NEW YORK — The Columbia men's basketball team dropped its home opener to a hot-shooting Marist team, 82-67, Friday night. The Red Foxes (1-1) shot 71.4-percent from the floor with eight 3-pointers in the first half and pulled away in the second half to pick up the win.
 
"We've had some good spurts in these first two games," head coach Jim Engles said after the contest. "I think both of our opponents are good shooting teams, but have shot above the analytics. We played well in the second half at Fordham and good in the first half tonight. We were hanging in with 10 minutes to go and then we couldn't score as easily as we did in the first half. We're playing good segments, but now it's about putting it together for 40 minutes."
 
Marist opened the game on a 14-4 run after a triple from Raheim Sullivan with 15:57 left in the first half. The Lions (0-2) later found a rhythm offensively and tied the game at 17-17 when Luke Bolster found Jaden Cooper open in the corner for a trey at the 12:38 mark. However, the Red Foxes ripped off the next nine points to restore their advantage and the teams went back-and-forth the rest of the way with Marist holding a 46-42 edge into the break.
 
Liam Murphy scored all of his team-high 15 points in the first frame. Offensively, Columbia hit 54.8-percent of its field goals in the opening 20 minutes, compared to just 33.3-percent in the second.
 
"We changed up some matchups in the second half, but I didn't think they had wide-open shots in the first half," Engles said of Marist's strong numbers in the period.
 
To start the second half, Columbia pulled within one after Cameron Shockley-Okeke pulled up from downtown to make it 48-47 less than two minutes into the frame. The Lions remained within striking distance at the midway point, but Marist used a 13-1 spurt to take control for good.
 
Josh Odunowo provided a nice spark off the bench, registering 14 points and grabbing six rebounds. Patrick Harding also reached double-figures with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
 
"Josh played great," Engles said. "He has done a lot of things in practice that go into winning. Since Ike Nweke went down (due to an injury), someone has to step up and Josh took advantage of the opportunity."
 
"I've never really been a guy that's focused on scoring," Odunowo said. "I focus on rebounding and bringing energy. I'm fine with that as my role. It helps my team get in the best position to win, so that's what I'm trying to do. Every game brings a new lesson. We've learned a lot of stuff and it'll only get better from here.
 
Sullivan led six Red Foxes in double-figures with 17 points. Marist finished the game shooting at a 58.7-percent clip and were 12-of-23 from 3-point range.
 
The Lions are back in action against Binghamton on Wednesday, November 17 at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting gocolumbialions.com/tickets or calling 888-LIONS-11. For venue policies at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium, click here.
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