Manhattan is Toppled by Marist Red Foxes in OT

By Mike Ferraro

RIVERDALE – The Marist men’s basketball team completed a weekend sweep of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Manhattan on Sunday with a 72-67 overtime triumph at Draddy Gymnasium.

Manhattan scored the game’s first five points, but the Red Foxes then answered with five straight of their own.

For the next 12:30, neither team led by more than three until a 7-0 run by Manhattan put the Jaspers ahead 27-22 at the 4:04 mark.

Manhattan took a 35-30 halftime lead.

Marist started the second half on a 7-0 run in the first 1:57 to go back in front.

For the rest of regulation, neither team led by more than four. Marist’s largest second-half lead came on a put-back by Victor Enoh with 12:01 to go, which gave the Red Foxes a 41-37 advantage. Manhattan responded with a 12-4 spurt, which gave the Jaspers a 49-45 lead with 6:50 remaining.

With 2:31 to play, a three-pointer by Jason Douglas-Stanley gave Manhattan a 58-55 lead. Neither team scored again until Ricardo Wright tied the game on a straightaway three with 30 seconds left. Manhattan did not score on its final possession, and the game went to overtime.

Marist used a 7-0 run in overtime to grab the lead for good, a stretch that included five more points from Wright.

“I thought it was a great team win, a grind-it-out win on the road that the guys should be proud of,” Marist head coach John Dunne said. “The other thing I’m happy about is different guys stepped up today from yesterday. I think we have a long way to go as a unit, but the fact that we had different guys step up in game two shows a lot about our team and our potential down the road.”

Marist is scheduled to return to action with a two-game series against Quinnipiac on Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2. Tip-off for both games will be at 5 p.m.