Marist surges late to defeat Manhattan, stay unbeaten in MAAC play

POUGHKEEPSIE — You’re supposed to be relaxed on a Sunday afternoon, right?

Capping off a six-game home stretch, Marist University men’s basketball survived a Sunday thriller with an 80-68 win over Manhattan in the matinee battle to stay unbeaten early in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. The Red Foxes (6-2, 2-0 MAAC) finished the home stretch with an impressive 5-1 mark with the only loss being a two-point defeat to Harvard.

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Marist’s Elijah Lewis led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting while adding eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. Rhyjon Blackwell, the team’s leading scorer coming into the day, tallied 17 with three made 3-pointers. He also pulled down eight rebounds in an impressive performance. Overall, Marist won the rebounding battle 48-37.

“Whatever it takes to win. I know it sounds like a repetitive theme but that’s really what I’m focused on,” Blackwell said when asked about the all-around effort to impact the win. “Coach got on us for not rebounding in the first half so I took pride in that, went out and got some boards.”

Tarik Watson pitched in 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting off the bench as he continues to work back into form. Justin Menard and Jason Schofield each scored eight to help supplement the effort.

“To be 2-0 after two really tough opponents, we’re very, very pleased but we have a long way to go until we’re a finished product,” John Dunne, the head coach of Marist said after the win, discussing the importance of a positive start in MAAC play. “The team spirit has been great, these guys have a really good togetherness going on. Hopefully we can hold on to that for the season.”

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It appeared as if Marist was still waking up from a Sunday snooze early in this one with a painfully sloppy start to the contest. Turning the ball over six times in the first five minutes of play, the Red Foxes were only able to get three field goal attempts off during that time.

On the other end, the usually stout defense…

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Publish date : 2025-12-08 00:26:00

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