POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Seniors Marquis Wright and Lavon Long combined to score 30 second half points to propel Siena Basketball to an 84-77 win over MAAC rival Marist at McCann Arena. Wright finished with a team-high 21 points for the Saints which have won eight of 11 to draw even with Saint Peter’s for third place in the MAAC Standings, while also pulling within just a half game of Iona for second with five conference contests remaining.
Long scored 14 of his 16 points after intermission for Siena (12-14, 9-6) which has won five of its last six road games after having dropped its previous 11 dating back to last season. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Nico Clareth provided the Saints’ scoring punch in the first half, coming off the bench to score 15 of his 18 points before intermission in his second game back following a seven-game indefinite leave of absence. Clareth added 10 rebounds in achieving his first collegiate double-double.
Khallid Hart scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half for Marist (6-20, 3-12) which has lost seven straight and 16 of its last 18. Brian Parker contributed 16 points, and Isaiah Lamb added 13 off the bench for the Red Foxes.
The game featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes in another thriller between the I-87 rivals in Poughkeepsie, where each of the past five matchups have been decided by seven points or less. Marist opened by making nine of its first 11 shots, but failed to lead by any more than five points thanks in large part to Clareth as the teams played to a 36-all tie through the opening 20 minutes.
In a see-saw second half, Siena reclaimed the lead for good at 59-57 on a Wright layup with 8:12 remaining. The score came during a 19-9 spurt by the Saints which was capped by a pair of Long free throws which gave Siena a 74-66 advantage with 77 seconds left.
The Red Foxes would not go away quietly though as they rallied back to within as close as two points on a Richie Mitchell three which made it 75-73 with 44.2 seconds to play. But for the second game in a row, Wright took over down the stretch and made clutch free throws late. He went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe over the final minute to ice the win for the Saints which have captured 17 of the past 21 meetings between the programs.
Wright dished out six assists without committing a turnover for Siena, which recorded 15 assists as a team while turning the ball over just four times. The four turnovers committed are tied for the program’s fewest since at least the start of the 2001-02 season. The Saints also committed just four turnovers in a 77-49 win over Canisius on Jan. 21, 2008 at the Times Union Center.
Senior forward Javion Ogunyemi added 16 points for Siena which held a 46-30 advantage in points in the paint. The MAAC’s top team in rebound margin during conference play, the Saints out-rebounded Marist 24-15 in the second half while harboring a 13-0 advantage in second chance points in the stanza.
Siena continues its pivotal four-game, eight-day stretch when the Saints return to the Capital Region to open a season-long three-game homestand Monday. Siena hosts MAAC frontrunner, defending regular season champion and preseason favorite Monmouth at 7 p.m. at the Times Union Center for the first of two meetings between the teams in 11 days.
