Behind career-high totals of 21 points and 17 rebounds from senior center Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad), the Marist men’s basketball team earned an 89-78 victory over Delaware before 2,517 fans at the McCann Center on Nov. 11, and after trailing by 15 at the half, the Marist women’s basketball team got to within two of No. 16 Ohio State with less than two minutes to go, before falling to the Buckeyes 63-57.
“For the first game, I’m fairly happy with our offensive production and offensive balance,” Marist men’s head coach Matt Brady said. “We have a long way to go, but I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
In the men’s game, Benjamin achieved his third career double-double, and he paced five Marist scorers in double digits. Red-shirt sophomore guard David Devezin (Houston, Texas) had 16 points and a team-high six assists, while red-shirt freshman guard Dejuan Goodwin (Baltimore, Md.) and freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) finished with 13 apiece. Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Red Foxes started slowly, and trailed 22-16 with 6:53 remaining in the first half following a three-pointer by Delaware’s Brian Johnson. However, the Red Foxes responded with a 10-0 run in the next 1:52, and would not relinquish the lead after that.
Marist led 36-34 at the half. The Red Foxes held a 57-54 advantage before going on a 9-0 run to essentially put the contest out of reach. Following that spurt, Marist never led by less than six the rest of the way.
Marist shot 52.5 percent from the field and out-rebounded Delaware by a 44-30 margin.
Herb Courtney and Brian Johnson scored 24 and 23 points, respectively, to pace Delaware (0-1). There were 57 fouls called in the game, and the Red Foxes went 22-for-31 from the free-throw line in the second half alone.
Marist returned to action in the ESPNU O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Nov. 15, after the Beat’s press time, playing Miami (Fla.).
Women lose NCAA rematch
In the women’s game, sophomore Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) and freshman Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) led the Red Foxes with career-highs of 12 points each, but couldn’t prevent the loss.
After Marist (0-1) scored the first basket of the game, Ohio State went on a 12-0 run behind guard Marscilla Packer and freshman center Jantel Lavender. The Red Foxes would get back to within six with 11:57 to go in the first half on a Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) layup, putting the score at 16-10. Just as they did earlier in the half, Ohio State would go on another run to get to their biggest lead of the game at 34-16 on a pair of Lavender free throws. At the half, the Red Foxes trailed 34-19.
After shooting 36 percent from the field in the first half, Marist started the second half strong. Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) got the Red Foxes started on the right foot by scoring their first six points of the half to get to 36-25 and force an Ohio State timeout. Marist would then get hot from long-distance, as Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie) and Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) connected on three-pointers to get the Red Foxes within six at 39-33 with 14 minutes to go.
The Buckeyes would go up by 10, 45-35, three minutes later, but the Red Foxes would put on one final charge. Marist would score 15 of the next 26 points and get to within three points twice. A Smrdel three-pointer got Marist to 50-47 with 7:20 to go, and a Flores three-pointer put Marist 55-52 with 3:44 to go. During this run, Johnson and Allenspach combined for 12 points. After a Star Allen free throw put Ohio State up 56-52, Viani hit a running jumper in the lane to get the Red Foxes to within two with 1:46 to go.
Ohio State answered back. Lavender hit a layup for her 13th point of the game to get the Buckeyes up by four, and a Packer three put Ohio State up by seven, 61-54, with 36 seconds to go. Forced to foul to keep time on the clock, Flores fouled Packer with 15 seconds left. Packer hit both free throws to put Ohio State up nine, 63-54. On the ensuing possession, Meg Dahlman (Spencerport) hit a deep three-pointer to get Marist within six at 63-57 with nine seconds remaining. After forcing a Lavender turnover on the inbounds pass, a Johnson layup was blocked by Star Allen and Ohio State would come away with a 63-57 win.
The Red Foxes shot 48.1 percent from the field in the game, including a 59.3 percent clip in the second half. Flores ended the game with eight points, three rebounds, and two assists. Dahlman added seven points and eight rebounds, with frontcourt teammate Fitz finishing with six points, five assists, and three rebounds.
Ohio State (1-0) was led by Packer’s 26 points, with Lavender adding 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.