Marist shows signs of potential with big road win at Dartmouth

By Ray Curren (@rjcurren.bsky.social)

HANOVER, N.H. — It’s not John Dunne’s first rodeo in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

In fact, it’s his 20th, making him the elder statesman of the league (Rider’s Kevin Baggett is second, this season will be his 14th), so he is well aware that MAAC championships are not won in November.

But Dunne likes what he sees out of his team so far, including a fairly comprehensive 75-56 win at Dartmouth Sunday afternoon at Leede Arena.

“I think our compete level is really, really good right now considering today, a four-and-a-half hour bus ride and a day game,” Dunne said. “Dartmouth is really well coached and great with fundamentals, but we executed our game plan really well. We took their threes away and we did a good job in transition. We just have to stop fouling (Dartmouth had a 27-5 advantage in free throw attempts). There’s stuff that I’m proud of, but there’s still stuff we have to get better at.”

The Red Foxes suffered a big loss when Josh Pascarelli moved on to Colorado State, but who in the mid-major ranks hasn’t had someone jump these days? Dunne and his staff went out and added what appear to be two big pieces in guards Justin Menard and Rhyjon Blackwell.

Menard was available after the fallout of Tobin Anderson being let go at Iona settled, and Marist was happy to scoop him up. He made eight starts with the Gaels as a freshman, but struggled with consistency. Menard had just 10 points Sunday, but controlled the game through eight assists, seven rebounds, and six steals. Perhaps most importantly, he looked very comfortable running the offense.

Division II transfer Rhyjon Blackwell brings a much different story and much different game to Poughkeepsie. Blackwell is 25 years old and in his sixth college season that started in the JUCO ranks and included an injury-plagued season at McNeese State before leading USC Aiken the last two seasons. Blackwell — listed at 6-feet — brings energy and instant offense off the bench (for now, at least), and has led the Red Foxes in scoring in both games this season, scoring 16 Sunday, but lighting up Xavier in last week’s opener for 23, a game Marist led in the final minutes.

Blackwell is a student of the game, and has even written a book on his experience as a point guard in his career.

“When we lost Pascarelli, it’s a big loss for us,” Dunne said. “We knew we had to bring in some guys that could score the ball a little bit, shoot the ball certainly, and that’s where Blackwell and Menard come in. Both have a chance to be really good in our league. They, like everyone, have a lot to learn, but those are two really good additions to go along with (Jadin) Collins-Roberts and Eli (Lewis). I think we have a pretty good core there.”

We haven’t even gotten to the three returning starters (Dunne alluded to two) that helped lead Marist to 20 wins in 2024-25, its most since 2006-07, one that ended somewhat bitterly, though, with a five-game losing streak, culminating in a loss to Mount St. Mary’s in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals.

Junior Jadin Collins-Roberts is the shutdown guard and helped hold Dartmouth to just 0.77 points per possession Sunday. Dunne will have to find a way to play Menard, Blackwell, and Collins-Roberts together (none is taller than 6’3”), but Menard and Blackwell each pulling in seven rebounds Sunday is a good sign. Collins-Roberts was named captain this season by Dunne, the first time he’s had a captain since coming to Marist.

Elijah Lewis and Jaden Daughtry are both seniors and make up the slightly undersized frontcourt. Daughtry has been in Poughkeepsie for four years now (that’s possible these days?), while Lewis started all 30 games last season for Marist after transferring from Adelphi. The fifth starter Sunday was sophomore Parby Kabamba, an amazing story who came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and hopes to be better adjusted this season. Kabamba did shoot 2-for-4 from behind the arc Sunday and could be a big factor in stretching defenses to take some pressure off the guards.

Marist led wire-to-wire Sunday against a Dartmouth team that qualified for the Ivy League Tournament last season for the first time (although the Big Green was without injured point guard Connor Amundsen). The Red Foxes really turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding Dartmouth to just 21 points on just 6-for-21 from the field. 

Defense, of course, is where Dunne has had most of his success over the years. Marist was third in MAAC defensive efficiency last season (behind Merrimack and Quinnipiac) and tops in field goal defense. That will keep the Red Foxes in most games, but it’s at the other end where Dunne hopes his team can improve after ranking 11th in MAAC offensive efficiency a year ago, and it all but abandoned Marist at the end of the season, averaging just 55 points per game in that losing streak that finished the year off.

That’s where Menard and Blackwell should step in, but as we stated, it’s a long, long road to March. But it’s probably fine for Marist fans and Dunne to be cautiously optimistic for a team that was picked fifth in the conference preseason poll. 

“You always want to try to get as many wins as you can no matter what month it is, but obviously you want to be playing great basketball in March during the conference tournament,” Dunne said. “Any road win is a good win. But you’re always curious, my two centers have been hurt, they just started practicing this week, so we have some work to do at the big spot and figure out our rotations. We have a ways to go and we know that.”