Collins steals show as Marist breaks Niagara’s hearts

Jadin Collins’ 20 points rescued Marist and brought Red Foxes back to MAAC tournament semifinals. (Photo by Mike Ferraro/Marist Athletics)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — For most of the night, it felt like Marist was going to go down with its mercurial offense that was spiraling.

The Red Foxes had their moments throughout the game, yet the full offensive product was lacking. That was until freshman Jadin Collins singlehandedly took over the game late and ended his MAAC tournament debut with a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 7-of-7 in the second half, to break Niagara’s hearts in a 65-59 win. 

Marist’s offense had little options but to settle for mid-range looks early, especially as Niagara’s frontcourt duo of Harlan Obioha and Yaw Obeng-Mensah made their presence known early with their physical style of play. The Purple Eagles looked like they were shot out of a cannon energy-wise, and used it to their advantage by jumping out to an 11-2 start with contributions across the board. At one point, with Marist emerging on an 8-4 run to cut the deficit to six, head coach Greg Paulus called a timeout to regroup his troops. Niagara answered the bell by responding with a quick 8-0 spurt, which brought the lead to 32-18 by the 2:43 mark of the first half. 

Marist stared down a 36-24 halftime deficit thanks to a double letdown from the offense and defense. In retrospect, it amounted to a wakeup call for John Dunne’s Red Foxes. 

“In the first half, we weren’t playing our normal selfless basketball,” Dunne said. “We were trying to overplay a little bit.”

Marist’s defensive stylings were restored at the start of the second half, and it led to a 13-5 run to start the stanza. Still, just as Marist chipped away, a slew of turnovers deterred the Red Foxes from making the dent they needed to. It felt like fate was about to mark the end of the road.

That was until Collins — with some help from Max Allen and Javon Cooley — saved the day with a final 15 minutes that could end up becoming a defining point in the Red Foxes’ season.

“We thought if we could get some buckets and get a few stops, fatigue would probably kick in,” said Dunne, citing Niagara’s short rest. “Fortunately, we took advantage.”

Collins chose the right time to unearth his best exploits, authoring his latest and loudest statement yet in a successful freshman season that saw the New Jersey native arguably snubbed from the MAAC all-rookie team. He scored 10 straight points in the second half, making the Red Foxes” offense hum at its best in quite some time. 

Collins’ layup at the 5:34 mark gave Marist its first lead of the night, at 51-49. Niagara tied it up twice more before Collins delivered another blow with a layup in transition off a Niagara turnover that put Marist ahead for good. The Red Foxes hit eight free throws in the final minute to ice the final result. 

Collins was their lifeline, and was so good that Dunne couldn’t help but heap praise on his freshman, despite still focusing mostly on the totality of his team’s efforts. 

“He’s a top five freshman in this league,” Dunne said. “Sometimes the stats don’t show it, but he’s a winner. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and he’s probably in the top five that I’ve ever coached in terms of competitive spirit.”

The key for Marist is where its offense goes from here, and if it could find enough consistency to avoid digging a large deficit. Going up against a high-octane Fairfield offense Friday will challenge the Marist offense to the fullest extent. 

Dunne closed his postgame press conference with a compliment for his next opponent. 

“Offensively, Fairfield has been unselfish all year,” Dunne said. “I’m trying to get our team closer to that.”