POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's basketball team comes out of Christmas break by starting Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. On Friday night, the Red Foxes (2-10 overall) host Siena (4-9) at 7 p.m. at McCann Arena.
In the last four seasons, MAAC teams played 20 regular-season conference games, with two taking place in early December, and the remainder occurring after New Year's. This season, teams will have 18 conference games, and the early December weekend of conference games has been eliminated.
This will be the 81
st time Marist has faced Siena in its history, the most of any school. Siena leads the all-time series, 54-26, but the Red Foxes have provided plenty of highlights in games at McCann Arena over the years:
- Feb. 7, 2016 – Marist earns a 79-73 win on Super Bowl Sunday in a noon start preceded by a Super Bowl Breakfast.
- Feb. 14, 2014 – Jay Bowie's steal of an inbounds pass and subsequent three-pointer in the closing seconds give Marist a 65-64 victory.
- Feb. 24, 2007 – Before a sellout crowd and white-out, Marist wins its first outright MAAC regular season title with a 98-88 overtime victory. It was Senior Day for a class including Jared Jordan and Will Whittington.
- Feb. 27, 2000 – Sean Kennedy's half-court shot at the buzzer lifts Marist to a 70-67 victory in the regular-season finale.
- Dec. 4, 1998; Dec. 6, 2001; and Dec. 4, 2003 – Marist opens MAAC play all three years with a home win against Siena.
The last seven meetings between the teams at McCann Arena have been decided by a total of 36 points with each contest's final margin being in single digits. Siena has four of these games.
Parker Presentation
Prior to Friday night's game, junior guard
Brian Parker will be presented with a commemorative basketball for scoring his 1,000
th career point against Stetson on Dec. 9. Now with 1,060 career points, Parker is tied with Nick Eppehimer for 23
rd place in program history.
MAAC Slate
Marist will open MAAC play with three straight home games. Four of the Red Foxes' first five conference contests will take place at McCann Arena.
Scouting Siena
In their last non-conference game, the Saints defeated Holy Cross by a score of 71-65 on Friday, Dec. 22. Nico Clareth leads Siena in scoring at 16.8 points per game, and is shooting .386 from three-point range and .862 from the free-throw line. Five Saints average at least 8.0 points per game. Head coach Jimmy Pastos is in his fifth season at the helm.
Up Next
Marist will host Manhattan at McCann Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
