Men’s Basketball Drops Road Contest at Marist

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team's four-game winning streak came to a halt on Friday night, with the Peacocks falling at Marist College, 72-61. The Peacocks drop back into a three-way tie for second place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) standings, with the 7-5 conference record.
 
What Went Down

• Saint Peter's scored on its first two possessions of the game with Hassan Drame hitting a three-pointer as the shot clock expired and Majur Majak catching a two-handed slam dunk on the ensuing possession after he blocked a Marist attempted field goal on the defensive side of the ball. 
• The Peacocks would eventually go ahead 7-0 following a jumper by Quinn Taylor. 
• The early lead only lasted for 6:10 before Marist went on runs of 9-1 and 8-2, taking a 17-10 lead over Saint Peter's.
• Still trailing by seven, Doug Edert hit a running floater that would cut it to a five-point deficit for the Peacocks (20-15). 
• Marist's lead eventually grew to double-digits and Saint Peter's never got closer than eight points for the remainder of the half. 
• The team began the second half by giving up early baskets to the opposition, falling behind by 12 points. 
• Over the next 3:35, Saint Peter's would cut into the lead by putting together a 6-0 run (44-38). The six points came from an Aaron Estrada layup, a Fousseyni Drame jumper, and a deep two-point field goal by Cameron Jones.  
• That score would end up being the nearest margin for the rest of the night. 
• Over a period of almost six minutes the Peacocks went on a scoring drought, while the Red Foxes scored 11 points and extended the advantage to 58-40 with five and a half to play. 
• Saint Peter's deficit remained between 16-18 points until late in the meeting, when the team went into its full court press defense with under four minutes to go. 
• Once the team put the full court pressure on, they slowly forced Marist into turnovers and eventually cut the deficit to nine points behind back-to-back-to-back layups from Dallas Watson, but the run was too little too late for the Peacocks.

 
Inside the Numbers

• F. Drame was the Peacock leader in scoring, earning 15 points and accounting for a team-best three steals.
• KC Ndefo also finished in double-figures, scoring 11 points with two steals and one block defensively. 
• Watson added nine points and Jones finished with eight in the contest.
• Majak rejected a career-high five blocked shots to lead the defensive front. 
• For the 11th time this season, at least 10 different Peacocks scored a point. 
• Saint Peter's struggled from beyond the arc, shooting a season-low .150 percent (3-for-20) from three-point range. The three made triples matched the team's lowest number of threes made in a game this season, having only hit three at Providence earlier in the season.

 
Up Next          

• Saint Peter's will travel to hOURglass Rival Monmouth on Sunday, Feb. 9.
• Sunday's tip is set for 2 p.m. in West Long Branch.