Feb. 13, 2004
Box Score
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College men's basketball team dropped a 74-67 decision to visiting Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Rider University this evening at the McCann Center. The Red Foxes fall to 5-17 overall and 3-10 in MAAC play, while the Broncs improve to 14-10 on the year and 8-5 in conference action.
Rider was on the verge of turning the game into a rout on occasion in the first half, but a spirited Red Fox effort kept the game competitive. With the Broncs leading 36-23 with 1:14 to go Carl Hood and Brandon Ellerbee responded. Hood drained a three-pointer with 1:00 to play in the first half, which was answered 18 second later by a three-pointer from Robert Taylor. Armel Minyem rebounded a missed Marist three-pointer for the Broncs with :06 left in the half, which was promptly stolen by Ellerbee, who was fouled and hit both free throws. On the ensuing inbound play, Ellerbee swiped the pass and drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the halftime deficit 39-31.
The Red Foxes opened the second half with a Hood lay-up to get to within five points, 39-34, the closest they would get the remainder of the way. Six times in the second half, including with 38 seconds to play, Marist pulled within that margin for the last time, 70-65, but could not get any closer.
Edwin Muniz led all scorers with 25 points, including a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line, six of which came in the final 49 seconds of play. Jerry Johnson scored 22 for the Broncs, who shot 46.4 percent for the game.
Hood led the Red Foxes with 17 points on 5-10 shooting from the field, and he had six rebounds. Ellerbee had 10 points, five assists and four steals for the Red Foxes. Will McClurkin had a double-double for Marist as he scored 12 points, all in the second half, and had a game-high tying 10 rebounds. Chris Handy had 10 boards and eight points, while Jared Jordan added a game-high tying five assists.
Marist returns to action on Sunday, February 15th, when it hosts Iona College in a 4:00 pm MAAC contest.
