Jan. 9, 2007
Final Stats |
Quotes
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.-Marist senior guards Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) and Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) put forth a sterling effort to power the homestanding Red Foxes to an 87-65 wire-to-wire victory over Iona Tuesday evening in the McCann Center. Marist improved to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while the Gaels dropped to 0-14 overall and 0-4 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes also moved to 7-0 at home this season.
The 22-point defeat was the largest margin of victory for Marist in the series. It was also the second-largest margin of victory in head coach Matt Brady's career, falling just one point shy of the 89-66 victory at Rider on Jan. 16, 2006.
Whittington led the way with 21 points on 6-12 shooting from the field and 5-11 from 3-point range. He entered the game fifth in the nation at 3.8 3-pointers per contest. Jordan finished with 13 points and team-highs in assists (11) and rebounds (8), while senior center James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) had 13 points as well.
Marist is also 5-0 this season when Whittington scores at least 20 points. Jordan is bidding to become the first player in Division I history since Southern University's Avery Johnson to lead the nation in assists twice. Johnson averaged 10.74 during the 1986-87 season and 13.3 the following season.
Anthony Bruin led Iona with a game-high 22 points, while Mike Harris had 16 and Devon Clarke had 11. Bruin also powered the Gaels on the glass with eight rebounds, but Iona lost the team battle on the boards 47-24.
Marist buried Iona in the game's first six minutes, 15 seconds when the Red Foxes raced out to a 17-0 lead. The Red Foxes continued to hold a commanding lead throughout the rest of the first half, building it to as much as 23 (32-9) on a free throw by sophomore Gerald Carter (Harlem, N.Y.) with 6:14 remaining. However, Iona battled back with a 17-8 run over the balance of the half to pull within 14 (40-26) at the half.
The Gaels continued to chip away at the Marist advantage and actually pulled to within single digits on a 3-pointer by Milan Prodanovic with 16:25 remaining to make the score 44-35 Marist. The run would be short-lived, however, as the Red Foxes responded with a 3-pointer by Whittington and layups by Jordan, Smith and redshirt junior Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) to force a 30-second timeout by the Gaels.
Marist shot an even 50 percent (31-62) for the game, while Iona made 44.4 percent (24-54 of its field goals. The Red Foxes also made 10 of 25 3-point attempts (40 percent), while holding Iona to just 17.6 percent (3-17). Finally, Marist made 75 percent (15-20) of its free throws, while the Gaels put in just 50 percent (14-28) of theirs.
Marist will face Siena (8-6 overall, 4-1 MAAC) Monday at the Times Union Center in Albany. The Red Foxes swept the two games in the series last season.
