 11 years, and its first since the 2014-15 season.
• Before tonight, Marist was 0-8 when fewer than three players scored in double digits. Although Dozic and Knudsen were the only Red Foxes to top 10 points, six Red Foxes scored at least eight (Parker, 9; Herasme, 8; Hines, 8; Sjoberg, 8).

 

Quote

"Once we hit a couple (three-pointers), then we just got a lot more energy," head coach John Dunne. "Everyone stepped up, whether it was big shots, intensity, or free throws. I'm happy for my guys."
 

Records

• Marist improved to 9-14 overall and 4-7 in MAAC play.
• Canisius is now 9-13 on the season and 6-4 in the MAAC.

 

Up Next

Marist will host MAAC foe Niagara on Friday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at MaristTickets.com, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.