Marist can't complete comeback

Another game plagued by first half mistakes proved to doom the Marist Red Foxes at the Draddy Gymnasium Friday night.
After holding several first-half leads, Marist trailed for the better part of the contest against Manhattan and failed to come back. Marist led by as many as three points in the first half but went into halftime facing a 10-point deficit. Marist trailed Rider by 18 at the half in the prior game. The first-half deficit proved to be too much and Marist fell, 73-67, in a pivotal MAAC match-up.
For a team with a thin roster, Marist is playing with fire when they have to play catch-up in the second half. Marist eventually tied Manhattan, 67-67, with 2:47 left in the game, but the Red Foxes sputtered over the final two minutes. Devon Austin drained a two-point jumper off a feed from Antoine Pearson and Pearson closed the game with four free-throws.
Pearson, the MAAC's leading shooter in three-point percentage, scored 20 points, nearly 11 points above his season average. The guard shot 5-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-3 on three-pointers.
Once again, senior captain Ryan Schneider led the Red Foxes in scoring. Schneider has emerged as the most consistent offensive threat and poured in 21 more points against Manhattan. Although Marist benefits from Schneider's consistent scoring prowess, the team has yet to find a complementary scoring threat. For the second straight game, Kaylen Gregory filled that role. Gregory scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Freshman R.J. Hall also contributed 10 points and has been the main threat at point guard since David Devezin suffered a heel injury against Memphis. Devezin has struggled to get back into the flow of the offense despite dishing out six assists last night.
The largest disparity came in the rebounding, however. Manhattan outrebounded Marist, 41-23, and guard Chris Smith grabbed 10 boards. Ryan Schneider led Marist with only four rebounds. Marist played the game without redshirt sophomore Lawrence Williams. Williams was suspended for violating a team rule.