Dec. 3, 2005

Box Score

EASTON, Pa.-Junior Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) nailed all six of his first half 3-point attempts on his way to a 25-point effort to lead the Marist men's basketball squad to a 92-84 victory over homestanding Lafayette Saturday afternoon in the Kirby Sports Center. Marist improved to 2-1 overall with the win, while the Leopards dropped to 3-4. Whittington's performance comes one year after dropping 27 points on the Leopards with a 6-for-8 3-point showing in an 83-79 victory in Poughkeepsie.

The Red Foxes shot a red-hot 59.3 percent in the first half while building an 18-point lead (42-24) at the 6:16 mark of the first half on a Whittington long-range bomb. However, Lafayette closed the first stanza on a furious 21-2 run to grab a one-point (45-44) win at the break. Lafayette's Pat Betley matched Whittington shot-for-shot in the first 20 minutes with 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting from 3-point range.

After junior James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) nailed a free throw at the 13:11 mark of the second half to tie the score at 57, the Red Foxes continued on an 8-0 run over the next 2:18 to go up 65-57 on a free throw by Whittington. Marist traded baskets the rest of the way with the Leopards to close the contest.

All five starters were in double figures for Marist and scored 89 of the 92 points tallied by the Red Foxes. Aside from Whittington, Smith and junior Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) posted 21, while senior Carl Hood (Houston, Tx.) and redshirt sophomore Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) had 10.

Stilphen led the Red Foxes in rebounds with eight, while Jordan and freshman Gerald Carter (Harlem, N.Y.) had five assists apiece. Smith also chipped in three blocks.

Betley's 25 led the way for the Leopards, while Everest Schmidt had eight rebounds. Bilal Abdullah had four assists, while Ted Detmer posted four steals.

For the game, Marist shot 31-for-55 (56.4 percent), while Lafayette went 28-for-0 (46.7). The Leopards held the edge at the line, shooting 81.8 percent (18-for-22), while Marist went 21-for-28 (75 percent). The Leopards also held a slight edge from beyond the arc with a 10-for-24 effort (41.7 percent) to Marist's 9-for-23 mark (39.1 percent).

The Red Foxes will next face 2005 NCAA Tournament squad Ohio at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday evening in the McCann Center.