WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey – The Marist men's basketball team completed a season sweep of Monmouth, as the Red Foxes earned a decisive 83-58 victory in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game on Tuesday night.
 

Summary

• A 13-0 Marist run, which included back-to-back three-pointers from Noah Harris, staked the Red Foxes to a 22-12 lead at the 10:16 mark of the first half.
• The Red Foxes added two separate 6-0 runs, and led by as much as 15 in the first half.
• Jao Ituka's three-point play with 21 seconds remaining in the first half gave Marist a 40-26 halftime lead.
• Monmouth cut Marist's lead to six thanks to a 10-0 run early in the second half, as the Hawks held the Red Foxes scoreless for 6:51. However, the Red Foxes answered with a 5-0 run to go back up by 11 with 12:07 to play.
• Over a span of 5:54, Marist outscored Monmouth 21-4. The run included nine points by Ituka, and was punctuated by a three-pointer by Ricardo Wright with 4:55 remaining.
• The Red Foxes' largest lead was 28.

 

Stats

• Ituka led all scorers with 25. He shot 9-for-14 from the field and 7-for-9 from the line.
• Wright finished with 20 points, and hit four three-pointers.
• Harris contributed 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
• Matt Herasme led the Red Foxes with six rebounds. His defensive efforts helped limited Monmouth's George Papas to three points, all of which came from the foul line as he shot 0-for-8 from the field. Papas is the Hawks' leading scorer (15.6 points per game).
• Walker Miller led Monmouth with 17 points and eight rebounds.
• Marist shot .545 (30-for-55) from the field, .455 (10-for-22) from three-point range, and .722 (13-for-18) from the free-throw line. Monmouth shot .339 (21-for-62) from the field, .211 (4-for-19) from three-point range, and .632 from the free-throw line.

 

Notes

• This is the first time Marist has swept Monmouth in a regular-season series since 2013-14.
• This is Marist's first win at Monmouth since 2019.
• This was Marist's largest margin of victory in a MAAC road game since a 26-point win at Iona (79-53) on Feb. 11, 2007. It was the Red Foxes' third-largest margin of victory in a MAAC road game in the program's 25 years in the conference.
• This was Ituka's fifth game with at least 20 points this season, and Wright's fourth with at least 20. It was the second time both scored at least 20 in the same game, with the first instance occurring in Marist's first meeting with Monmouth this season.
• Rollin Belton's six points were a career high. He shot 3-for-3 from the field in seven minutes.

 

Play of the Game

Watch ya head!! JAO ITUKA!! pic.twitter.com/FeOLBY79ya

— Marist Men's Basketball (@MaristMBB) February 9, 2022

Records

• Marist is now 9-13 overall and 4-9 in the MAAC.
• Monmouth is 15-8 this season and 7-5 in conference play.

 

From Coach Dunne

"It was a good all-around win on both sides of the ball," head coach John Dunne told the Red Fox Network's Steve Eggink postgame. "Our spacing was good, we moved the ball, we threw the extra pass and when you do that, everyone is feeling good and then your defense has a chance to be even better. We have to bottle it up, and we can't be a victim of one-game success."
 

Up Next

• Marist returns home to face Canisius on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, with Dean Darling (play-by-play) and Steve Eggink (analyst) on the call.
• Tickets are available at MaristTickets.com.
• Saturday's game begins a stretch of the Red Foxes playing four of their next five games at home.