Feb. 3, 2007

Final Stats |  Press Conference (Courtesy: MCTV)

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.-Marist senior guard Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) scored a game-high 23 points on six 3-pointers to lead the Red Foxes to a 71-66 victory over Loyola Saturday evening at the sold out James J. McCann Center. With the win, Marist improved to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while league-leading Loyola dropped to 13-9 overall and 9-3 in the MAAC.

Marist is now tied for second in the league with Manhattan (11-11 overall).

Senior point guard Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) was the only other Marist player in double figures with 16 points. The 6'2 guard also led Marist with seven rebounds and five assists. 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.

Marist also held a 35-29 rebounding edge in the contest.

The Greyhounds were led by Marquis Sullivan's 18 points, 16 of which were in the second half. Gerald Brown also posted 15 points, while Josko Alujevic had 12. Brown also had a game-high eight rebounds, while Brett Harvey had four assists.

The Red Foxes fell behind by as many as eight (30-22) with 3:16 remaining in the first half on a jumper by Omari Isreal. Jordan, however, hit a jumper with 30 seconds to go in the half to cut the deficit to five (33-28), which would remain the margin until the half.

It looked like Loyola would storm away with the win in the early part of the second half when the Greyhounds built a seven-point lead (41-34) with 16:56 to go on a jumper by Sullivan. However, Marist ripped off a 13-0 run over the next 4:48 to take a 47-41 lead on a layup by redshirt junior Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio).

The margin seesawed back and forth the rest of the way until Whittington put Marist up for good on a 3-pointer with 2:43 to go (63-60). The 6'3 guard followed up that shot with a huge steal from Brown with 17 seconds to play to help seal the victory as the Red Foxes connected on five of its last six free throws the rest of the way.

Loyola finished at 46 percent from the floor (23-50), while Marist went 21-50 for 42 percent. Loyola shot 36.4 percent from 3-point range (8-22), while Marist made 9-24 from 3-point range (37.5 percent).

Marist will play at Rider (12-10, 6-6 MAAC) at 7:30 p.m. Monday evening.