Poughkeepsie, NY – Stetson men's basketball coach Corey Williams looked to his bench to find a first half spark on Saturday in a 79-76 victory over Marist. In the second half, he turned to his seniors to finish the job.
 
The Hatters improved to 7-5 on the season with the win while the Red Foxes fell to 2-8 with the loss. For Stetson, it was the fourth road victory this season, surpassing the three from all of last year.
 
Junior Leo Goodman missed the first eight games of this year with a foot injury, but has been working his way back into playing shape for the last two weeks since returning to action.
 
It was a pair of Goodman three-point baskets mid-way through the opening half that ignited the Hatters on a 23-5 run over six minutes, turning a seven-point Marist lead into an 11-point Stetson advantage.
 
"It was good to see Leo come out and play like that," Williams said. "We saw a lot of that his freshman year. To have him play like that in the first half, especially coming off an injury, really kept us in the game."
 
The Red Foxes got a pair of three-pointers of their own from Ryan Funk to get back within two, but B.J. Glasford scored the final three points of the half for a 43-38 lead at intermission.
 
After surviving an early 7-1 run by Marist to open the second half, Stetson spent much of the half nursing a 10-point lead thanks to seniors Divine Myles, Angel Rivera and Glasford. Like the 8-0 Stetson run that followed that initial Marist charge, every time the Red Foxes made a run, one of those seniors made a big shot.
 
"Those guys stepped up," Williams said. "It goes back to this team going the way those seniors go. Every time they made a run, one of those guys made a big shot and that is what allowed us to keep the lead."
 
With 10 minutes to play it was Glasford with a layup and a dunk sandwiched around a Luke Doyle basket. Rivera connected on a three-pointer with 7:13 to go and Myles hit a turn-around hook in the lane and a layup in the closing minutes to preserve the victory.
 
Junior guard Brian Parker led the charge for Marist, scoring 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. The 24 points were a season high for both Parker and the Red Foxes, and moved him past the 1,000 point plateau in his career.
 
"He was so hard to guard because he was physical and he initiated a lot of contact," Williams said. "You either had to go backward or come down on him."
 
Marist came into the game shooting almost 35 percent from three-point range, but the Hatters focused on taking that away. The Red Foxes still made seven shots from beyond the arc, but it took 27 attempts to get there.
 
"We defended the three-point line better, because that is what they like to do," Williams said. "I thought we did a good job of running them off the line."
 
Glasford led the way for the Hatters with 17 points, followed by Myles with 16 and Rivera with 14. Goodman, who was the spark in the first half, finished with 11.
 
For Myles, he became just the eighth player in Stetson history, and the 40^th in ASUN history, to surpass the 1,500-point milestone for his career. The senior from Mobile now ranks 38^th in league history in scoring.

GAME NOTES

• The Hatters connected on 9-of-19 shots from three-point range and connected on 52.7 percent of their shots overall in the win. Stetson also made a marked improvement at the free throw line, hitting 12-of-19 from the stripe.
• Marist held a dominant edge on the boards, out-rebounding the Hatters 39-25.
• Stetson forced Marist into 16 turnovers in the game and converted those takeaways into a 23-8 advantage off turnovers.
• Stetson had 15 assists in the game, but only two came from Angel Rivera, who needs two more to hit the 500 mark for his career.
• The Hatters improved to 2-0 all-time against Marist on the court and to 8-8 all-time against members of the MAAC.
• The Hatters will return to action next Saturday with another road trip, this one to Fort Wayne, Ind. Stetson will take on the Mastadons (6-5), who dropped an 81-73 decision to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.