March 5, 2006
Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y.-Junior Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) hit for 17 points, powering the third-seeded Marist men's basketball squad to a 68-62 victory over the ninth-seeded Golden Griffins of Canisius in MAAC Tourney quarterfinal action Saturday at the Pepsi Arena. The 6'2 guard also broke his own school record for 3-pointers in a season when he connected on four to move his single-season total to 100, surpassing the 97 he hit last season.
With the win, Marist improved to 19-9 overall and advanced to the MAAC semifinals for an 8:15 p.m. Sunday game against second-seeded Iona. The Gaels knocked off seventh-seeded Niagara 80-54 earlier Saturday evening. Canisius dropped to 9-20 overall.
Junior Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) had 14 points, while junior James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) and sophomore Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) had 13 and 11 points, respectively. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) had a game-high 12 boards, while Jordan and Whittington tied for the team lead in assists with five. Jordan came into the game leading the nation with 8.7 dishes per game.
Canisius was led by Kevin Downey's 16 points and 12 points apiece from Chuck Harris and Anthony Byrd. Harris and Darnell Wilson shared the team lead in rebounds with 10, while Harris had three assists.
Canisius held the slight rebounding advantage (35-34) when the final horn sounded.
Marist got out of the gate quickly, building a 7-0 lead before the Golden Griffins' came back to tie the score at 9 on a 3-pointer by Bret Wackerly at the 11:33 mark. The Red Foxes then answered with a 14-1 run of their own to go up 23-10 at the 6:20 mark on a free throw by junior James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.).
Smith led all scorers in the first half with 11 points, while Stilphen had eight rebounds. Jordan had four first half assists. The Golden Griffins were led in the first half by six points apiece from Harris and Jon Popofski. Harris also led Canisius with four first half rebounds.
Marist held a 21-12 edge on the boards in the first half, while shooting a blistering 53.6 percent (15-for-28) from the field. Canisius checked in with a 35.7 clip (10-for-28) from the floor. Neither team excelled from the free throw line, as the two squads combined for a 2-for-9 performance.
The Red Foxes did most of their damage in the first stanza close to the hoop, netting 20 points in the paint to the Golden Griffins' 10.
Marist kept Canisius at bay for the most part in the second half, pushing the lead back out to as many as 12 (40-28) at the 16:20 mark on a 3-pointer by Stilphen, just his third long range shot of the season. However, the closest the Golden Griffins got the rest of the way was three (46-43) on a dunk by Anthony Byrd with 9:56 to play. The Red Foxes closed out the game by converting their free throw opportunities down the stretch, atoning for earlier miscues at the line.
Of Marist's nine field goals in the second half, eight were 3-pointers. The Red Foxes also improved to 16-4 when they lead at the half this season and a perfect 19-0 when they hold the advantage with five minutes to play.
For the game, Marist finished at 49 percent (24-for-49), while Canisius shot 39.3 percent (24-for-61) from the floor. The Red Foxes also held the advantage from 3-point range (11-for-24, 45.8 percent), while Canisius went 5-for-17 for 29.4 percent. Marist hit 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from the line, while Canisius hit 64.3 percent (9-for-14).
