Nov. 29, 2008
Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist men's basketball team earned its first home victory on Saturday, earning a 63-61 triumph over New Hampshire on Saturday. Red-shirt junior point guard David Devezin (Houston, Texas) scored a team-high 19 points for Marist, which led by as many as 19 in the second half.
Red-shirt sophomore forward Lawrence Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.), who shot 5-for-6 from the field, finished with a career-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) scored eight points and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds. As a team, the Red Foxes shot .524 (22-for-42) for the game, including .591 (13-for-22) in the first half.
After New Hampshire's Eric Gilchrese opened the scoring with a three-pointer 1:54 into the contest, the Red Foxes tied the score at the 17:00 mark on a three-pointer by Schneider. A layup by Williams at the 16:28 mark gave the Red Foxes a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the contest.
A 9-3 Marist spurt late in the first half, which culminated in a basket by Devezin with 53 seconds left in the period, gave the Red Foxes their largest lead of the opening 20 minutes at 33-22. However, New Hampshire scored five points in the final 41 seconds, including a three-pointer by Colbey Santos at the buzzer, to close the Marist lead to 33-27 at the intermission. Williams and Devezin scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Red Foxes in the first half while holding the Wildcats to a 26.5 percent shooting (9-for-34).
New Hampshire opened the scoring in the second half on a basket by Tyrone Conley, which cut the Marist lead to 33-29. A basket by Devezin with 16:45 to go started the Red Foxes on a 16-4 run, which enabled them to take a game-high lead of 19 points at 54-35 with 12:21 remaining.
However, the Wildcats mounted a furious rally, as the Red Foxes converted just one field goal in the final 12:21. New Hampshire cut the deficit to two with 40 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Alvin Abreu. On Marist's ensuing possession, Devezin slipped and lost the ball. Abreu came up with the steal, but Tyrece Gibbs was unable to convert a layup which would have tied the score. Schneider then drained two free throws to give Marist a 62-58 lead with 12 seconds to play, but Abreu answered with a three to make it 62-61 with four seconds remaining. Schneider then split a pair of free throws, and the Wildcats were unable to hit a desperation three-point attempt as time expired.
Abreu led all scorers with 22 points, and he was the only Wildcat to score in double digits. Conley had nine points and six rebounds, and Dane DilLiegro tallied eight points and nine rebounds. The Red Foxes held the Wildcats to just 15.4 percent shooting (4-for-26) from three-point range.
Marist improved to 2-3; New Hampshire fell to 1-3.
The Red Foxes will return to action on Tuesday, when they face #18/#17 Memphis at 8 p.m. EST. Head Coach Chuck Martin will return to the school where he served the last two seasons as an assistant coach before getting the job at Marist.
