March 3, 2003
Poughkeepsie, NY - Marist College men's basketball seniors Nick Eppehimer (Pottstown, PA) and David Bennett (Salt Lake City, UT) were named to the All-MAAC Third Team. Junior women's basketball player Maureen Magarity (Wappingers Falls, NY) was named to the All-MAAC Second Team, while freshman Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, NY) was named to the Rookie Team, it was announced by the league office this afternoon.
Eppehimer, a graduate of The Hill School, led the Red Foxes in scoring at 17.0 per game, good for the seventh in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). He also ranks third in the conference in three-point field goals made per game (2.48) and fourth in free throw percentage at 86.3 percent. Eppehimer earned MAAC Player of the Week Honors on December 9th, and scored his 1,000th career point in Marist's 73-68 win over Canisius on Friday, becoming the 22nd Red Fox player to do so. He now has 1,026 points, 19th all-time in Marist men's basketball history.
Bennett, a transfer from Snow Junior College in Utah, is second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game. He also leads the Red Foxes in free throw percentage, shooting 90.8 percent from the charity stripe, good for third in the MAAC as well as the top ten in the NCAA. Bennett scored a career-high 42 points against St. Peter's on Feburary 17th on his way to earning MAAC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. He currently ranks eighth in the conference in steals (1.69) and ninth in assists (3.31).
Marist finished the regular season at 12-15, with an 8-10 record in MAAC play. The Red Foxes return to action on Friday, March 7th when they compete in the MAAC Tournament at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. Marist clinched the sixth seed, and will play ninth seed Canisius at 9:30 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports New York and the Empire Sports Network.
Magarity, a graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes High School, started 26 games for the Red Foxes this season. She leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.2 a game, is second in rebounding at 5.2, and 1.0 shots blocked per contest. For her career, Magarity is the only current Red Fox player averaging double digit scoring with 10.0 points per game.
Magarity set a career-high in points with 23 against American University, equaling the mark three more times over the current season. She also recorded her second career double-double in the win at Fairfield on December 10th, scoring 21 points and pulling in 10 rebounds.
Vilardi played in all 27 games this season, and started 12 consecutive games. She was named MAAC Rookie of the Week two consecutive weeks, starting the week of January 20th through the week of January 27th. Vilardi averages 4.6 points a game, and 2.5 boards.
Vilardi set a career-high in points with 21 and rebounds with seven in the win against Rider on January 16th. She set a career-high in assists with four in the win over Niagara at the McCann Center on January 26th, eclipsing her old mark of three.
The Red Foxes are the seventh seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament, finishing the season 12-15 overall, and posting an 8-10 record in the conference. Marist faces number eight seed Loyola on Thursday, March 6th at 2:15 p.m. at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ.
