Jan. 21, 2008

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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Paced by five double-digit scorers and an outstanding defensive effort, the Marist men's basketball team earned an 84-65 victory over Niagara on Monday before 2,529 fans at the McCann Center. Senior center Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) tied for Marist's team high in scoring with 14 points, and had a game-high 10 rebounds. It was Benjamin's second double-double

Making his fourth start of the season, red-shirt freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) added 12, red-shirt sophomore point guard David Devezin (Houston, Texas) had 11 to go along with five assists and four rebounds, and red-shirt senior forward Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Marist shot 50 percent from the field while limiting Niagara to just 27 percent shooting (17-for-63), and the Purple Eagles shot just 11.1 percent (3-for-27) from three-point range. The Red Foxes also held Niagara's Charron Fisher, who entered the contest as the nation's second-leading scorer, to 17 points on 4-for-21 shooting. It was the first time also season Fisher scored below 20 points in a game.

"I thought it was an outstanding defensive effort, especially in the first half," Marist Head Coach Matt Brady said. "We all did a good job defending Charron Fisher."

After Niagara jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, Marist rebounded with an 8-0 run over the next 4:03 to take a 10-4 lead. The Red Foxes never led by less than four the rest of the way. Marist closed out the first half on 12-3 run over the final 3:51 to take a 38-23 halftime advantage.

The Red Foxes never led by less than nine in the second half and were up by as much as 21. Marist closed out the game by outscoring Niagara 13-4 over the final 4:36.

In addition to the five double-digit scorers, the Red Foxes also received nine points apiece from senior swingman Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) and red-shirt junior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.). Schneider, who was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, had a season high. Marist also hit seven three-pointers and had a season-high 50 rebounds.

"We have a lot of balance on this team, and we have a great backcourt," Brady said. "We'll live and learn, and we'd rather do it with a win than a loss."

The Red Foxes improved to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. Niagara fell to 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes will return to action on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Iona.