ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – The 11^th-seeded Marist men's basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the BuyB1 Hercules Tires MAAC Championships. The Red Foxes led wire-to-wire as they defeated third-seeded Quinnipiac, 75-59, on Thursday night in the quarterfinals.
 

Summary

• Marist scored the game's first five points and held Quinnipiac scoreless for the first 4:25.
• Quinnipiac got within one with 9:52 remaining on a jumper by Matt Balanc. The Red Foxes countered with back-to-back threes by Isaiah Brickner and Javon Cooley.
• After a Balanc three brought Quinnipiac to within three at the 5:32 mark, Tyler Saint-Furcy scored four straight points to put Marist back up seven.
• Luis Kortright's jumper with 1:39 left in the first half again brought the Bobcats within three, but Marist closed the half with five straight points. Patrick Gardner drained a three, and Brickner hit a pair of free throws as Marist led 35-27 after 20 minutes.
• Quinnipiac got to within seven twice in the first four minutes of the second half, but came no closer.
• An 8-0 run by the Red Foxes, punctuated by back-to-back threes from Brickner, gave them a 47-32 lead at the 14:25 mark.
• Another 8-0 run, which included another Brickner three and five straight points from Gardner, gave Marist its first 20-point advantage with 10:03 left.
• A 7-0 run gave Marist its largest lead at 24 with 6:08 left. The run included five straight points from Trace Salton and a layup from Gardner.

 

Stats

• Gardner led all scorers with 22 points, had a game-high five blocked shots, and tied Cooley for the game high with nine rebounds.
• Brickner finished with 21 points, six rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and two steals. He shot 6-for-7 from the field, 5-for-6 from three-point range, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
• Dezi Jones led Quinnipiac with 14.
• Marist held Quinnipiac to .338 (22-for-65) shooting from the field and .259 (7-for-27) shooting from three-point range.

 

Notes

• Brickner set career highs for points, three-pointers, and blocked shots.
• Gardner set a season high for blocked shots, and topped 20 points for the third straight game and 14^th time this season.
• Tyler Saint-Furcy set a season high with 10 points.
• Noah Harris tied a season high with five rebounds.
• Marist head coach John Dunne has now won seven games as a lower seed in the MAAC Championships, the most of any coach in conference history.
• Marist has advanced to the MAAC semifinals for the first time since 2008.
• Marist has won two games in the MAAC Championships for the first time in conference history.
• Marist became the second #11 seed to reach the MAAC semifinals in conference history, and it is also the second straight year this has occurred.

 

Summary

• Marist (12-19) will face 10th-seeded Saint Peter's (14-17) in the MAAC semifinals on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
• The game will be televised on ESPNEWS with Steve Lenox and Tim Welsh on the call. Coverage on the Red Fox Network and Varsity Network app will begin at 8:15 with Dean Darling and Steve Eggink on the call.