The Marist women’s basketball team closed out the Oahu Classic last weekend with a 3-0 record, defeating Eastern Washington 74-50 on Nov. 24. For the third straight game, sophomore Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) led the Red Foxes in scoring with 16 points, going 8-8 from the free-throw line while also pulling down seven rebounds. For the tournament, Fitz was 26-26 from the line.
Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) had a season-high 14 points, making all five shots she took and adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Meg Dahlman (Spencerport), Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) and Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) each scored eight points. Dahlman also had five rebounds and a team-high four steals. Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie) had seven points and a game-high seven assists.
Marist (6-1) jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and led 16-4 with 14:08 to go in the first half on a Dahlman layup. The Red Foxes would continue to pull away, as an Allenspach three-pointer put Marist up 15 with 10:59 to go in the half. After a pair of free throws by Flores, the Red Foxes led 31-13, their largest lead of the half. Marist led 37-25 at the half.
The Red Foxes would start the second making five three-pointers, the last by Allenspach to put Marist ahead 54-34. Marist would cruise from there, getting the lead to as high as 29 before the final margin.
Eastern Washington (1-4) was led by Amy Bratvold’s 12 points, with Kyla Evans adding nine. Marist held the Eagles to 35 percent shooting from the field and out-rebounded them 37-30.
Marist played its home opener on Nov. 29, after the Beat’s press time, against Yale at the McCann Center.
Fitz named To All-Oahu Classic Team
Sophomore forward Fitz was named to the All-Oahu Classic team on Nov. 25 for her efforts in wins over Utah, Nebraska and Eastern Washington over the weekend.
The sophomore started the classic with a 26-point, 10-rebound effort against Utah. She followed that up with a career-high 28 points against Nebraska, pulling down 11 rebounds. Against Eastern Washington, she finished the Oahu Classic with 16 points and seven boards. For the week, Fitz averaged 23.3 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. She shot 52.4 percent from the field and was 26-26 at the free-throw line.
Farmer paces men in Richmond win
The Marist men’s basketball team rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to earn a 64-62 victory over Richmond before 2,373 fans at the McCann Center on Nov. 24. Senior Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) led Marist with 14 points, all of which came in the second half.
“Tonight, this was really about the kids digging down and just playing through a really tough last 10 minutes of the first half and then everybody stepping up and making plays,” Marist head coach Matt Brady said.
Farmer was 3-for-5 from the field, going 3-for-4 from three-point range. He also hit all five of his free-throw attempts as the Red Foxes went a perfect 15-for-15 from the line. Marist senior center Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) added 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and a game-high seven rebounds. Freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) had seven points and a career-high seven assists.
Marist trailed 47-30 with 13:36 remaining after a basket by Richmond’s Oumar Sylla. The Red Foxes answered with a 16-2 run over the next 5:04, and took the lead for good on a basket by Benjamin with 51 seconds remaining. Farmer was 4-for-4 from the line in the last 22 seconds to close out the victory, and Marist led 64-59 before Richmond’s Kevin Anderson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to provide the game’s final margin.
Marist has now won seven of its last eight games decided by four points or less.
The first half featured six lead changes and five ties. After two free throws by red-shirt freshman Lawrence Williams (Paramus, N.J.) put Marist up 20-18 with 5:31 remaining in the first half, Richmond closed the half with a 15-2 run to take a 33-22 lead.
Richmond’s Dan Geriot led all scorers with 21 points. Sylla had 12 points and a team-high five rebounds.
The Red Foxes won their second straight to improve to 3-3. Richmond fell to 3-4.