March 7, 2003
Box Score
Trenton, NJ-The Marist College men's basketball team defeated Canisius 69-63 in a first round game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament at Sovereign bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. Marist, the sixth-seed, advances to take on the number three-seed, Siena at 9:15 pm on Saturday in a game that will be televised on the MSG Network.
A David Bennett three-pointer with 3:33 remaining in the game gave the Red Foxes a 64-55 lead. The Griffs would score the next eight points, closing to within one-point, 64-63, with 57 seconds left in the game. After a missed Marist lay-up with 34 seconds left, Griffs senior Brian Dux drove the lane with 20 seconds remaining, but the ball rolled off into the hands of Chris Handy. Handy was fouled and connected on both of his free throws with 19.1 seconds left in the game to give the Red Foxes a 66-63 advantage.
Dux brought the ball across mid-court and was driving towards the lane when Bennett stepped in front at the foul line extended and drew the offensive foul. Marist inbounded the ball to Bennett, who got fouled and hit both free throws. Nick Eppehimer hit 1-2 from the line with 3.1 seconds left in the game to give the final margin of victory.
Rookie Carl Hood scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the first half for the Red Foxes, as Marist took a 42-32 advantage into the half. The second half started slowly for both teams, with the Griffs closing to within two-points, 47-45 with 11:22 left in the contest, but Marist would never lose the lead.
Eppehimer played well for the Red Foxes as he finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling in a game-high 11 rebounds. It is the first double-double for Eppehimer since the season opener, when he had 15 points and 10 boards in a win over Colgate. Bennett, who missed the Red Foxes regular season finale with a sprained left ankle, was good for 14 points and five assists in the game. Brandon Ellerbee scored all five of his points in the second half, while dishing out a game-high seven assists.
Marist shot 38.1 percent (24-63) for the game and hit 11-14 from the free throw line, while the Griffs connected on 8-14 from the line. Canisius hit 25-56 (44.6%) from the field, and 5-15 from downtown, while Marist connected on 10-24 from behind the line. Canisius out rebounded Marist 40-34 on the day. The Red Foxes committed only eight turnovers, one in the first half, while helping to force 16 from the Griffs. The Red Foxes also blocked five shots.
Marist improves to 13-15 on the year, while Canisius falls to 10-18. The Red Foxes game against Siena is a rematch of the 2002 MAAC Tournament quarterfinal game, at Pepsi Arena, when Marist was the number two-seed, the Saints the number seven-seed, who had won a first round game the night before. Siena came away with an 82-76 win in the game, and went on to win the MAAC Tournament
