Marist Crushed

It was hard to believe that Friday's Red Fox team was the same one we have seen all season. But this was no case of mistaken identity, as the Red Foxes got crushed against a Manhattan team that was 3-11 this season in the MAAC. The 83-62 beat down was the worst conference loss and perhaps the worst timed loss of the season. As the Red Foxes are battling to stay at the top tier of the conference with only 3 games and an ESPNU Bracketbuster game left, every game is vital at this point.

The good news is that over the weekend both Rider and Siena lost, leaving room for the Red Foxes who are 2 games back, to make a late season run.

A source close to the team said that the feeling inside Coach Brady's locker room is that the Red Foxes have to win out to have any chance this March in the MAAC Tournament. If the Red Foxes win out, they have a good chance of finishing in the top 3 of the conference, which the source said is "a must" to avoid playing one of the tougher teams in the first round.

The Red Foxes play Fairfield tonight.

This is an article on the game from Saturday's
New York Daily News...

Manhattan blasts Marist

By SEAN BRENNAN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Saturday, February 16th 2008, 4:00 AM

There wasn't a lot to gain for Manhattan heading into Friday night's MAAC contest with Marist, at least as far as their standing in the conference.

With eighth place all but locked up, meaning no first-round bye in the MAAC tournament next month in Albany, the Jaspers were looking for more intangible benefits. A boost in confidence, erasing the memory of an ugly January and a renewed sense that they, despite their 3-11 conference mark, could actually play with the more gifted teams in the conference.

Friday night Manhattan achieved all those goals as Darryl Crawford poured in a career-high 24 points off the bench and freshman guard Chris Smith posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as Manhattan surprised Marist, 83-62, Friday night before a crowd 1,734 at Draddy Gym.

The win gives Manhattan (10-15, 4-11 in MAAC) more wins this month (the Jaspers are 2-2) than in the entire forgettable month of January, when the Jaspers limped to a 1-8 finish.

But with Denver Nuggets star J.R. Smith in the stands - he's the older brother of Manhattan's Chris Smith - the Jaspers jumped on the Red Foxes (15-11, 9-6) early in the second half and what was once a 35-31 Manhattan lead at halftime quickly grew into a 60-39 Jaspers lead with 9:21 to play.

It was a surge by the Jaspers that didn't exactly surprise Marist coach Matt Brady.

"I felt this coming," Brady said. "Manhattan clearly outplayed us and we put ourselves in a big hole. We had a hard time defending them. (Draddy Gym) is a difficult place for us to play."

But despite the sizable hole the Red Foxes found themselves in, they were down but not out. In fact, they staged a furious rally over a four-minute span as they outscored Manhattan, 17-3, to pull within 63-56 with 5:12 to play. It was a reminder to the Jaspers of their game last week when they let a 12-point second half lead against Fairfield evaporate in a game Manhattan ended up losing, 66-61.

"Once we were in the huddle, coach (Barry Rohrssen) reminded us of last week's game," said Crawford, who hit 7-of-10 from the field and 9-of-14 from the foul line. "He told us to just keep going hard and to buckle down on defense."

Which the Jaspers did, allowing Marist to score just six points in the final 5:00 while Manhattan posted 20 - including nine from Crawford - to turn what had become a nail-biter into a laugher.

"We just had to come from too far back," Brady said.

Rohrssen said it was the way the Jaspers dug in when Marist made its run that he was most impressed with.

"We brought up in the locker room about playing a 40-minute game," Rohrssen said. "We also brought up in a huddle that just one week ago in the Fairfield game we were up a dozen points (and lost). We need to grow as a team and we need to learn as a team. We asked them in the huddle 'How much did you learn in one week and how much did we grow in one week?"

Enough, it turned out, to topple a solid Marist team.

For Smith, having his NBA-star brother on hand added to the Jaspers huge win last night.

"It was crazy," Smith said. "Before the game he said score a lot of points. But I said, 'No, I just going to do what I do every game: get my teammates involved and hit the backboards."

It's the kind of win the Jaspers say can pay big dividends in the confidence department as the regular season winds down and with the MAAC tournament on the horizon.

"This is a big confidence booster," said Smith, who also logged three steals in the win. "We struggled some earlier this year but now I think we're starting to jell."

Over and Out

Two weeks, three big games, and zero wins to show. That was the story last night at McCann as the Marist Red Foxes suffered a devastating overtime loss to arch rival Siena on ESPNU. The loss was the Foxes 3rd straight (Rider, Siena, Siena) dropping them into a 4th place tie in the MAAC standings.

The Red Foxes failed to take advantage of the key part of their schedule, they began the stretch in first place and after the loss Friday, find themselves in the middle of the conference. Now at 8-5, they will have to battle through the remaining games of MAAC play to get at least the 4th seed for the tournament (I say at least because that is what they'll need to have any chance in March).

However, they HAVE been playing extremely hard and extremely well against heavily talented teams and last night's game was by far the Foxes most exciting game since they knocked off the Saints last year in Overtime Thriller Part I.

A raucous, whiteout, sellout crowd saw six ties and six lead changes at McCann, where the energy is like no other in the MAAC. The Red Foxes charged a thunderous comeback, trailing at one point 25-12 and cutting the deficit to 4 before the end of the first.

In the second, Marist could not hold on to a 7 point lead and guard Kenny Hasbrouck killed the Red Foxes down the stretch. With his game high 35 points, Hasbrouck had the game-tying bucket in the final seconds and stole the ball from Jay Gavin with 2.2 left to send it into OT. In the extra period, Hasbrouck led the way with two dagger 3's as the Saints outlasted Marist 97-88.

The crowd was electric and deafening the entire game and the 'McCann Crazys' were tough on Siena players. "There was a lot of energy," Hasbrouck told the Poughkeepsie Journal. "The fans were talking a lot."

But Hasbrouck and the Saints got the final say as Siena won for only the second time in 9 years at McCann.

The Red Foxes have come a long way since the start of the season and as of late, have been going toe-to-toe with better teams (Rider, Siena). The growth is surprising considering how young their guards are. However, while Goodwin and Gavin have played well and really helped the Foxes the last couple weeks, their turnovers have also killed them.

Last night the two had a combined 7 turnovers.....the entire Siena team only had 8 for the game. The Red Foxes for the game had 18 ... that was your ballgame, that was the difference.

"The turnovers are bizarre to me," Brady told the Poughkeepsie Journal. It's an Achilles heel with this group. I'll give you my e-mail address, if you have an answer for it, hit me up."

Overmatched Against Rider

The Red Foxes knew that it would be a very difficult game going into Wednesday's match-up against first place Rider, who is ranked 25th in Mid-Majors.... and that was before the news broke that big man Spongy Benjamin would be out with the flu. A depleted Red Fox team struggled to keep up with Rider in what would be a 79-65 pounding at McCann, thier first home loss of the season.

Without Spongy to counter Riders star big man Jason Thompson, the MAAC's second leading scorer, Marist had a world of trouble trying to defend Thompson in the post. Shea, Stilphen, and freshman Korey Bauer (who really struggled) were the best that coach Brady could throw out there against Thompson, who finished with 20 points and 9 boards.
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Jason Thompson
The 6-11 Thompson, who has turned into one of the top rated big men in the entire NCAA, had Cleveland Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry on hand scouting him out. Thompson has been projected by some to be a late first/early second round pick in this years NBA draft.

There were some things that I loved about Thompson’s game and other areas that I felt were lacking. Overall, I felt that he may have been a little over hyped. Things to love about Thompson’s game are that he can flat-out score the basketball. He has surprising range on his jump shot and plays with fierce intensity the entire game on both ends of the floor. He is a leader both vocally and by example and has a world of potential being an athletic, near 7-foot big man.

The major thing he needs to work on is to solidify his post game. Don't get me wrong he dominated in the post, but that was against a lack luster, overmatched Red Fox frontline. Even with the soft Marist post defense, Thompson missed several open lay-ups early on. With a 6-11, 250 pound frame, Thompson should be drop stepping and dunking on inferior post players every time down the floor. However, Thompson is still learning how to play as a center. In his freshman year, he was only 6'7 (only). That means that NBA scouts love his potential, as he will continue to develop into a forceful big.

Foxes "D"-estroy Bucknell

It was all about the Defense for the Marist Red Foxes Wednesday as they shut down and dominated Bucknell in a 55-40 win, their 3rd straight.

The Red Foxes locked down Bucknell in both halves, holding them to a mere 19 points in the first and 21 in the second half, snapping the Bison's 10 game win streak at home.

In fact, the Red Foxes defensive effort was so impressive it marked Marist's fewest points allowed since 1985. The Red Fox 'D' overwhelmed the Bisons, as their uptempo man and intense zone defensive looks held all Bucknell players under double digits.

With the win the Marist Red Foxes improve to 4-3 on the young season and are over .500 for the first time since the opener.

"It was an outstanding defensive effort,"Marist head coach Matt Brady told the Poughkeepsie Journal. "For the most part, we really made them work hard."

On offense, it was a balanced attack for the Red Foxes with eight players scoring and as a team shooting 43 percent from the field. But in the end the defence was the driving force to the victory, something the Red Foxes have excelled at during this 3-game win streak.

"We won the game playing defense, obviously," Ryan Stilphen told the Journal.

Marist will next face Wright State at home Saturday where they have dominated winning 14 of their last 15 games dating back to last season.

Spongy, Foxes '1-Up' Colgate

A last second tip- in by Spongy Benjamin snapped the Red Foxes losing streak at 3, topping undefeated Colgate 61-60 in a thriller in Hamilton NY. The Benjamin putback came with 7.2 seconds left in the game, giving the Red Foxes what they so desperately needed, a big play with the game on the line.

The win gave Marist, who has struggled closing out games all season, some much needed second- half confidence.

"In my four years here, this is one of our best wins," Coach Matt Brady told the Poughkeepsie Journal. "It was a big-time play by Spongy to get that rebound."

Senior captain Ryan Stilphen led the way for the Red Foxes with a double-double performance of 17 points and 11 boards.

Tied 31-31 at the half, Marist came out firing with a 3-pointer by emerging star David Devezin, who had 12 points and a team high 5 assists. As a team, Marist shot 7-11 from downtown, with 6 different players connecting from deep.

The game was close the whole way, having 10 lead changes and 11 ties.