What does a team do after answering an eight-game losing streak with four wins in five games? What?s the next step for the Marist College men?s basketball team as it closes the regular season this week?
?Complete focus on (Sunday?s) film session, complete focus in (Sunday?s) practice, complete focus in (today?s) shootaround,? Marist coach Chuck Martin said. ?We?re just taking it one step at a time.?
After upsetting Loyola (Md.) in Poughkeepsie and beating Maine on the road in the two games, the next step for the Red Foxes is a three-game homestand, beginning tonight against Fairfield.
The Foxes (11-16, 5-10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and Stags (16-11, 11-4) have met once this year, on Jan. 29 in Bridgeport, Conn., an 81-53 Fairfield blowout. Marist led by as many as six points midway through the first half, but let up an 18-5 run to close the half and the size of the deficit ballooned in the second.
That loss was the seventh in Marist?s string of eight straight, and was on the road, where Marist had yet to win this season at that point. Marist enters tonight on a two-game winning streak, with an 8-3 record at McCann Arena.
?We?re feeling better. We?re more confident today because we?ve won some games, but we were confident a month ago going into Fairfield,? Martin said. ?I?m just not sure if we executed in the halfcourt the way we needed to.
?Our halfcourt execution has gotten better. I think we?ve made a few adjustments in our offense.?
Not to be outdone by Marist, Fairfield had won six games in a row and eight of nine before losing at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday.
Redshirt senior forward Rakim Sanders leads the Stags in scoring (16.7 points per game), rebounding (8.1) and steals (1.5), shooting 50 percent from the floor. Junior guard Derek Needham provides 11.9 points and 3.6 assists per game and has 68 3-pointers this season.
Four Stags scored in double figures in the win over Marist, as they shot 55 percent for the game and 66 percent after halftime.
Martin, though, has seen considerable improvement in his defense during its recent hot streak.
?We?re a tougher team defensively,? said Martin. ?(It comes from) coming in every day and doing it the right way. Talking about all the little things that really matter when you?re trying to be a good defensive team. When things got tough during the month of January, we didn?t quit on that.?
Senior guard Devin Price leads Marist with 13.7 points per game and 49 3-pointers, with freshman wing Chavaughn Lewis close behind at 13.6 points per game. Sophomore center Adam Kemp provides 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Lewis recorded career-high totals for points (24), rebounds (nine) and assists (five) in Marist?s win over Maine.
?As a team, we?re feeling good,? Lewis said after the game. ?We knew eventually we?d come through with a couple wins. This is our time.?
After tonight, Marist will close the season with home dates against Siena on Thursday and Niagara Sunday, before beginning the MAAC tournament, which runs March 2-5.
?Complete focus on (Sunday?s) film session, complete focus in (Sunday?s) practice, complete focus in (today?s) shootaround,? Marist coach Chuck Martin said. ?We?re just taking it one step at a time.?
After upsetting Loyola (Md.) in Poughkeepsie and beating Maine on the road in the two games, the next step for the Red Foxes is a three-game homestand, beginning tonight against Fairfield.
The Foxes (11-16, 5-10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and Stags (16-11, 11-4) have met once this year, on Jan. 29 in Bridgeport, Conn., an 81-53 Fairfield blowout. Marist led by as many as six points midway through the first half, but let up an 18-5 run to close the half and the size of the deficit ballooned in the second.
That loss was the seventh in Marist?s string of eight straight, and was on the road, where Marist had yet to win this season at that point. Marist enters tonight on a two-game winning streak, with an 8-3 record at McCann Arena.
?We?re feeling better. We?re more confident today because we?ve won some games, but we were confident a month ago going into Fairfield,? Martin said. ?I?m just not sure if we executed in the halfcourt the way we needed to.
?Our halfcourt execution has gotten better. I think we?ve made a few adjustments in our offense.?
Not to be outdone by Marist, Fairfield had won six games in a row and eight of nine before losing at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday.
Redshirt senior forward Rakim Sanders leads the Stags in scoring (16.7 points per game), rebounding (8.1) and steals (1.5), shooting 50 percent from the floor. Junior guard Derek Needham provides 11.9 points and 3.6 assists per game and has 68 3-pointers this season.
Four Stags scored in double figures in the win over Marist, as they shot 55 percent for the game and 66 percent after halftime.
Martin, though, has seen considerable improvement in his defense during its recent hot streak.
?We?re a tougher team defensively,? said Martin. ?(It comes from) coming in every day and doing it the right way. Talking about all the little things that really matter when you?re trying to be a good defensive team. When things got tough during the month of January, we didn?t quit on that.?
Senior guard Devin Price leads Marist with 13.7 points per game and 49 3-pointers, with freshman wing Chavaughn Lewis close behind at 13.6 points per game. Sophomore center Adam Kemp provides 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Lewis recorded career-high totals for points (24), rebounds (nine) and assists (five) in Marist?s win over Maine.
?As a team, we?re feeling good,? Lewis said after the game. ?We knew eventually we?d come through with a couple wins. This is our time.?
After tonight, Marist will close the season with home dates against Siena on Thursday and Niagara Sunday, before beginning the MAAC tournament, which runs March 2-5.
