LAWRENCEVILLE, New Jersey – The Marist men's basketball team stormed its largest lead of the season, and withstood a late charge from Rider in a 76-67 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over the Broncs on Saturday night.
 

Summary

• Marist scored the game's first 11 points, as the Broncs were held scoreless for the first 4:31.
• Marist used another 11-0 run, capped by five straight points from Ricardo Wright, as it built a 24-3 lead at the 11:56 mark.
• A corner three by Javon Cooley capped a 13-0 Marist run, and gave the Red Foxes their largest lead of the game – 41-7 at the 7:30 mark of the first half.
• Wright's long three just before the half gave the Red Foxes a 51-22 lead going to the locker room.
• A 7-0 run early in the second half, which included five points by Braden Bell and a bucket by Victor Enoh, put Marist up 58-27 with 15:37 remaining.
• Jaelen McGlone's three-pointer with 5:41 left capped a 12-0 Rider run, and cut the Broncs' gap to nine.
• Rider got as close as seven twice in the final three minutes, but the Red Foxes held the Broncs to just one field goal in the final two minutes.

 

Key Stats

• Wright led all scorers with 22 points. He shot 8-for-14 from the field, 4-for-7 from three-point range, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. He added five rebounds and three assists.
• Bell had 15 points. He shot 5-for-6 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range, and 2-for-2 from the line.
• Matt Herasme had team highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (four), as well as a team-best plus-minus (+12).
• Marist shot 12-for-24 (.500) from three-point range, including 10-for-14 (.714) in the first half.
• Allen Powell led Rider with 20 points.
• Dwight Murray Jr. had 16 points and game highs of 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Broncs.
• Rider shot 1-for-14 (.071) from three in the first half, but rebounded to go 6-for-9 (.667) in the final 20 minutes.

 

Notes

• This was Marist's highest-scoring first half (51), largest halftime lead (29), and largest lead at any point (34) of the season.
• Wright's point total was a career high, and the most by a Red Fox this season.
• Herasme's rebound total tied a season high for the second straight night, and his four assists were a season high.
• Cooley had a career-high six rebounds.
• Jones now has multiple blocked shots in six straight games, and has at least one block in 11 straight.
• This was Marist's first win at Rider since 2014.
• There was a 45-minute delay at the start of the game due to a malfunctioning rim.

 

From Coach Dunne

"For as disappointed as I was 24 hours ago, I'm equally as excited about the win today," head coach John Dunne said. "I couldn't be happier for the guys. It was a great bounce-back win. We played with a lot of pride, energy, and effort. Clearly it got a little sloppy in the second half, but fortunately we had attained a big enough lead to withstand it. I'm just really proud of the team."
 

Records

• Marist is now 8-6 on the season, and 6-6 in the MAAC.
• Rider is 4-11 overall, and 4-8 in conference play.

 

Up Next

• Marist is currently scheduled to have a bye next weekend.
• The Red Foxes are set to return to action against Quinnipiac. Games are currently scheduled for Friday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m.