Marist Red Foxes Come Up Short vs. Stetson

POUGHKEEPSIE – The Marist’s men’s basketball team suffered a 79-76 loss to Stetson on Saturday afternoon at McCann Arena. The Red Foxes fall to 2-8, while the Hatters improve to 7-5.

The two teams kept it even throughout the first half. At the 12:20 mark, junior guard Brian Parker drove to the rim for a lay-up to put him over 1,000 points for his career. Junior forward Isaiah Lamb had back-to-back threes to give Marist a 21-14 lead, its biggest lead of the half. Stetson took its first lead of the game with a jumper from Leo Goodman to make the score 24-23. The Hatters went on a 13-2 scoring run at the 5:42 mark but the Red Foxes came back to cut the Hatters’ lead to 43-38 at the end of the half.

Junior forard Ryan Funk scored on a three-pointer for Marist’s first score of the second half.  Marist took the lead again with a jumper from junior guard David Knudsen to make the game 45-44 but Stetson rattled off eight unanswered points to swing the game back in its favor.

The Hatters led by no more than 10 points in the second half as the Red Foxes tried to keep pace. With nine seconds left on the clock, Lamb drove to the basket and cut Stetson’s lead to 79-76. Stetson’s Angel Rivera then missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the ball back to Marist with a chance to tie the game. However, Parker missed a three at the buzzer.

“Another tough close loss. I think the difference in the game today was points off turnovers. Our live ball turnovers resulted in easy opportunities for them,” said Marist head coach Mike Maker.

Marist will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Murray State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.