Senior R.J. Hall sparks Marist in win over St. Peter's in MAAC Tournament.
Marist forward Chavaughn Lewis drives on St. Peter's Brandon Hall during Friday's MAAC Tournament game at the MassMutual Center.SPRINGFIELD - With a big following - including the really big Rick Smits of Indiana Pacers fame - and a big second-half spurt, the Marist Red Foxes advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals Friday at the MassMutual Center.
Senior guard R.J. Hall came off the bench to lead the eighth-seeded Red Foxes to a 64-57 win over No. 9 St. Peter's, sending the defending MAAC tournament champions home while they move on to Saturday's quarterfinal against top-seeded Iona.
It was the third meeting of the season between the Red Foxes and the Peacocks and the third time the Red Foxes prevailed as the atmosphere was more like a home game for Marist (14-17), which brought a pep band, cheerleaders, dancers, a fanbase several hundred strong and its most famous alum in Smits.
With that kind of support on a neutral court, the Red Foxes have no fear of Iona on Saturday.
"We're in Massachusetts, it's March and anything can happen,'' Marist freshman Chavaughn Lewis said.
Referring to St. Peter's winning the MAAC championship by upsetting Fairfield and Iona last season, Marist coach Chuck Martin said "This is why it's fun to play in March.''
It took the Red Foxes a few minutes to get going, needing their defense to put a spark into the offense and get it running to a 25-21 lead on the Peacocks.
Trailing 15-13, Marist went on a 9-0, three of the four field goals set up by steals. Lewis had two of the steals which he turned into baskets at the rim, and Devin Price (14 points) had a steal and a layup as well as a three-point play to key the 22-15 lead.
St. Peter's (5-26), which scored the first six points of the game, was carried by Darius Conley (19 points, 13 rebounds) with 10 first-half points.
The Peacocks grabbed the lead in the second half as Markese Tucker scored his only points on back-to-back baskets for a 40-38 lead. After Hall scored on a drive for his first basket of the game, Lamin Fulton (12 points) hit a 3-pointer to put the Peacocks up 43-40.
But it was all Marist after that as they ran off 11 straight points including back-to-back 3-pointers by Lewis (17 points), a 3 by Price and a putback by Jay Bowie (14 points).
Hall all but finished off the Peacocks, scoring eight of his 10 points down the stretch.
"R.J. Hall did a good job of getting in the paint and they made some threes off their dribble drive,'' St. Peter's coach John Dunne said of the Marist rally.
"I'm happy for him and his family,'' Martin said of Hall, who played 13 of his 19 minutes in the second half. "He had some ups and downs in his career and he's really stepped up and played well the last few months.''