WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey – The Marist men's basketball team fell to Monmouth in the opener of a two-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks never trailed as they defeated the Red Foxes by a score of 80-64.
 

Summary

• Monmouth's Deion Hammond hit two three-pointers in the first three minutes, as the Hawks jumped out to an early 10-4 lead.
• After a basket by Victor Enoh at the 16:09 mark cut the Red Foxes' deficit to three, the Hawks responded with an 8-0 run.
• After back-to-back three-pointers by Javon Cooley, and a three-point play by Hakim Byrd, Marist trailed 30-28 at the 6:06 mark of the first half.
• With 1:50 left in the first half, Matt Herasme's three-pointer sliced Marist's deficit to one. Monmouth scored the final four points of the first half, and took a 42-37 lead to the locker room.
• Monmouth scored the first seven points of the second half, and took a 12-point lead.
• Ricardo Wright's bucket with 12:43 remaining brought Marist to within seven at 55-48. However, the Red Foxes drew no closer, and the Hawks led by double digits for the final nine-and-a-half minutes.

 

Key Stats

• Byrd led the Red Foxes with 15 points and five assists, and did not commit a turnover.
• Wright and Jordan Jones scored 12 apiece, and Jones hauled in a team-high nine rebounds.
• Hammond led all scorers with 21.
• Monmouth's Marcus McClary grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Monmouth shot .500 (27-for-54) from the field, .533 (8-for-15) from three-point range, and .783 (18-for-23) from the free-throw line.

 

Notes

• Byrd's five assists were a career high.
• Jones tied his career high with nine rebounds. It is the second time in the last three games he has secured nine rebounds.
• Braden Bell had a career-high four assists, and tied a career high with two blocked shots.
• Marist has allowed at least 80 points in all of its three losses, and has allowed under 70 points in all six of its wins.

 

From Coach Dunne

"Monmouth played with great energy," head coach John Dunne said. "We played in spurts, with appropriate spacing and toughness on offense, and we played in some spurts where we guarded them fairly well, but we didn't play the game for 40 minutes. We played like a young team that played against a veteran team on the road. We just didn't put together a full 40."
 

Records

• Marist is now 6-3 on the season, and 4-3 in the MAAC.
• Monmouth is 4-4 overall, and 4-3 in conference play.

 

Up Next

• Marist and Monmouth wrap up their two-game series on Sunday at 2 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.