Marist holds on against Saint Peter's

The game might not have been pretty, but Chuck Martin's team kicked off 2009 in a winning fashion.
After leading by as many as 18 in the first half, Marist fought off several Saint Peter's runs to eventually close out its MAAC opponent, 60-54.
With a thin bench, Marist seems to find another unsung hero every game. Tonight, Kaylen Gregory filled that role. After four years of sitting and waiting, Gregory made his presence felt tonight in the McCann Center. The Virgin Islands native scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
Marist jumped out to an early lead and looked poised to run away with the game. After a Javon Parris free-throw with 3:46 remaining, Marist led 32-14 to cap off a 24-6 Red Foxes' run. Saint Peter's hung arounf though, starting the second half on a 10-1 run. The Peacocks, led by Wesley Jenkins' game-high 16 points, could not get over the hump though.
For Marist, Ryan Schneider drained 15 points and David Devezin dished out eight assists in his return to the starting lineup. Ironically as Devezin returned freshman point guard R.J. Hall went out. Hall missed tonight's game with a foot injury sustained late in the Foxes' tilt against Binghamton on Tuesday night. Hall's status for Sunday's game at MAAC rival Rider is unknown.
In Hall's absence, freshman walk-on Mike Taylor emerged as the first option off the bench. Taylor shot 3-of-5 from the field and scored eight points. Taylor also hauled in five rebounds in 23 minutes of action. Only Ryan Schneider, David Devezin, and Dejuan Goodwin saw more time on the floor.
With the win, Marist moved to 2-1 in conference play and 6-9 overall. The team returns to action Sunday in Lawrenceville, N.J. against Ryan Thompson and the Rider Broncs. Rider is coming off a win against Iona. The win moved Rider to 2-0 in the conference and dropped Iona to 0-3. Following tonight's game, the MAAC standings look like this:

Siena 3-0
Rider 2-0
Niagara 1-0
Fairfield 2-1
Marist 2-1
Manhattan 1-1
Saint Peter's 1-2
Canisius 0-2
Loyola 0-2
Iona 0-3