Jan. 30, 2009
Box Score
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Marist men's basketball team suffered its fifth straight loss on Friday, falling to Fairfield 68-63 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference contest at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Friday. The Red Foxes held a 16-point lead in the first half, but were unable to hang on as they fell to 7-16 overall and 3-8 in conference play.
Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) led all scorers with 21 points, and also added seven rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard R.J. Hall (Bloomfield, N.J.) finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Sophomore forward Korey Bauer (Whitehall, Pa.) had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Red Foxes led wire-to-wire in the first half, and led 26-10 with 10:16 remaining until halftime. However, Fairfield closed the half by scoring five answered points in the final 1:03, giving Marist a 35-27 lead at halftime.
With 17:57 to play, a three-pointer by Schneider gave Marist a 40-29 lead. However, Fairfield answered with a 17-4 run over the next 4:28, and the Stags took their first lead on a jumper by Lyndon Jordan with 13:29 to play.
Marist took a 63-62 lead on a three-pointer by red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin (Baltimore, Md.) with 3:36 to play. However, the Red Foxes did not score the rest of the way, as the Stags closed the game by scoring the last six points.
Mike Evanovich led Fairfield with 16 points. Evanovich scored Fairfield's first 10 points of the second half as the Stags climbed their way back into the game. Greg Nero added 15 off the bench, while Yorel Hawkins and Jordan added 14 and 12, respectively. The Stags shot 66.7 percent in the second half (14-for-21) after shooting just 36.7 percent (11-for-30) in the first half.
Both teams committed just seven turnovers. The Red Foxes got to the line just five times in the contest, hitting all five of their free throws.
Fairfield improved to 13-9 overall and 6-5 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes and Stags will meet up again in Poughkeepsie on Feb. 12.
Marist will return to action on Monday, when the Red Foxes host Manhattan at the McCann Center in a game which will be televised by MSG Plus. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased online at GoRedFoxes.com and at the Marist Ticket Office at the McCann Center.
