Feb. 21, 2002
Final Stats
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College men's basketball team earned the second seed in the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament with an 89-61 defeat of visiting St. Peter's College, this evening at the McCann Center. Marist senior Sean Kennedy (Northport, NY) dished out 17 assists, breaking the single game record of Drafton Davis, set during the 1985-86 season.
Marist, which improves to 18-8 on the year and 12-5 in the MAAC, never trailed in a game in which Kennedy put up his ninth double-double of the season, as he scored 11 points in the game. Fellow senior Rick Smith (Bladensburg, MD) drained a three-pointer from the left wing with 3:59 remaining in the contest, to give Kennedy the record breaking assist. Smith led all scorers with a 19-point effort, moving to 1,055 points for his collegiate career, 16th all-time.
Marist opened a 9-0 lead 3:12 into the game, and would never lead by less than four points for the remainder of the game, opening a 16-point, 30-14, lead with 6:06 left in the first half. After taking a 38-22 lead into intermission, Marist extended the lead to 26 points, 63-37 with 10:40 left, and only allowed the Peacocks to close to within 15 points, 65-50, with 7:16 left to play.
Senior Matt Tullis (Orem, UT) nearly had a triple-double as he scored 14 points and had a game-high nine rebounds in the effort. David Bennett (Salt Lake City, UT) connected on three three-pointer on his way to a 15-poin scoring effort, while Dennis Young (Warrenton, GA) scored 10 points and had six boards in 19 minutes off of the bench.
Kennedy also had six rebounds in the record setting performance. In his 36 minutes of action he had just one turnover, while recording two steals.
St. Peter's, which falls to 4-22 overall and 3-14 in the MAAC, was led by the 15-point efforts of Corien John and Kamaal McQueen. John also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Marist shot 47.4 percent from the floor, connecting on 36 field goals. Behind the 17 Kennedy assists, Marist had 29 assists, a seaosn0-high total. St. Peter's shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the second half, 40 percent for the game. The Red Foxes out rebounded the Peacocks 45-34.
The game marked the final home game for the senior class of Kennedy, Smith and Tullis. The trio was honored prior to the game, all receiving standing ovations from the crowd of 2,341.
Marist will close out the regular season on Saturday, February 23rd, when it travels to Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY for an 8:00 pm game against Siena. The Red Foxes begin tournament play a week later, tipping off in the 7:00 pm game, against a yet to be determined opponent.
