Dec. 29, 2005
Final Stats
BOCA RATON, Fla.-The Marist basketball squad shot 66.7 percent in the second half, while making just one turnover on its way to an 84-75 victory over homestanding Florida Atlantic Thursday evening at the FAU Gymnasium. The Red Foxes improved to 5-4 overall with the win, while the Owls dropped to 3-6 and suffered their first defeat at home in the 2005-06 season. The win was the first victory for the Red Foxes in the state of Florida since a 73-62 victory over Miami on February 18, 1988.
The biggest lead Marist had in the first half was six points when junior sharpshooter Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) made a 3-pointer at the 14:07 mark. The Owls actually battled back in the latter stages of the first half until Whittington put the Red Foxes back into the lead with 37 seconds to play on a fast break layup. All of Whittington's heroics helped offset a torrid FAU 3-point shooting barrage in the first stanza when the Owls made 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
In the second half, Marist pushed its lead to as much as 14 with 10:15 remaining on a free throw by Whittington. The Owls closed the gap to as little as four points with 3:13 to play on three free throws by DeAndre Rice with 3:13 to play (72-68).
Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) led Marist with 20 points on 3-for-7 shooting from 3-point range, while redshirt sophomore Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Junior James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) and junior Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) also chipped in 13 points apiece, while Jordan had nine assists in 38 minutes.
The Red Foxes won the rebounding battle 32 to 27.
The Red Foxes shot a blistering 59.3 percent (32-for-54) from the field, while FAU tossed in 24-for-54 (44.4 percent). Marist also nipped the Owls in 3-point percentage, making 42.9 percent (6-for-14), while FAU made 40.6 percent (13-for-32). Florida Atlantic won the battle of the free throw line, connecting on 14-for-19 (73.7 percent), while Marist made 66.7 percent (14-for-21).
The Red Foxes will launch back into their league schedule on Thursday, January 5 when Canisius makes its first trip to the McCann Center for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The Red Foxes dropped all three meetings to the Golden Griffs last season.
