Feb 17, 2002
Final Stats
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College men's basketball team dropped an 84-77 decision to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rider University, this evening at the McCann Center. The win puts Rider into first place in the MAAC with a 12-4 mark, while Marist falls into a second place tie with Niagara, at 11-5.
Rider, which led 42-32 at the intermission, opened up as large as a 15 point lead, 56-41 with 15:30 left in the game, and led by 13 points, 69-56 with 9:50 remaining in the contest. The Red Foxes scored six straight points over the next 1:42 to cut the lead to 69-72, and after a Jerry Johnson three-pointer, the Red Foxes scored nine straight to get to within one-point, 72-71, with 4:07 remaining, but could overtake the Broncs.
After a media timeout, Laurence Young connected on a three-pointer to start a 7-0 Rider run, taking a 79-71 lead. Sean Kennedy (Northport, NY) knocked down a field goal with 2:02 left, and Rick Smith (Bladensburg, MD) had a two-pointer with 1:46 left, to get within four-points, 79-75, but the Red Foxes would get no closer.
Kennedy led all scorers on the day, tallying a career-high 26 points, to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds. David Bennett (Salt Lake City, UT) scored 13 points to go along with four rebounds, while Nick Eppehimer (Pottstown, PA) and Matt Tullis (Orem, UT) each scored 10 points and had a team-high eight rebounds in the effort.
Johnson scored a career-high 24 points to lead Rider, including 5-7 from behind the line. Mario Porter led all players with 12 rebounds, and scored 15 points for his 11th double-double of the year. Robert Reed tallied 14 points and 11 boards, while Rich Baker scored 13 points in the effort.
Rider, which improves 16-9 on the year, shot 49.2 percent from the floor, and had 38 rebounds. The Red Foxes connected on 44.4 percent of their attempts from the floor, and also pulled down 38 rebounds. Rider committed just nine turnovers, while Marst had only eight turnovers.
The Red Foxes return to action on Thursday, February 21st, when they host St. Peter's, in a 7:30 pm game. Marist, 17-8 on the year, will honor its senior class of Kennedy, Tullis and Smith, prior to the contest.
