ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – The fifth-seeded Marist University men's basketball team meets top-seeded Merrimack in the semifinal round of the Air Force Reserve Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship on Sunday.
 
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
 

Follow Us

• Dean Darling & Steve Eggink have the call on the Red Fox Network and Varsity Network starting at 5:30.
• Eddy Occhipinti (play-by-play), Chris Williams (analyst), and Freddie Coleman (sideline) have the call on ESPN+.
• In-game updates and highlights are available on X (@MaristMBB).

 

Last Night

• Marist advanced to the semifinals with a 77-75 win over fourth-seeded Quinnipiac.
• Justin Menard led Marist with 26 points and tied a career high with five three-pointers.
• Jadin Collins-Roberts tied a season high with 19 points, and he tied a career high with 11 rebounds.
• Rhyjon Blackwell had 11 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
• Marist shot 9-for-18 (.500) from three-point range.
• Marist held Quinnipiac to .365 shooting (23-for-63) from the field.

 

Marist Facts

• In Jadin Collins-Roberts' four career games in the MAAC Championship, he is averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals. He Has scored in double figures in all four games. Two of his three highest-scoring games of his career have come in the MAAC Championship.
• Collins-Roberts has 32 rebounds in his last three games, with at least 10 in all three. His double-double against Quinnipiac was the third of his career.
• Collins-Roberts is one assist away from 300 in his career, and nine away from a tie for 10th place in program history.
• Justin Menard scored at least 20 points in a game for the fifth time this season against Quinnipiac, three of which have occurred in his last four games. Marist is 5-0 when he scores at least 20 in a game.
• In his last five games (since Marist last faced Merrimack), Menard is averaging 22.8 points per game, while shooting .481 from the field, .421 from three-point range, and .917 from the free-throw line.
• Jaden Daughtry currently ranks third in games played (122), sixth in blocked shots (96), 10th in rebounds (611), and tied for 10th in steals (137). With one more appearance, he will move into a three-way tie for first place in games played at 123 with Chavaughn Lewis and Manny Thomas.
• Head coach John Dunne earned his ninth win as a lower seed in the MAAC Championship on Saturday against Quinnipiac, the most of any coach in conference history.
• Marist is the only team in the MAAC to reach the semifinal round three of the last four years.
• Marist is 18-1 when scoring at least 64 points.
• Marist is 18-2 when shooting at least 40 percent from the field.
• Marist has held 19 opponents under 40 percent (record: 16-3).

 

Merrimack Facts

• With a 17-3 record in conference play, Merrimack won the MAAC regular-season championship by three games.
• Kevair Kennedy became the first player in conference history to win MAAC Player and Rookie of the Year.
• The Warriors and Red Foxes combined to win all five of the MAAC's major awards. In addition to Kennedy, Joe Gallo (Coach of the Year), and KC Ugwuakazi (Defensive Player of the Year) took home honors, while Marist's Rhyjon Blackwell won Sixth Player of the Year.
• Ernest Shelton joined Kennedy on the All-MAAC First Team.
• Merrimack advanced to the semifinal round following a 70-48 victory over ninth-seeded Sacred Heart on Friday.
• Merrimack is the only team in the MAAC to reach the semifinals of the conference championship each of the last two seasons.

 

History

• Merrimack joined the MAAC for the 2024-25 season.
• The Red Foxes won the first meeting between the teams last season, but the Warriors have captured the last three, including a regular-season sweep this year.
• This is the first meeting between the teams in the MAAC Championship.

 

Up Next

• The winner will earn a spot in the MAAC Championship final on Tuesday night.
• The winner will face either seventh-seeded Fairfield or third-seeded Siena.
• Tip-off is set for 9 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.