Jan. 26, 2002
Final Stats
Poughkeepsie, NY --The Marist College men's basketball team (13-6, 7-3 MAAC) defeated the Fairfield University Stags (6-11, 5-5 MAAC) this evening, 93 - 84, at the McCann Center on the campus of Marist College. Dennis Young (Warrenton, GA) led four Marist starters in double-digits, with a career-high 20 points, and pulling down a team-best 10 boards, tying his career-high, for the second double-double of his career.
Rick Smith (Bladensburg, MD) also tallied 20 points on the evening for the Red Foxes, while adding six boards and three steals. Sean Kennedy (Northport, NY) and Nick Eppehimer (Pottstown, PA) both contributed 14 points. Kennedy dished out seven assists and had three steals in the game. All eight Red Foxes who played saw 13 or more minutes, all scoring five or more points, and all contributing at least one assist in the victory.
The Red Foxes, who never trailed, took command of the game early as Steve Castleberry (Mantua, NJ) scored seven of his career-high tying nine points in the first 3:50 of the contest, as he made his first career start. The Red Foxes stretched the lead to 20 points, 53-33 with 1:53 left in the first half. Marist led 54-35 at the intermission as Smith knocked down one of two free throws resulting from a bench technical on Fairfield.
Marist expanded the lead during the opening portions of the second half, taking a game-high 26-point edge, 75-49, with 10:31 remaining in the contest. Fairfield chipped away at the Red Fox lead, cutting the deficit to just five points, , 89-84, with 56 second remaining. The Red Foxes would not allow the Stags another point for the remainder of the contest, while converting 4-6 free throw for the final margin.
Sam Spann led Fairfield with 21 points. Three other Stags scored in double digits. Nick Delfico scored 17 points, Kudjo Sogadzi scored 15, and Rob Thomson netted 12. Ajou Deng led all rebounders, pulling down 14.
The game contained 51 combined fouls, with each team going to the line more than 30 time, with Marist knocking down 29-39, 74.4 percent, and Fairfield connecting on 24-31, 77.4 percent. Marist committed just 1 2 turnovers in the game, compared to the 19 of Fairfield. The Stags held a commanding edge on the glass, leading 41-32 in that category.
The win, coupled with a Siena loss to Niagara, puts the Red Foxes in sole possesion of first place in the MAAC. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 2,875, the first sellout of the 2001-02 season for the Red Foxes.
Marist is next in action when they take on the Greyhounds of Loyola College, at 7:30 on Wednesday, January 30th, at the McCann Center.
