NORTH ANDOVER, Massachusetts – The Marist University men's basketball team earned a 61-60 victory at Merrimack on Sunday.
Tarik Watson's layup with 7.7 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner as the win enabled Marist to clinch in berth in the MAAC Championships, which will be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey from March 11-15.
- Two three-pointers by Josh Pascarelli staked Marist to a 9-6 lead, which forced a Merrimack timeout at the 14:39 mark.
- Travis Roberts' layup gave Marist a 13-8 lead, the Red Foxes' largest to that point, but Merrimack tied the game with a 5-0 spurt.
- Elijah Lewis' layup put Marist up 17-14 at the 8:08 mark. Merrimack countered with a 6-0 run, but Roberts' three tied the score at 20.
- Field goals by Tarik Watson and Lewis on consecutive possessions in the final two minutes put Marist back in front, and the Red Foxes led 26-25 after 20 minutes.
- Matt Becht opened the scoring with a three to give Merrimack a 28-26 lead, but Marist answered with a 7-0 run.
- Martin Kawa's four-point play put Marist in front 45-38 with 12:08 to play, which was the Red Foxes' largest lead of the game.
- Becht's three tied the score at 51-all with 7:54 remaining, and Budd Clark's three-point play gave the Warriors a 54-53 lead with 7:16 left. This three-point play was the first of three lead changes in a span of 1:25.
- Pascarelli's three tied the game at 58 at the 3:48 mark.
- Bryan Etumnu's layup gave Merrimack a 60-58 advantage with 2:15 left.
- Watson split a pair of free throws with 1:03 remaining to bring Marist to within one.
- On Quinnipiac's ensuing possession, Elijah Lewis blocked a shot by Budd Clark, and Jaden Daughtry secured the rebound. Daughty then pushed the ball up the floor to Watson, who hit what proved to be the game-winning layup with 7.7 seconds remaining. Merrimack then hit a shot coming down the floor that would have given the Warriors the win, but it came after the buzzer.
- Lewis led Marist in points (13), and tied Jaden Daughtry for the team high in rebounds (nine).
- Watson and Pascarelli (12) teamed with Lewis to give Marist three double-digit scorers.
- Jadin Collins-Roberts had seven assists against just one turnover. He also had seven rebounds and four points.
- Marist held Merrimack to .386 (22-for-57) shooting from the field and a .286 (6-for-21) mark from three-point range.
- Marist held a 38-31 edge in rebounds.
- There were 11 lead changes and 10 ties.
- Clark led Merrimack with 19 points and six assists.
- Marist is now 7-1 in games decided by three points or less. Each of the Red Foxes' wins this weekend were by one point.
- Marist has had 18 of its 23 games decided by seven points or less, and is 14-4 in these games.
- Lewis' nine rebounds set a career high.
- Collins-Roberts has a 17-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio in his last three games.
- Marist is 8-0 in day games this season, and 23-8 in day games the last three seasons.
- Marist is now 18-5 overall and 11-3 in MAAC play.
- Merrimack is 14-12 overall and 11-4 in the MAAC.
- Marist returns home for back-to-back games at McCann Arena next weekend, starting with Canisius on Friday, Feb. 21.
- Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
