Marist Wins Home Opener vs. VMI in OT

By Connor Hall & Mike Ferraro

POUGHKEEPSIE – The Marist men’s basketball team won its home opener in overtime against VMI on Saturday evening, 78-74.

Both teams are now 2-2 on the season.

VMI scored the game’s first six points, but thanks to five straight points by Samkelo Cele, the Red Foxes took a 7-6 lead at the first media timeout.

Thanks to three early three-pointers, VMI led 13-10 at the 11:41 mark of the first half.

A 12-2 Marist run gave the Red Foxes a 28-20 lead with 3:41 left until halftime. Marist led by as much as nine in the first half, and took a 32-25 lead to the locker room.

Ricardo Wright hit two jumpers early in the second half, but Sean Conway scored eight straight points for VMI to give the Keydets a 40-39 lead with 12:57 left in regulation.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Noah Harris put Marist in front 48-42 with 10:46 to go.

A three-pointer by Wright gave Marist its largest lead at 63-53 with 5:41 left. Another Wright three-pointer made the Red Foxes’ lead 66-57 at the 3:42 mark. However, VMI closed regulation on a 9-0 run, with seven points coming from Kamdyn Curfman, to send the game to overtime.

Wright scored eight of Marist’s 12 points in overtime. His jumper gave the Red Foxes the lead for good with 2:15 left in overtime. His two free throws in the final seconds sealed the victory.

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