From bad to worse

Marist fans couldn't imagine the season being any worse, but when Sam Prescott was deemed academically ineligible for the spring semester, the Red Foxes lost even the smallest glimmer of hope at seeing some development this season.
The Red Foxes suffered their third academic casualty this season, with Casiem Drummond already leaving the school. R.J. Hall didn't meet Marist's 2.0 GPA requirement in the fall.
Prescott's situation is supposedly dire. Maybe Marist loosened its standards to help Martin recruit his "guys" after the Brady debacle.
The loss is devastating because of Prescott's progress. He recently poured in a career-high 21 points, the only Red Fox to break that barrier.
Marist will now look to veterans Dejuan Goodwin and Javon Parris to pick up the slack. Without a legitimate big man, it is really hard to expect much more out of this team this season.
On a side note, Daye Kaba and Javon Parris were both on the dean's list, so it's hard to point at one person for the academic failings this season. Martin cannot be fully responsible if he has players making the dean's list, in my opinion.
Menelik Watson, who wasn't eligible because of paperwork issues regarding his transfer from England, is also doing quite well academically.
Hall, prior to Marist, was an honor roll student in high school.
It's hard to pinpoint situations like these on any one factor, but this season, Marist has had more bad luck than in any season I can recall.
The Red Foxes return to action tonight against Fairfield. Marist played Fairfield tough in the last game, but this is a different team. The best Marist can do now is watch the growth of Devin Price, Candon Rusin, and Rob Johnson. Hopefully Dorvell Carter will continue to see an expanded role.

Marist suffers crushing blow at Loyola

Sam Prescott and Dorvell Carter delivered career performances, but Loyola won a three-point contest, 68-61, in Maryland.
Marist missed a golden opportunity with Loyola stars Brett Harvey and Jamal Barney missing the game. Marist had its own injuries, however, with Korey Bauer and Rob Johnson getting injured. Bauer played just two minutes.
The loss is difficult to swallow though because Loyola big man Julius Brooks was ejected after a flagrant foul. With Loyola missing the bulk of its scoring, Marist could not capitalize.
The game was tied at 53 with 6:42 remaining, but Jimmy Patsos' team was able to pull away. J'Hared Hall and Robert Olson nailed three straight three-pointers for the Greyhounds, opening up a 66-58 lead.
Despite playing without Bauer (and Johnson but to a lesser extent), Marist needed to pull out a win against what amounted to Loyola's B squad. The now 1-16 Red Foxes will have trouble winning another game this season, granted the talent is there for the future.
Sam Prescott scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Dorvell Carter, also coming off the bench, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the fill-in big man.
Devin Price was the only starters to score in double figures for Marist. He scored 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Daye Kaba and Candon Rusin struggled to find their shot, combining to go 4-of-16 from the field.
Olson and Hall scored 20 and 16 points, respectively.
Observations:
- This may sound like a broken record, but Marist needs more out of Kaba, the Boston College transfer, in order to stay competitive. He shot just 2-of-10 last night.
- It's a tall order asking Marist to compete without Bauer, the team's only true interior presence, but Loyola had its own laundry list of players not in the game.
- Loyola converted on 13-of-26 three-pointers. Marist countered with 9-of-20, however.
- A great sign to see Prescott deliver this kind of performance. Price has already proven himself to be a budding star in this league based on his drastic improvement and consistency. Rusin has shown what he's capable of as well. Marist just needs a few big men in the fold.

Rider makes McCann its own Monday night

With students on winter break and a 1-14 Marist Red Foxes team enduring a historically bad season, Rider got out of its slump in a big way.
Rider exploded offensively, leading by 33 points before Tommy Dempsey pulled his starters. Rider cruised to an 84-62 win.
Rider never trailed and the closest Marist came was after Korey Bauer finished a fake-shot/pass from Devin Price to cut the Broncs' lead to 23-19. Rider embarked on a 17-0 run capped off by a Jhamar Youngblood three-pointer.
Youngblood, the Monmouth transfer, scored 17 points in filling in for the injured Novar Gadson. Ryan Thompson returned to top-form by scoring a game-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Patrick Mansell and Mike Ringgold notched 11 points apiece.
The positives for Marist were few and far between. The team has regressed since an upset win over MAAC foe Manhattan. Devin Price, Candon Rusin, and Rob Johnson scored 11 points each. Price did add nine assists, however.
Rider shot 54.2 percent and would have scored over 100 points had Dempsey not pulled his starters.
The frustration started to boil over in the first half. Mike Taylor, right off the bench for Chuck Martin, picked up a technical foul after he was whistled for a personal foul. This followed Rider's 14-0 run ended by Bauer.
Bauer, the lone big man, scored nine points and hauled in six rebounds.
Observations:
- A surprising loss considering Martin seemed enthused about his team's recent practices. Rider was also at a season low. The Broncs lost by 20 points to Iona in their last outing...at home. Novar Gadson, arguably Rider's second-best player, also did not play with an injured ankle.
- Out of a possible 349 Div. I teams, Marist is ranked No. 345 in the RPI poll.
- At this point, coaches and fans need to be looking for positives going forward. Although the team is in a precarious position due to paperwork issues with David Devezin and Menelik Watson, and Casiem Drummond's ineligibility, there needs to be more fight than what was shown tonight. This game was never close and Rider was on a first-half pace for 100 points.
- Again, hard to find any positives, but Devin Price will be a great MAAC point guard. He's improved drastically after a rough opening to the season. Nine assists tonight is pretty impressive since the team only converted 24 baskets. Since he went 4-of-9 from the field, he accounted for 13-of-24 Marist baskets. Glad to see Martin gave him 34 minutes tonight.
- Daye Kaba managed only five points tonight on 2-of-5 shooting. Considering he played at Boston College and is one of the more senior players on this squad, his season thus far has been disappointing.
- Finally, Marist is obviously missing strong veteran players. Ryan Schneider's value to this team last year grows by leaps and bounds. He was a true team-player and played great fundamental basketball. His leadership is sorely missed. The same could be said of Kaylen Gregory. While he didn't play much of a factor in his time at Marist, he shined in the opportunity Martin gave him. The Red Foxes, in addition to being young, don't have players like Schneider, Devezin, and Gregory to look up to. Whether by action or words, they showed the younger guys how to play the right way. That lacking presence is a big reason why Marist is struggling. There are older players on the roster, but they don't have the leadership qualities those three had.

Canisius overpowers Marist in McCann

Canisius proved that Marist does not have the weapons to be successful this year.
Canisius rode its big men to a 72-57 win in the McCann Center on Saturday night. Forwards Elton Frazier and Greg Logins dominated Marist, scoring 25 and 13 points, respectively.
Canisius pulled out to a big lead and led, 40-23, at the half. Marist put up an inspired effort in the second half, as they often do, but it was too little too late.
Canisius all-conference guard Frank Turner also went off for 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
The Golden Griffs pounded the boards, outrebounding the Red Foxes, 35-21. Hard to win games giving opponents that many opportunities.
Marist received strong offensive performances from freshmen Devin Price and Candon Rusin. These two could be the second coming of Jordan and Whittington...in their own way. Price scored 15 points in 22 minutes while Rusin notched 11 in 38 minutes. Daye Kaba added 11 points for Marist.
Observations:
- Hard to see where Marist is winning games. The Red Foxes physically just can't compete with many Div. I teams. Korey Bauer is the only true "big man" on the team. Losing Drummond to eligibility and transfer and Watson to NCAA paperwork for this season crippled any chances to make a run.
- Devin Price needs more minutes. He's playing too well to send to the bench and barely play over half a game. He's one of the few bright spots on this season, let's see more of him.
- Credit to Korey Bauer for basically being thrown to the wolves this season. A tough task for anybody.
- A horrid outing from the free-throw line after really looking like the team had turned it around. Shooting 6-of-15 is unacceptable, although it would not have affected the final score.
- Marist is facing a very down and disappointing Rider team on Monday. The Broncs have underachieved woefully and this might be a nice time to pick off a team.

Marist routed at home

Princeton came into the McCann Center and received a career-performance from sophomore Patrick Saunders in its 77-58 win.
Saunders went a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and scored 21 points. He averages 6.0 ppg for the now 8-5 Tigers.
Princeton shot 57.4 percent as a team and poured in 40 points in the first half. Although Marist shot a respectable 48.8 percent, the Red Foxes turned the ball over 14 times to Princeton's seven.
Candon Rusin paced Marist's offense with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. He did turn the ball over five times, however. Rusin's offensive effort matched his season high that he set in a loss to Vermont on Dec. 28.
Marist's leading scorer, Daye Kaba, scored eight points on seven shot attempts. He added six rebounds. As one of the more veteran players on the team, Kaba should have a larger offensive presence for Marist.
Maris't scoring is falling largely to the freshmen. Devin Price scored in double figures again, but he shot 4-of-12 from the field. With no interior scoring threat, it's hard to imagine Marist having many high-scoring outings. Price tallied 13 points and dished out five assists. Korey Bauer added nine points while hauling in five rebounds.
The 1-13 Red Foxes return to action Saturday for a home tilt against Canisius. The Golden Griffs are 2-2 in MAAC play and are coming off an impressive win over Iona.
Frank Turner has historically given Marist fits. He's averaging 16.7 ppg, and 5.1 rebounds and assists per game. Julius Coles and Greg Logins are also averaging double-digit scoring.

Saint Peter's buries Marist in second half

In a tightly played first half, Marist hung with Saint Peter's. The second half was another story.
Saint Peter's opened the second half on a 17-6 run and cruised past Marist, 61-49.
Nick Leon and Ryan Bacon buoyed the Peacocks' offense by scoring 16 and 12 points apiece. Saint Peter's other star guard Wesley Jenkins struggled in his return from a mild concussion. Marist limited him to seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Saint Peter's led, 27-21, at the half and that margin grew to as many as 17 midway through the second half.
Although Korey Bauer is Marist's only true big man, the rebounding margin remained close. Saint Peter's outrebounded Marist, 31-20. Bauer hauled in eight rebounds but shot only 2-of-8 from the field.
Marist received strong offensive performances from freshmen Devin Price and Sam Prescott. Prescott notched a team-high 14 points (5-9 shooting), while Price continues to thrive as the starting point guard. He tallied 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting. He knocked down two of his three three-point attempts.
In addition to Price's and Prescott's performances, Marist as a team shot 14-of-14 from the free-throw line. Saint Peter's shot just 2-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Other Observations and MAAC notes:
- Phenomenal effort from the free-throw line tonight. Credit to Martin & Co. for righting the ship in that area. While he can't control the youth and some of the struggles the Red Foxes have encountered with eligibility, it's nice to see they've improved on the fundamentals.
- I personally don't love the shot distribution. Rob Johnson and Korey Bauer shot a combined 4-of-16. Bauer should not be shooting eight shots, including a three-pointer. Kaba, meanwhile, attempted just two shots (1-2, six points). Javon Parris should not take the same amount of attempts (0-2) as Kaba. Price also had just five attempts. He made the most of them, however.
- Only 35.7 percent shooting from the field. That won't win many games. Only 10 buckets midway through the second half.
Elsewhere in the MAAC
- Rider continues to struggle mightily this season, but the Broncs made a strong comeback to overtake Manhattan, 65-64 in Draddy.
- Siena dominated Loyola and won by 20, 76-56. The final box-score is not indicative of how one-sided the game was.
- Niagara and Canisius both hold late second-half leads against Fairfield and Iona, respectively.

Marist notches first win of the season

The Red Foxes' youth shined in a home win over MAAC foe Manhattan.
All four Marist freshmen scored in double figures and got their first taste of victory as NCAA players in a 72-66 win.
Devin Price and Sam Prescott had a team-high 13 points. Prescott shot 5-of-6 from the field and played 19 minutes. Candon Rusin drained three three-pointers and scored 11 points, while Rob Johnson and Daye Kaba each scored 10 points.
Marist led, 32-21, after the first half. Although the Red Foxes surrendered 45 second-half points, they made their free-throws down the stretch and closed out the game.
Manhattan's Rico Pickett had a game-high 26 points and Darryl Crawford poured in 17 points. Those two Jaspers accounted for the brunt of Manhattan's offense.
Marist's free-throw shooting (70.4 percent) and rebounding has improved drastically in recent games. Manhattan only grabbed three more rebounds than Marist, and Korey Bauer tied a game-high with eight points. He also added eight points.
The Red Foxes' win improves them to 1-2 in the conference. Marist has played its best basketball against conference opponents.
Marist's win capped off an interesting day in the MAAC:
- Rider fell to 1-2 in conference play with a 68-66 loss to Loyola.
- Iona used balanced scoring to upset MAAC power Niagara on the road.
- Siena struggled and needed overtime to beat 3-9 Mount Saint Mary's at home. Mount Saint Mary's squandered a 7-point lead with 1:11 to play in regulation. Ryan Rossiter had a career-game and scored 29 points while grabbing 13 rebounds.
- Fairfield outlasted Canisius, 58-52, earlier in the day.
- Marist is tied with six other teams at 1-2 in the MAAC.