Feb. 23, 2003
Box Score
Poughkeepsie, NY - Senior David Bennett (Salt Lake City, UT) connected on a pair of free throws with :24 remaining in the game, to give Marist a 75-74 win over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Iona, at the McCann Center this evening.
The Red Foxes trailed 4-3 3:03 into the game, and then led for the remainder of the first half, by as many as eight points, 33-25 (1:49), taking a 33-29 lead into the intermission. Iona opened the second half on a 12-8 run, tying the game at 41-41 with 15:29 left, which the Red Foxes answered with an 8-0 run to take the largest lead of the half 49-41. Chris Handy (Salt Lake City, UT) hit a field goal with 4:56 left to make it 68-60, and Marist would not hit from the field the remainder of the way.
Iona took the lead for the first time in the second half, 72-71, with 1:22 remaining in the game, the first of four lead changes in the final 82 seconds. Nick Eppehimer (Pottstown, PA) connected twice with 1:01 left, which were answered by Ricky Soliver with :51 left, giving Iona a 74-73 lead, setting up Bennett's free throws. Iona had one last chance, but Handy blocked a Courtney Fields lay-up attempt into the crowd with 0.3 remaining.
There were just five missed free throws between the two teams, with Marist going 23-34, 95.8 percent, and Iona hitting 20-24, 83.8 percent in the game. Marist also held an edge in the turnover category, committing just five, two in the second half, while forcing 12 from Iona.
Eppehimer scored 20 points in his final McCann Center appearance, and closed to within 10 of 1,000 for his career. Bennett scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, including hitting 9-10 from the free throw line. Brandon Ellerbee (Plano, TX) was the other Marist player over 10 points, finishing with 13. Eric Siegrist (Poughkeepsie, NY) scored nine points and finished with a game-high six assists, as well as three rebounds. Handy had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Soliver led five Gaels into double-digits, scoring 19 points, to go along with six assists. Steve Burtt, Jr. and Marvin McCullough each had 11 points, while Steve Smith and Courtney Fields had 10 apiece. Field led all players with 12 rebounds.
Iona out shot and out rebounded the Red Foxes, connecting on 41.1 (23-56) percent from the field, and pulling in 43 boards, 14 on the offensive glass. Marist knocked down 22-58, 37.9 percent, and had 29 boards.
Marist has now beaten Iona in back-to-back games at the McCann Center, and have not lost a Senior Day game since joining the MAAC for the 1997-98 season (6-0).
The Red Foxes return to action on Friday, February 28th when they take on Canisius in Buffalo, NY. The regular season finale comes on March 2nd, at Niagara.
