Feb. 5, 2007
Final Stats
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.-Marist senior guard Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) scored a career-high 32 points in leading the Red Foxes to a 79-78 victory over Rider Monday evening at Alumni Gymnasium, fending off a furious rally by the Broncs. Marist improved to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while the Broncs dropped to 12-11 and 6-7 in the league. Whittington also tied the school record for 3-pointers in a game with eight for the fourth time in his career.
With the victory, Marist pulled into a tie atop the MAAC standings with Loyola (13-10 overall, 9-4 MAAC) after the Greyhounds surrendered a 13-0 run over the last 3:33 of their 65-62 loss at Fairfield (10-15 overall, 8-5 MAAC). The Red Foxes host Fairfield Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the McCann Center. Season, single-game and group tickets are on sale now at GoRedFoxes.com, the McCann Center ticket office and by phone at (845) 575-3553. All Marist faculty and staff receive a 20% discount on men's and women's basketball season tickets!
Backcourt mate Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) also posted 18 points, five rebounds and eight 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.
Senior center James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) finished with 11 points, while junior forward Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) had a team-high eight rebounds and four steals.
Rider was led by Jason Thompson's 22 points, while his brother Ryan Thompson had 16 points, Harris Mansell had 14 and Terrance Mouton had 12. Mansell's eight boards also led the way for the Broncs, while Lamar Johnson posted four assists and Ryan Thompson had four steals.
Marist outrebounded the Broncs 38-33, but Rider held a 23-6 edge in bench scoring.
The Red Foxes gradually pulled away in the first half, building a 13-point (42-29) lead with 41 seconds to go on Whittington's sixth three of the game. However, Jason Thompson's layup pulled Rider two points closer for the halftime margin of 11 points.
Marist tried valiantly to put the game out of reach in the second half, taking a lead of 15 points on four separate occasions, the last one coming at the 7:57 mark (66-51) on a layup by Jordan.
However, Rider screamed out on an 18-5 run over the next 5:04 to pull to within two on a 3-pointer by Mouton.
After Marist got another five points from Jordan and a pair of free throws from Farmer to go up seven (78-71) with 59 seconds left, Rider closed the gap again down the stretch. Eventually, Mouton hit a meaningless 3-pointer with one second left for the final margin.
Marist made 48.3 percent (28-58) of its field goals, while Rider hit 49.2 percent (32-65). Marist bombarded the Broncs with a 50 percent clip from the 3-point line (16-32), while Rider made 10 of 24 attempts (41.7 percent). Neither team shot it well from the free throw line, as Marist made 46.7 percent (7-15) and Rider connected on 57.1 percent (4-7).
