Feb. 7, 2010
Box Score | Press Conference
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Marist fell 56-51 to visiting Iona in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game on Sunday at the McCann Center on the Marist campus. Freshman Candin Rusin (Surf City, N.C.) led the Red Foxes with a career-high 17 points.
Rusin was 6-13 from the field, including 3-6 from 3-point range. He added four rebounds and two steals in the loss, which was Marist's second to Iona in 11 days.
Iona never trailed, starting the game on an 8-0 run before Marist got on the board with junior Korey Bauer's (Whitehall, Pa.) two free throws with 14:54 remaining in the first half. The Gaels held the Red Foxes without a field goal until Marist broke through at the 9:32 mark. Trailing 17-4, red-shirt junior Dejuan Goodwin (Baltimore, Md.) came off the bench to score Marist's first field goal of the game. His jumper sparked a 10-0 Marist run that included both a 3-pointer and a three-point play from Rusin.
A three-pointer by red-shirt junior Daye Kaba (Cergy, France) capped the 17-6 run and pulled Marist to within 23-21 with 6:14 left in the half. After Iona briefly extended its lead to five, freshman Devin Price (Inglewood, Calif.) hit a three-pointer cut the lead to 27-26 before Kaba tied the game at 28-28 on a jumper with 3:21 remaining. Iona carried a 31-28 lead into halftime on Jonathan Huffman's three with just over a minute to go in the first half.
The Gaels extended their lead to 36-28 to begin the second half before Rusin hit back-to-back threes to pull Marist within two. His jumper at the 16:17 mark made it 38-36, but that was as close as the Red Foxes would get the rest of the way. Iona's lead reached as high as 50-43 with 6:23 remaining before Marist cut it to two with 3:12 left in the half.
Kaba was the only other Marist player in double figures, scoring 10 points and tallying rebounds rebounds. Bauer picked up 10 rebounds, one short of his career high.
Scott Machado led the Gaels with 17 points and also had three assists. Alejo Rodriguez added nine points to go with 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Marist shot just 36.2% (17-47) from the field and 56.3% (9-16) from the free-throw line, while Iona shot 39.1% (18-46) and 78.9% (15-19) respectively. The Red Foxes shot 44.4% (8-18) from 3-point range while Iona only shot 26.3% (5-19).
The loss is Marist's 12th consecutive defeat. The Red Foxes are now 1-23 overall and 1-13 in MAAC play. The win improved the Gaels to 17-7 on the season and 10-4 in the MAAC.
The Red Foxes will make their annual trip to Western New York next Friday, Feb. 12 to take on Canisius in Buffalo. The tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. Marist will conclude the trip on Sunday at Niagara.
