Dec. 3, 2009

Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Marist men's basketball team suffered a 70-61 loss to Fairfield in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener on Thursday at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Red-shirt junior guard Dejuan Goodwin (Baltimore, Md.) led the Red Foxes with a season-high 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, 2-for-5 shooting from three-point range and a 4-for-5 performance from the free-throw line.

Freshman forward Rob Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) and freshman guard Candon Rusin (Surf City, N.C.) added 13 and 11 points, respectively. Both hit three three-pointers.

After there were two ties and two lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the game, Fairfield took a 29-21 lead with 3:52 remaining on the first half on a jump shot by Yorel Hawkins. The Red Foxes held the Stags scoreless for the remainder of the half, and a basket by red-shirt freshman Dorvell Carter (Bronx, N.Y.) cut the deficit to four, as Fairfield took a 29-25 lead into halftime.

With 14:04 to play, a three-pointer by Carter tied the score at 38 apiece. A three-pointer by Rusin gave Marist a 45-44 lead with 8:07 remaining, but Fairfield's Derek Needham answered with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession just 12 second later which gave the Stags the lead for good. Needham's three-pointer started Fairfield on a 13-1 run, which gave his team an 11-point lead with 3:48 to play. Marist cut the deficit to seven on two occasions with under a minute to play, but would draw no closer.

Anthony Johnson led Fairfield (5-2 overall, 1-0 MAAC) with 15 points and added a game-high seven rebounds. Needham finished with 14 points, seven assists , three rebounds and two steals, and Hawkins finished with 14 points with five rebounds.

Fairfield shot .471 (24-for-51) from the field, as compared to .438 (21-for-48) for Marist. The Red Foxes drained a season-high 10 three-pointers in 24 attempts (.417).

Marist (0-5, 0-1) will return to action on Sunday, when the Red Foxes travel to Rider for a MAAC contest. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.