POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2021) - Trailing 57-54 with under five minutes left to play, the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team closed the game on a 15-4 run and went 10 for 11 from the free throw line down the stretch to pick up a 69-62 win on the road against Marist College Wednesday night to give head coach Shaheen Holloway his 50th career win.
Junior Hassan Drame had his second consecutive strong performance with 18 points and 11 rebounds to produce back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his collegiate career and help the Peacocks improve to 8-7 overall and 6-2 in MAAC play, still alone in second place in the league standings.
With the win, Holloway is now the fourth-fastest coach in program history to reach 50 career wins, doing so in 99 career games (50-49).
SPU was dynamite from 3-point range in the win, matching a season-high with nine made baskets from beyond the arc as they finished 9 for 20 led by a 3 of 4 performance from Daryl Banks III.
In total, Banks III finished with 16 points and went 4 for 7 from the floor in the win. The 2020-21 Third Team All-MAAC selection pushed his consecutive made free throw streak to 34 before missing for the first time since Nov. 27 in the second half. The 34 straight made free throws is currently the fifth-longest streak in the NCAA this season.
On the other end of the floor, the Peacocks limited the Red Foxes, who came into the contest shooting 34.1 percent from downtown, to 14.6 percent from 3-point range.
How it Happened
- After Marist scored the first two points of the game, SPU answered back with 10 straight points of their own thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from KC Ndefo and Banks III as well as four more by Drame to take an early eight-point edge.
- With the score 21-13 in favor of the Peacocks after an Isiah Dasher three, the Red Foxes climbed back into the contest and eventually took the lead on a 14-3 run fueled by six straight points from freshman Jao Ituka.
- The two teams traded punches for the remainder of the half from there, with Ituka delivering the final blow with a layup with 21 seconds left to give Marist a 34-31 lead at the break.
- Trailing by six at 44-38 five minutes into the second half, SPU rattled off seven straight points highlighted by a 3-pointer from Matthew Lee to re-take the lead for the first time in the stanza at 45-44.
- From the 14:05 mark to the 5:05 mark the lead would change hands a total of six times with the Red Foxes ultimately coming away with a 57-54 lead.
- After Banks III went to the line and knocked down two of three free throws, the Peacocks turned to Doug Edert to hit a big shot one more time. As he has for the majority of the season, the junior drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to put SPU up 59-57.
- The Red Foxes were able to go down the next possession and tie things up, but the Peacocks, and specifically Drame, were not to be denied as he muscled his way to the basket and finished a layup to put SPU up 61-59 with 1:46 left.
- Despite not being able to extend the lead for the next couple of offensive possessions, the Peacocks played solid defense and kept Marist off the scoreboard for the next two trips down before they eventually committed a foul on Drame with 56 seconds left.
- Drame, who came into the contest shooting 66 percent from the line, calmly stepped up and knocked down both shots to extend the lead to two possessions.
- After another strong defensive stand, the Red Foxes were forced to foul Ndefo. The senior did not blink and buried both shots to make the score 65-59 and effectively close the book on the contest.
- Marist was able to cut it to a one-possession game with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, but could not get any closer as Lee drained the final four shots from the charity stripe to give the Peacocks the seven-point win.
Inside the Numbers
- It is the eighth consecutive game the Peacocks have held their opponents under 70 points. SPU is now 6-2 in those eight games and improved the conference-best scoring defense to now allow just 64.0 points per game.
- Banks III scored in double figures for the third straight game while Drame has now reached the total in back-to-back games.
- SPU finished the game with 20 made buckets and had an assist on 13 led by four from Lee.
- Ndefo finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight boards to go along with two assists, a block and a steal. He now has 964 career points as he continues his quest to become just the second player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks.
- The Peacocks held Marist guard Ricardo Wright to just two points on the night on 1 of 11 shooting. Wright came into the contest fourth in the MAAC and led the team averaging 15.2 points per game.
- SPU's 6-2 MAAC record now puts them 2.0 games up on third place Monmouth who the Peacocks defeated earlier this season.
From the Sidelines (Head Coach Shaheen Holloway)
- "Marist is a great school and John Dunne is a great coach so we knew we would have a battle on our hands tonight. We have a heck of a schedule coming up and the last couple of weeks have been tough but I thought our guys played really hard tonight."
- "I think Marist has one of the best, if not the best, backcourts in the league. Ricardo Wright was big on our scouting report, we said we couldn't let him beat us and keyed on him so I thought that really helped us tonight."
- "We've been working on our free throws a lot. We can't practice much because we have so many games back-to-back-to-back. So instead we're working hard on our free throws and I think it's paying off for us."
Next Up
- Another quick turnaround awaits as SPU returns to the court Friday night at 7:00 p.m. inside Run Baby Run Arena with a home contest against Manhattan.
