Dec. 5, 2007
Final Stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Marist men's basketball team earned its fifth consecutive victory on Wednesday, posting a 63-53 road win against Cansius in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener at the Koessler Athletic Center. Red-shirts senior guard Louie McCroskey (Bronx, N.Y.) led Marist with 13 points and tied for the team high with six rebounds, while red-shirt sophomore guard David Devezin (Houston, Texas) added 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field on his 21st birthday.
Marist (6-3 overall, 1-0 MAAC) started strong by scoring the game's first 11 points, but an ensuing scoreless streak of 6:40 enabled Canisius to tie the game. However, Canisius never took the lead, and Marist took a 28-24 advantage into halftime.
A basket by Canisius' Shaun James with 15:33 remaining tied the contest at 32 apiece. However, a three-pointer by senior Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) on the next possession gave the Red Foxes a lead they would not relinquish. Farmer's three-pointer started Marist on an 11-0 run. Canisius never got within four points the rest of the game. The Red Foxes closed the game by going 8-for-9 from the free-throw line in the final 1:25.
Senior center Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) tied McCroskey for the team high in rebounds with six. Benjamin added eight points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and also had two steals. Forwards Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) and Shae McNamara (Milwaukee, Wis.) tied for the team high with four assists apiece.
Marist shot a season-high .548 (23-for-42) from the field and .462 (6-for-13) from three-point range.
Canisius' Willie Hassell led all scorers with 14 points. Frank Turner finished with nine points, a team-high seven assists and a team-high five rebounds as the Golden Griffins fell to 0-7 overall and 0-1 in the MAAC.
The game was 100th for Matt Brady as head coach of the Red Foxes. Marist is 61-39 under Brady, including 45 wins in its last 61 games.
Marist will return to action on Saturday, as the Red Foxes will take on the University of Massachusetts at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
