Dec. 21, 2007

Marist-Niagara Game Notes

TIP-OFF: The Marist men's basketball team plays its first game in two weeks and the third of its six consecutive games away from home when it takes on Niagara in at the Gallagher Center in Niagara University, N.Y. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.

ON THE AIR: This afternoon's game will be broadcast live on WKIP 1450 AM Poughkeepsie, with Dean Darling handling play-by-play duties and Ed Weir doing color analysis. The broadcast will also be available online at GoRedFoxes.com free of charge through Stretch Internet. The pregame show starts at 12:30 p.m. EST.

TODAY'S TOP TIDBITS: With its 91-86 overtime win at Niagara on Jan. 18, 2007, Marist is the last visiting team to win at the Gallagher Center. ... Senior Ryan Stilphen enters today's game with 966 career points. ... In four career games against Niagara, Stilphen is averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting .636 from the field. ... Marist has never won at Canisius and at Niagara in the same season. ... A win today would give the Red Foxes their fifth 2-0 start in the MAAC in their 11 years in the conference. ... Senior Ben Farmer has scored 65 of his 77 points (84.4 percent) this season after halftime.

LAST TIME OUT: The Red Foxes had their five-game winning streak snapped with an 83-68 loss to UMass at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. on Dec. 8. Red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey led Marist with 22 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.

SCOUTING NIAGARA: The Purple Eagles are 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC, with a 77-73 at St. John's in their last outing on Dec. 15. Niagara's only MAAC contest to date is an 89-77 home win over Rider on Dec. 6. Niagara's Charron Fisher enters the week second in the country in scoring at 27.4 points per game.

SERIES WITH NIAGARA: The Purple Eagles lead, 13-9. The teams have split the regular-season series each of the last three years.

ROAD TO VICTORY ... : With its 91-86 overtime win at Niagara on Jan. 18, 2007, Marist is the last visiting team to earn a victory at the Gallagher Center. Niagara has prevailed in its last 11 home games. Ironically, Niagara is also the last visiting team to win at Marist since the start of the 2006-07 season.

... DEAD END: Since joining the MAAC, Marist is 2-8 at Niagara. The Red Foxes' victories came last season and on Jan. 17, 2002, an 84-78 triumph.

LARGE GAP: The gap between the UMass game on Dec. 8 and today's contest against Niagara is the only one in which the Red Foxes will go more than a week between games in the regular season.

MILESTONE WATCH: Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Stilphen enters today's game with 966 career points. Marist has 24 1,000-point scorers in its history.

STILPHEN SHINES VS. NIAGARA: In four career games against the Purple Eagles, Ryan Stilphen is averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting .636 from the field.

MISSING: BROOMS: Marist has never won at Canisius and at Niagara in the same season.

SPLITTING THE TRIP: This year, for just the second time since joining the MAAC, Marist does not play MAAC foes Canisius and Niagara on the same road trip. The only previous time this happened was the 2001-02 season, when Marist fell to Canisius before winning at Niagara 10 days later. Marist won at Canisius on Dec. 5, and takes on NIagara today.

W = 2-0 = 5: A win today for the Red Foxes would give them their fifth 2-0 start in the MAAC in their 11 years in the conference. Marist also had 2-0 starts in the 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2006-07 seasons.

MCCROSKEY'S IMPROVEMENTS: In the three seasons he played at Syracuse, red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey shot .386 from the field, .255 from three-point range and .472 from the free-throw line while averaging 4.5 points per game. In his first seven games as a Red Fox, McCroskey is shooting .486 from the field, .500 from three-point range and .765 from the free-throw line while averaging a team-best 13.9 points per game. He has topped 20 points in two of his last three games after never having scored 20 in 96 career games at Syracuse.

MCCROSKEY ON THE BOARDS: Red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey has grabbed at least six rebounds in each of Marist's last four games, averaging 7.8 per game in that span. McCroskey had the second double-digit rebounding game of his career on Dec. 8 vs. UMass when he hauled in 11.

OPEN LATE: Senior Ben Farmer has scored 65 of his 77 points (84.4%) this season after halftime.

FEWER TURNOVERS = MORE WINS: Marist is 4-0 this season when committing 14 or fewer turnovers in a game, and 4-0 when committing fewer turnovers than the opponent.

IN CONTROL AND IN CHARGE: Point guard David Devezin has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 20-5 in his last five games.

HOME IS GOOD, ROAD IS GOOD, NEUTRAL IS BAD: The Red Foxes enter today's game with a 3-0 home record, a 3-0 road record but an 0-4 mark at neutral sites.

ANOTHER STREAK: The five-game winning streak the Red Foxes compiled prior to their loss to UMass on Dec. 8 marked the fifth time Marist has won at least five games in a row in Matt Brady's four years as head coach.

A-10 TOUR: Marist has faced three Atlantic-10 opponents this season. The Red Foxes fell to Temple (73-69, OT) on Nov. 18, downed Richmond (64-62) on Nov. 24 and suffered a loss to UMass (83-68) on Dec. 8. UMass was picked eighth in the conference's preseason poll, while Temple was chose ninth and Richmond 12th.

MOHEGAN SUN MAGIC: Marist's game against UMass on Dec. 8 at Mohegan Sun Arena marked the Red Foxes' first game in program history at that location.

100 FOR BRADY: The Dec. 5 game at Canisius was the 100th for Head Coach Matt Brady on the Marist sideline. Brady went 61-39 in first 100 games.

FOR STARTERS: By winning at Canisius on Dec. 5, Marist improved to 9-2 overall in MAAC openers. Marist has an all-time record of 96-85 in MAAC games.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!: The Dec. 1 game against Wright State marked Marist's last home game of the 2007 calendar year. The Red Foxes will not return to the McCann Center until a Jan. 7 contest against Manhattan. The 36-day stretch between home games is the longest in program history, and the six straight games the Red Foxes will play away from home in this span ties a program record.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Marist has had as many or more rebounds than the opposition in its last eight games. The Red Foxes have only been outrebounded in one game this season, a -11 margin against Miami on Nov. 15.

HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES, WE WIN: In all 10 of Marist's games this season, the team with the higher shooting percentage has won. The Red Foxes have won their last 19 games when having a higher shooting percentage than the opponent. The last time Marist lost when having a higher shooting percentage came against Wright State on Dec. 19, 2006.

DIFFERENT LEADING MEN: Through 10 games, the Red Foxes have had five different leading scorers (Spongy Benjamin, Ben Farmer, Ryan Stilphen, Louie McCroskey, Jay Gavin). Marist had just five different leading scorers all of last season (Stilphen, Shae McNamara, Jared Jordan, Will Whittington, James Smith).

ON THE DOUBLE: By having three double digit scorers against UMass on Dec. 8 (Louie McCroskey, Jay Gavin and Ryan Stilphen), the Red Foxes snapped a streak of eight straight games with two or fewer double-digit scorers.

FARMER'S LONG-RANGE PLAN: Senior Ben Farmer has hit 21 field goals this year, and 18 of them are three-pointers. Farmer is shooting .409 (18-44) on his three-point attempts, but just .200 (3-15) on two-point attempts.

MCCROSKEY'S EFFORTS: The 24 points tallied by red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey against Wright State on Dec. 1 marked a season high for any Red Fox. McCroskey shot 10-for-19 from the field, 3-for-8 from three-point range and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line. It was the first 20-point game of McCroskey's career; his previous career high was 18. McCroskey's point total was the highest by a Red Fox since Will Whittington had 31 in Marist's First Round NIT victory at Oklahoma State on March 13, 2007.

CUTTING THE TURNOVERS: Against Wright State on Dec. 1, the Red Foxes finished with a season-low seven turnovers.

LOTS OF FIRST-HALF SCORING: The 47 points totaled by the Red Foxes in the first half against Wright State on Dec. 1 marked their best first-half output since scoring 50 at Iona on Feb. 5, 2006.

RECOGNITION FOR GAVIN: Freshman guard Jay Gavin was named MAAC Co-Rookie of the Week on Nov. 26 after averaging 7.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in Marist's victories over Colgate and Richmond. On Nov. 30, Gavin was mentioned by Kyle Whelliston in a story on ESPN.com as an "impact freshman."

STREAK ENDS: Dating back to last season, Ben Farmer had hit a three-pointer in 14 consecutive games. However, that streak came to an end on Dec. 8 vs. UMass.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE AND MORE DEFENSE: The Red Foxes won at Bucknell 55-40 on Nov. 28. It was the lowest point total Marist has held a Division I team to in its history, and it was the fewest points the Red Foxes had permitted since a 69-34 win over Suffolk on Nov. 26, 1985. With 10 points, Marist's Ryan Stilphen was the contest's lone double-digit scorer.

TURNING 100: Marist red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey played the 100th game of his career at Bucknell on Nov. 28. The first 96 games of his collegiate career were at Syracuse.

OFFENSIVE BOARDING: Senior center Spongy Benjamin has 75 rebounds this season, and 31 of them have occurred on the offensive end. On Nov. 18 vs. Temple, seven of Benjamin's eight rebounds were offensive. His offensive rebound and subsequent putback against Colgate on Nov. 21 was the winning basket in Marist's 61-60 triumph.

GAVIN LIGHTS UP SCOREBOARD: Freshman guard Jay Gavin is Marist's second-leading scorer, averaging 10.2 points in just 21.2 minutes per game. In all 10 of Marist's games this season, Gavin has come off the bench. He leads the team in free throws made (27) and attempted (39), while ranking second on the team in three-pointers made (15).

HIT THEM, THEY'RE FREE: The Red Foxes might be shooting just .621 (118-for-190) from the free-throw line, but they were a perfect 15-for-15 in their 64-62 win over Richmond on Nov. 24. Meanwhile, Marist opponents are shooting .744 (131-for-176) from the line this season.

BENCH PRODUCTION: The Marist reserves have combined to score 217 of the team's 667 points this year (32.5 percent). The Red Foxes' reserves have outscored the opposition's reserves in seven of the team's 10 games.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE: Marist posted a 13-1 home record last season, and the Red Foxes are 22-2 at the McCann Center (dating back to the 2005-06 season) since new bleachers were installed behind both baskets.

WHEN IN DOUBT, SCORE 80: The Red Foxes have won 12 consecutive games in which they have scored at least 80 points.

... OR JUST KEEP THEM UNDER 70: Marist has a record of 32-4 since the beginning of the 2005-06 season when holding the opponent under 70 points.

FARMER RANKS THIRD: Senior Ben Farmer is currently in third place in program history entering this evening's game in career three-point percentage.

SPONGY & STILPHEN: Spongy Benjamin and Ryan Stilphen and now rank fifth and eighth, respectively, in program history in career field-goal percentage.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Red Foxes are 7-1 in their last eight games decided by four points or less, dating back to the 2005-06 campaign.

HEADING OUTSIDE THE U.S.: By playing three games in the ESPNU O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Marist played outside the United States for the first time in program history. The Red Foxes fell to Miami (Fla.), Houston and Temple.

SPONGY'S BLOCK PARTY: With five blocks in the first three games of the season, it did not take long for senior center Spongy Benjamin to exceed last year's total of four. Benjamin had a career-high three blocks against Houston on Nov. 16.

STILPHEN'S MILESTONES: Marist senior red-shirt forward Ryan Stilphen pulled down his 500th career rebound, recorded his 100th career assist and notched his 50th career steal against Delaware on Nov. 11. He added his 900th career point against Houston on Nov. 16.

THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN: Marist suffered a 24-point loss against Miami on Nov. 15, falling to the Hurricanes by a score of 85-61. It was the first time the Red Foxes had lost a game by more than 17 points since the outset of the 2005-06 season.

SUCCESS IN FIRST STARTS: Senior center Spongy Benjamin and red-shirt freshman guard Dejuan Goodwin each made the first start of their careers against Delaware on Nov. 11, and both ended up taking home Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference awards as a result of their performances. Benjamin set career highs in points (21), rebounds (17), blocked shots (2) and minutes (31). He was named MAAC Player of the Week. Playing in his first collegiate game, Goodwin had 13 points, four rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes. He was named MAAC Rookie of the Week.

SPURTABILITY: Marist scored 89 points in its season opener against Delaware despite not getting off to a fast offensive start. The Red Foxes did not get on the scoreboard until the 17:42 mark of the first half, and tallied just 10 points in the first 11:28 of the contest.

SUCCESS IN HOME OPENERS: With their 89-78 victory over Delaware on Nov. 11, the Red Foxes have now won nine of their last 10 home openers. This season marked the first time opened at home since the 2004-05 campaign, which was Matt Brady's first as head coach of the Red Foxes.

THAT'S A LOT TO REPLACE: The Red Foxes lost one of their most prolific classes in program history with the departure of Jared Jordan, Will Whittington, James Smith, Miles Orman and Dave Magarity, Jr. Marist also lost Gerald Carter, who transferred to Division II Southern New Hampshire. The Red Foxes lost players who accounted for 64.6% of their scoring, 47.0% of their rebounding, 74.7% of their assists and 81.7% of their made three-pointers from last season.

BUT HELP IS HERE: The Red Foxes will attempt to fill the aforementioned gaps in production with nine new faces this season, including four true freshmen, two red-shirt freshmen and three transfers.

HISTORIC STRETCH: The 44 wins Marist has posted the last two seasons is the highest total the Red Foxes have accumulated over a two-year stretch in program history.

COMBINED SUCCESS: By capturing the men's and women's MAAC regular season crowns last year, Marist became the first MAAC school to accomplish the feat since the 2002-03 season (Manhattan). Marist also set MAAC records for the men and women combined for overall victories (54) and regular-season conference victories (31).

EARNING TENURE: Head Coach Matt Brady, who is in his fourth season at Marist, is tied for second in tenure among Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference coaches. The only coach in the MAAC who has been at his current post longer is Niagara's Joe Mihalich, who is in his 10th season. Loyola's Jimmy Patsos is also in his fourth season. Five of the 10 head coaches in the conference are either in their first or second season at their respective schools.

GOING NATIONAL: The Red Foxes will play five regular season games on the ESPN family of networks. All three of Marist's games in the ESPNU O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off were televised on ESPNU, as will the Red Foxes' home game against Siena (Feb. 8, ESPNU) and road game vs. Manhattan (Feb. 15, ESPNU). Marist's two games in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden will air on MSG, and the Red Foxes will play twice on the MAAC Television Network. All Marist home games not televised regionally and nationally will air locally on Time Warner Cable 6.

MILESTONES ON AIR: This year marks the 30th for Marist radio broadcaster Ed Weir on the Marist airwaves, and 25th year of association on with the Marist program on television and/or radio for broadcaster Dean Darling.

MCCROSKEY, STILPHEN LAUDED: Red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey and red-shirt senior forward Ryan Stilphen were both selected Preseason Second Team All-MAAC.

FAST START: Starting with its Nov. 11 opener against Delaware, Marist has six games in the first 14 days of the 2007-08 season.

RED FOXES PICKED FIFTH: Marist was chosen to finish fifth in the preseason MAAC coaches' poll. Siena was selected to finish first. The Saints and Loyola, which was picked second, each received five first-place votes.

THIS YEAR'S CAPTAINS: Seniors Ben Farmer, Shae McNamara and Ryan Stilphen have been named captains for the 2007-08 season.

LAST SEASON'S SUCCESS: Last season, Marist set a program record for wins (25), won its first outright MAAC regular-season championship in program history and earned its first postseason victory in program history -- a 67-64 win at Oklahoma State in the NIT. Jared Jordan became the first Red Fox to be named MAAC Player of the Year, and Matt Brady earned MAAC Coach of the Year honors. Prior to the season-opening game against Delaware, Marist's NIT and MAAC regular-season championship banners from last season were unveiled.