POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Five players scored in double-figures, but Marist outgunned the Columbia men's basketball team, 82-76, in the Lions' season opener Saturday night. Mike Smith led the way with 23 points, tied a career-high with eight assists, and added four rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes of action.
Ike Nweke chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds in his collegiate debut. Randy Brumant tied a personal-best with 11 points and pulled down six boards.
"Marist is a solid team and they're hard to play against," head coach Jim Engles said after the game. "I was really happy with our fight. Obviously, there's some things we need to work on. We gave up too many three's in the second half. We just need to stay a little more patient in our offense. I thought the effort from our guys was terrific though."
Four quick turnovers plagued Columbia out of the gate and the Red Foxes (1-1) caught fire from long-range, draining four 3-pointers during a 16-2 run to go in front 21-8 with 12:20 left in the first half. From there, the Lions limited the miscues and answered with a 13-2 spurt, capped by a Brumant dunk in transition to make it a two-point game with 7:57 before the half.
Marist rattled off the next six points to bring the advantage up to 29-21 just under two minutes later and went up by as many as 11 before Columbia mounted another rally. The Lions attacked the rim and knocked down 5-of-6 from the line and Quinton Adlesh hit Brumant underneath for an easy bucket to cut the deficit to 38-35 with 42 seconds remaining. A Red Fox turnover gave Columbia on last possession to try and get even closer, but an offensive foul was called while the Lions were playing for the last shot to keep Marist in front by three at intermission.
Smith had a hand in the Lions' first 10 points of the second half, scoring eight and then assisting on a mid-range jumper from Adlesh to tie the game at 45-45 with 14:41 on the clock. Just like the first half, the Red Foxes responded with back-to-back baskets to remain in front.
Columbia remained within striking distance after a Smith 3-point play made it 59-53 at the 7:52 mark before the teams combined to knock down their next six shots from downtown. With the Lions still down by eight with under five minutes to play, Marist used a 7-2 mini-run to provide more cushion despite going just 8-of-16 from the free throw line in the final period.
Brian Parker paced the Red Foxes with 21 points and six rebounds. For the game, Marist shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
Columbia was just 1-of-5 from 3-point range in the first half, but finished with seven trifectas on the night.
The Lions are back in action Friday, November 17 when they open up the Johnny Bach Classic, hosted by Fordham, against Youngstown State. Tip-off in the Bronx is slated for 8:30 p.m.
