Dec. 11, 2005

Final Stats

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.-Steve Burtt posted a game-high 28 points on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range to lead visiting Iona to a 79-76 win over Marist Sunday at the James J. McCann Center. Iona improved to 7-0 overall (2-0 MAAC), while the Red Foxes dropped to 2-4 overall (0-2 MAAC).

Neither team went up by more than five points in the first half, but the Red Foxes finished on a 5-0 run over the last 1:28 to go up 44-39 at the half.

Marist went up by as much as 10 with 18:07 to go in the game on a free throw by junior James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.). However, Iona closed back to within one at the 12:33 mark on a jumper by Burtt.

Marist would, in turn, push the lead back out to eight on two separate occasions, the second on a layup by redshirt sophomore Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) at the 9:09 mark (66-58).

The Gaels fought right back, however, and took their first lead of the half on a layup by Kiril Wachsmann at the 5:07 mark to go up by one (68-67).

After Marist fought back to take a two point lead at the 1:41 mark on a Stilphen free throw (74-72), the Gaels got a layup by Ricky Soliver and a game-clinching 3-pointer by Justin Marshall with 40 seconds to play to go up by three at 77-74. The Red Foxes had one more chance to tie when senior Carl Hood's (Houston, Tx.) 3-pointer from the top of the key fell off the left as time expired.

Wachsmann and Soliver finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Marist was led by Smith's second consecutive double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Hood, Jordan and Stilphen all recorded 13 points in support, while Jordan posted seven assists.

Soliver had four assists and three steals to lead Iona's floor game, while Marvin McCullough had six rebounds.

Perhaps the most telling stat revealed that Iona scored 27 points off Marist's 17 turnovers. The Red Foxes tallied just four on the seven Gaels' miscues.

The Red Foxes finished at 51.1 percent from the floor (24-for-47) after shooting 60.9 percent (14-for-23) in the first half. Iona finished at 42 percent (29-for-69). The Red Foxes also won the battle from beyond the arc, making 7-for-16 for 43.8 percent, while Iona made 35.7 percent (5-for-14). The Gaels entered the game tops in the league in 3-point percentage at 39.6 percent. The Red Foxes also won all the free throw percentage battle with a 21-for-27 mark from the free throw line (77.8 percent) to Iona's 69.6 percent (16-for-23).

Marist will travel to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for a showdown with St. John's at 2 p.m. The Red Storm picked up a 74-66 victory over Marist last season in Jamaica, N.Y.