POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's basketball team won a thrilling 95-89 overtime game against Fairfield on Saturday evening at McCann Arena.
 
Freshman guard Austin Williams had a huge game off the bench, finishing with career highs of 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Junior guard David Knudsen scored a team-high 24 points.
 
Summary
 
The Red Foxes started off strong, taking a 10-0 lead and holding the Stags scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes. Fairfield closed in on Marist's lead, tying the score at 24 apiece with 6:30 left in the half. Fairfield took a six point lead, their largest lead of the half, with 3:47 left. Williams caught fire, scoring nine straight points, and Knudsen hit a buzzer beater three to give Marist a 45-37 lead at the end of the half.
 
Knudsen drained back-to-back threes to give Marist its first double-digit lead of the second half. The Stags brought Marist's lead down to five but Knudsen responded with another three to bring the score to 59-51. Senior center Connor McClenaghan had back-to-back big plays with a huge dunk followed by a big three.
 
Ferron Flavors Jr.'s three cut Marist's lead down to two with 3:36 left in the game. Tyler Nelson shot a corner three to give Fairfield an 80-79 lead with 50 seconds remaining to give the Stags their first lead of the second half. Williams hit a free throw to tie the game. Both teams missed three-pointers on their final possessions of regulation, and the game went into overtime.
 
Funk shot back-to-back threes and added two free throws to give Marist an 88-83 lead with 2:42 in the extra period. Aidas Kavaliauskas drained a three with 21 seconds left in the game to cut Marist's lead to 90-87. Funk's two shots from the line gave Marist a two-possession lead. Nelson missed the following three, sealing Marist's victory.
 
Key Stats

• Marist's bench came up clutch in the game, scoring 45 points.
• The Red Foxes shot 15-for-29 (.517) from three-point range
• Fairfield's Tyler Nelson led all scorers with 35 points.
• The Red Foxes led for 37:32 minutes and only trailed for 3:06 minutes.

 
Notes

• Williams shot 14-for-19 from the field in Marist's two games this week.
• Knudsen had a career-high six three-pointers.
• Freshman forward Lasse Gummerus had a career-high three three-pointers.
• McClenaghan had a career-high nine points.
• This was Marist's fourth overtime game of the season, its third in five conference games, and second straight. It was the Red Foxes' first overtime victory of the season.

 
Quote of the Day
"I'm really proud of my team. We've had so many close calls," head coach Mike Maker said. "I think it's fair to see that our league has a lot of parity, and a lot of balance."
 
Records
Marist is now 4-13 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC. Fairfield is 6-11 overall and 1-5 in the MAAC.
 
Up Next
Marist heads back to the road and takes on Siena on Thursday, Jan. 18 at the Times Union Center in Albany. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.