Marist can't hold lead in loss to Vermont

Marist held a 37-31 lead at halftime against Vermont, but a long cold-streak doomed the Red Foxes at McCann.
Marqus Blakely paced the Catamounts' offense with 23 points in 35 minutes of action in leading Vermont to a 72-62 win.
Vermont embarked on a 17-2 run in the second half as Marist struggled to find the basket. The Red Foxes scored seven points in 12 minutes after pouring in 37 in the first half.
Marist got as close as four points with 2:30 remaining in the game, but the Red Foxes could not cut the lead any further.
Freshman Candon Rusin led the Red Foxes with 16 points while Daye Kaba added 11 points. Rusin has proved to be a reliable scoring option for Marist despite the team's struggles.
Marist shot 37 percent from the field and went 8-of-24 from behind the three-point arc. Marist also got outrebounded, 44-18. Without Casiem Drummond and Menelik Watson, the rebounding problem will probably remain throughout the season.
Observations:
- Marist may want to consider going really small and simply outrunning teams. Putting Johnson at the No. 5 and playing an uptempo, Golden State Warriors-style offense may be the best solution. The rebounding can't get any more lopsided, can it?
- Dramatic shift in the free-throw shooting tonight. Going 14-of-18 from the line is pretty impressive given the early-season struggles.
- Candon Rusin could have a Will Whittington-type impact on this team. Remember that Jordan and Whittington had an abysmal freshmen year and wound up being Marist legends. Rusin is on the right path anyway.
- Rusin needs more than 22 minutes. He's the best shooter the team has, and with no inside presence, he needs more opportunities to shoot.
- Korey Bauer led the team with 32 minutes. Too big of a role for his type of game. He did go 6-of-6 from the line, however.