Jan. 7, 2002
Box Score
Buffalo, NY - The Marist College men's basketball team rallied from a 15-point second half deficit but fell 81-80 to host Canisius in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) contest played at Koessler Athletic Center this evening. The Red Foxes led 80-78 when Toby Foster drained a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, and when Brandon Ellerbee's three-pointer went off the rim at the buzzer, making the final 81-80.
Sean Kennedy scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, helping rally the Red Foxes to a 79-76 lead with 1:09 left to play, after tying the contest 76-76, nearly two minutes earlier. The Griffs committed three fouls in the final 45 seconds, but the Red Foxes missed 3-4 from the line in that span, setting up the Foster game-winner. Marist outscored the host 52-39 in the second half, and had all nine players who played scored.
Canisius (3-8, 1-3) shot 71.4 percent (15-21) from behind the three-point line for the contest, knocking down nine in the first 20 minutes, taking a 42-28 lead into the intermission. The Rd Foxes (9-5, 3-2) opened the second half of play with a 7-1 run, closing to 43-35 at 17:57, before the Griffs answered with an 11-4 run over the next 2:57, taking a 54-39 lead with 15:00 minutes left to play. Marist closed to 11, 55-44, with 12:59 remaining, and were down 15 points, 59-44, with 11:51 remaining.
Kennedy recorded his third double-double in as many games, scoring a career-high 23 points and dishing out 11 assists. Kennedy threatened a triple-double as well, finshing with six boards and five steals in his 40 minutes of action. Matt Tullis had his first double-double of the year, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, nine points and eight boards coming in a second half which the Red Foxes shot 55.2 percent from the floor. Tullis also had three steals, two blocks and an assist. Dennis Young had a strong second half, scoring 14 of his career-high 18 points in the final 20 minutes of the contest. Ellerbee finished the game with seven points, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
The Red Foxes were outrebounded in the contest 35-32, but held a 22-14 advantage in that category in the second half rally. Marist was good from the field 48.3 percent of the time, while Canisius converted field goals at a clip of 47.3 percent.
Marist will return home on Saturday, January 12th to take on MAAC front runner Manhattan. The Red Foxes look to snap a two-game home losing streak and the longest losing streak of the year, two games, in a contest that is set to tip-off at 7:30 pm.
