Box Score JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Saint Peter's men's basketball held on for a 58-57 victory against Marist in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball action on Thursday on ESPN3.
The Peacocks (10-16, 6-11 MAAC) held the lead for the 28 minutes and 38 seconds, but the Red Foxes hung around and had a chance to tie and win the game in the waning seconds of the game. Marist cut a five-point deficit with 1:09 left to one point with 16 seconds and 2.5 seconds left. T.J. Curry made the front end of two charity tosses with 2.5 seconds left, but missed the second attempt. Jay Bowie picked up the offensive rebound and his attempt went off the rim with 0.6 seconds left and the ball went up in the air and neither team could secure it as the buzzer sounded to hand Saint Peter's the 58-57 victory.
Marvin Dominique (Miramar, Fla./Miramar [Fordham]) notched his 10th 20-point performance and nearly had his 11th double-double of the season, finishing the game with 23 points and nine rebounds. Desi Washington (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin [Delaware State]) added 18 points for Saint Peter's in the winning effort.
Khallid Hart paced Marist with 15 points. Bowie tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds while Chavaughn Lewis and Adam Kemp each chipped in 11 points in the loss.
In front of a ruckus Peacocks crowd, Saint Peter's took the lead with 8:38 left in the first half and held off several Red Foxes comeback attempts for its third-straight win at the Yanitelli Center to improve to 4-4 in league play with two of its final three games in Jersey City.
Tyler Gaskins (Roswell, Ga./Centennial [Lawson State]) gave the Peacocks the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 8:38 left in the first half, a lead that mounted to 10 points with 4:19 left in the stanza thanks to a 13-3 run fueled by a pair of treys by Dominique. Saint Peter's went into the locker room with a 30-24 lead.
Marist came out of the intermission by scoring the first four points of the half on a Lewis free throw with 18:54 on the clock and a Curry 3-point with 18:18 left to trim the margin to 30-28. Washington nailed a 3-pointer with 17:16 on the clock and the Red Foxes never got closer than one possession until the final minute of play.
The Peacocks grabbed as large as a nine-point lead with 9:13 remaining and twice had an eight-point margin.
After a Washington basket in the paint with 3:04 remaining for a 56-50 edge, Marist posted its final comeback attempt. Bowie started the rally with a jumper 2:29 left before Trevis Wyche (Neptune, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) made it a five-point game after making 1 of 2 at the line with 68 seconds left.
Kemp scored in the lane to trim the margin to 57-54 with 53 ticks remaining. Hart then converted two charity tosses with 16 seconds left to cut the margin to one point. Wyche then made the first free throw with nine seconds left to restore a two-point lead while the second one rimmed out and Manny Thomas came up with the rebound. After a foul with 2.5 second left, Curry made the first and missed the second. Bowie was there for the rebound off the glass, but missed the shot and Saint Peter's came away with the victory.
Fueled by six points, Marist jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first four minutes and 22 seconds of the contest in the first half.
The Peacocks answered with a 15-2 run to take a 21-15 advantage with 7:52 left in the half to take the lead they would never relinquish and staged off several Red Foxes runs to earn the victory and the season-series split. Washington and Dominique fueled the spurt with five points apiece.
Wyche finished the game with seven points and five assists while Gaskins registered six points and five rebounds.
Saint Peter's heads to Monmouth for its final road game of the season. Game time is 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN3. The Peacocks are now two games ahead of the Hawks with three games to play coming into the contest.
