Every Monday throughout the summer, we'll be highlighting some of the best championship teams throughout our history, Check back here on GoRedFoxes.com weekly!
 
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The 1986-87 Marist men's basketball team successfully defended its ECAC Metro Conference championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many years.
 
The Red Foxes were coming off their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history the year before. In the 1986-87 campaign, they played their first nine games without star junior center Rik Smits, and stood at 6-9 in late January. However, from that point forward, Marist went on a tear – one that lasted all the way until the NCAA Tournament.
 
From Jan. 22 through March 7, the Red Foxes won a school-record 14 straight games. They closed the regular season with 12 consecutive wins, and then added a pair of victories in the ECAC Metro Tournament at the McCann Center – a 59-57 triumph over Wagner in the semifinals, and a 64-55 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the championship game.
 
Smits was named ECAC Metro Conference Player of the Year, ECAC Metro All-Tournament Team, and First Team All-Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. He averaged 20.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.0 blocked shots per game while shooting .609 from the field. In one game against Wagner, he totaled 29 points, 19 rebounds, and nine blocked shots, all of which were career highs at the time. The Red Foxes went 17-4 with him in the lineup.
 
In this season, the Red Foxes had three double-digit scorers. Ron McCants followed Smits at 13.5 points per game, and was named to the conference's All-Tournament Team. Miroslav Pecarski averaged 12.4 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds game while shooting .596 from the field. Pecarski was named to the conference's Second Team and All-Tournament Team. Point guard Drafton Davis was named conference tournament MVP after averaging 6.5 points, 8.0 assists, and 5.5 steals in the team's two victories.
 
The 1986-87 season was Dave Magarity's first of 18 as head coach of the Red Foxes. The 20 wins the Red Foxes amassed marked the highest total in the program's Division I history and second-most all time at that juncture. Magarity was named ECAC Metro Conference Coach of the Year. His staff included future NBA head coach and general manager, and future Marist head coach, Jeff Bower, and future Marist Director of Athletics Tim Murray. Both Bower and Murray were in their first season at Marist.
 
One year later, Smits became the program's first NBA Draft selection when he was chosen second overall by the Indiana Pacers. He went on to enjoy a 12-year NBA career, which included a selection to the 1998 NBA All-Star Game and a trip to the 2000 NBA Finals.
 
 
Past Marist Mondays
Week One: 2008 Men's Tennis | Week Two: 2014 Women's Swimming & Diving | Week Three: 2015 Men's Lacrosse | Week Four: 1998 Women's Cross Country | Week Five: 2004 Men's Soccer | Week Six: 2013 Women's Tennis | Week Seven: 2002 Men's Rowing | Week Eight: 2011 Women's Soccer | Week Nine: 2013 Football | Week 10: 2008 Women's Lacrosse | Week 11: 2002 Baseball | Week 12: 2008 Water Polo