Feb. 17, 2007
Final Stats |
Press Conference (Courtesy: MCTV)
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.-Marist senior shooting guard Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) nailed five 3-pointers on his way to 15 points, while redshirt junior Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) and junior Wilfred Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) had 12 points apiece to lead Marist to a 63-47 win over Colgate Saturday at the James J. McCann Center in a BracketBuster matchup.
The 47 points allowed by Marist is the fewest for the program since yielding 47 to Delaware State on Nov. 19, 1999 in a 72-47 victory by the Red Foxes in the Pepsi Marist Classic.
With his five long-range shots, Whittington pulled within eight of tying Duke's Trajan Langdon and Arizona's Salim Stoudamire for 25th on the NCAA's all-time list for 3-pointers made. He currently has a school-record 334 to his credit.
Senior center James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) led Marist with 11 rebounds, while the Red Foxes won the team battle 40-26.
Senior point guard Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) led the way in the assist category with seven. Jordan, a Bob Cousy Award finalist, 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.
Colgate was powered by 10 points from Jon Simon, while Daniel Waddy had seven rebounds and three assists.
The Red Raiders pulled out to a 22-15 lead in the first half on a 3-pointer by Willie Morse with 8:22 to go. The Red Foxes fired back with a 14-1 run over the next 3:38 to surge out to a six-point lead (29-23) on a 3-pointer by Smith off a Whittington assist.
Marist put the game away with another run in the second half after Colgate closed the margin back to four (37-33) on a jumper by Kendall Chones at the 15:28 mark. Marist used a stout defensive effort to forge a 15-4 run over the next 6:10 to grab a 52-37 advantage on a Stilphen layup off a Jordan assist.
Marist shot 41.7 percent (20-48) from the field, while Colgate made just 34 percent (17-50). The Red Foxes misfired for the most of the game from 3-point range, making just seven of 25 attempts (28 percent). Colgate also struggled, connecting on just 25 percent (6-24). Marist had a second consecutive stellar outing from the charity stripe, making 16 of 19 attempts for 84.2 percent. The Red Raiders also struggled there, making just 50 percent (7-14).
Marist (12-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) will be back in action Monday at 7:30 p.m. at league foe Fairfield (12-17 overall, 9-7 MAAC).
