Marist Men’s Basketball Tops Canisius

By Mike Ferraro

BUFFALO – The Marist men’s basketball team defeated Canisius, 56-52, in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game on Saturday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.

The Red Foxes took the lead for good on a three-point play by freshman guard Hakim Byrd with 35.1 seconds to play.

Marist scored the game’s first four points, but Canisius answered with four in a row.

From there, the Red Foxes built the game’s largest lead, 17-7 at the 7:45 mark of the first half, on a basket by Tyler Saint-Furcy.

The Golden Griffins then held the Red Foxes scoreless for 3:19, and took the lead thanks to an 11-0 run.

Marist responded with a 7-0 run of its own, and two free throws by Raheim Sullivan in the waning seconds of the first half enabled the Red Foxes to take a 28-23 lead to the locker room.

Marist’s lead reached as large as nine twice early in the second half, but a three-pointer by Canisius’ Armon Harried tied the score at 42 with 6:44 remaining.

With Marist trailing by one with 1:10 remaining, Matt Herasme kept a play alive by swopping in for an offensive rebound. He was fouled and hit two free throws to put the Red Foxes up, 51-50.

After Malek Green hit two free throws on Canisius’ next possession, Byrd answered with his decisive three-point play. The Red Foxes got a stop on the Golden Griffins’ ensuing trip down the floor, and Herasme’s two free throws with 13.4 seconds to play sealed the victory.

“Really proud of the guys for coming back today with a great focus after dropping the first one,” head coach John Dunne said. “We watched a ton of film today, and think we cleaned up a lot of things.”

Marist returns to action at Manhattan for two games on Saturday, Dec. 19 and Sunday, Dec. 20.