Dec. 5, 2008

Marist-Iona Game Notes

TIP-OFF: The Red Foxes host Iona in their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener tonight at 7:30.

ON THE AIR: Tonight's game be broadcast live on radio on WKIP (1450 AM) in Poughkeepsie, with Ed Weir on play-by-play and George Siegrist doing color. The broadcast will also be available online at GoRedFoxes.com free of charge through Stretch Internet. The pregame show starts at 7 p.m. EST. The contest will be aired live on Time Warner Cable 6, with Tony Morino on play-by-play, Steve Eggink on color and Allison Burke reporting from the sideline. Marist College Television (MCTV) will also broadcast the game, with Colin Walker and Greg Kaplan providing the commentary.

TODAY'S TOP TIDBITS: Since joining the MAAC for the 1997-98 season, Marist is 9-2 in conference-opening games. The Red Foxes' only losses came in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. ... Marist has won its last four meetings with Iona, and has won five of the last seven meetings against the Gaels at the McCann Center. ... Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider leads the MAAC in defensive rebounds per game (8.3). ... Schneider is the only Red Fox to hit a three-pointer in every game this season. ... Red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin is second in the MAAC in three-point percentage (.500).

LAST TIME OUT: The Red Foxes suffered a 100-61 loss to #18#15 Memphis at the FedEx Forum, as head coach Chuck Martin returned to the place where he spent the last two years as an assistant to John Calipari. David Devezin led the Red Foxes with 11 points, and Lawrence Williams had a team-best nine rebounds.

RECENT HISTORY WITH IONA: Marist has won its last four meetings with Iona, and has prevailed in five of the last seven meetings against the Gaels at the McCann Center.

OVERALL: Marist is 13-25 against Iona in its Division I history.

UP NEXT: Marist heads to the road to take on MAAC preseason favorite Siena on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Times Union Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

MAAC OPENERS: Since joining the MAAC for the 1997-98 season, Marist is 9-2 in conference-opening games. The Red Foxes' only losses came in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE SINGLE-DOUBLE?: Senior red-shirt forward Ryan Schneider is averaging close to a double-double this season (12.5 points, 9.7 rebounds per game) despite not having a double-double in any of the Red Foxes first five games of the season. Schneider has scored at least eight points and secured at least eight rebounds in all six of Marist's games. He has four double-digit scoring efforts, and in the two games he did not score in double digits, he had a double-digit rebounding effort. His 12 rebounds against New Hampshire on Nov. 29 tied a career high previously set at Rutgers in the season opener on Nov. 14.

AND HE CONTRIBUTES ACROSS THE BOARD ... : Senior red-shirt forward Ryan Schneider also leads the Red Foxes in blocked shots (eight), steals (eight) and three-pointers made (14). Schneider has a steal in all of Marist's six games this season, including three against Delaware on Nov. 23. He is the only Red Fox to make a three-pointer in every Marist game this season, and is shooting .368 from long distance.

DEVEZIN'S RECENT SURGE: Red-shirt junior point guard David Devezin has led Marist in scoring in each of the team's last four games. Devezin has averaged 17.3 points per game in that span.

DEJUAN FOR THREE: Red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin leads the Red Foxes in three-point percentage at .500 (8-for-16), which puts him tied for second in the MAAC. For his career, Goodwin is a .443 shooter (27-for-61) on three-point attempts.

264 AND COUNTING: Marist has hit a three-pointer in 265 consecutive games. The last game in which Marist did not hit a three-pointer came on Dec. 7, 1999, when the Red Foxes shot 0-for-7 from three-point range in a 72-63 home win over American.

DEJUAN CRASHES GLASS: Red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin has had at least five rebounds in three of his last five games. Last season, Goodwin's season high in rebounds was five, which came on two occasions.

NUMBERS GAME: In its first five games of the season, Marist played two games decided by a score of 63-61. The Red Foxes lost by that score in their season opener at Rutgers on Nov. 14, and won by that score at home against New Hampshire on Nov. 29.

BIG DAY FOR KB: Sophomore forward Korey Bauer had the first double-digit scoring effort of his career vs. Delaware on Nov. 23, finishing with 13 points while tying his career high with six rebounds.

LB'S BIG NIGHTS: It took red-shirt sophomore forward Lawrence Williams, affectionately known as "LB", just four games to top his total scoring output from the 2007-08 season. Williams scored 39 points in the first four games of the season. Last season, in 21 games, Williams scored a total of 35 points.

GARDEN STATE CHALLENGE: The Red Foxes completed play in the season-opening Garden State Challenge with a 1-3 record. St. Bonaventure and Rutgers each posted 3-1 records in the tournament. Delaware was 2-2, while both Marist and Robert Morris finished 1-3.

PRODUCTIVE START: Red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin made his first start of the season against Robert Morris on Nov. 22, and set career highs for minutes played (33) and rebounds (six).

AND HE DID IT EARLY, TOO: Red-shirt sophomore forward Lawrence Williams scored eight of Marist's first 11 points on Nov. 14 at Rutgers. Williams had already established a new career high in scoring just 2:55 into the contest, as he had already scored six points at that juncture.

NEW OPENING LINEUP: The Red Foxes' starting lineup in their season opener at Rutgers on Nov. 14 included three players (Kaylen Gregory, Javon Parris and Lawrence Williams) who had never started a Division I game, and another (Ryan Schneider) who had never started a game for the Red Foxes. Red-shirt junior point guard David Devezin was the only starter who had previously started a game in a Marist uniform.

SCHNEIDER'S EFFORTS: Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds at Rutgers on Nov. 14. Schneider also registered three blocked shots in a team-high 37 minutes played.

A SEESAW AFFAIR: Marist's season opener at Rutgers on Nov. 14 included 12 lead changes and seven tied scores.

FOR STARTERS: With its 63-61 loss at Rutgers in the season opener on Nov. 14, the Red Foxes have now lost four of their last six season-opening contests.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE: The Red Foxes have the MAAC's best record at home over the course of the last four seasons, posting a mark of 32-8 (.800) at the McCann Center in that time. Since the installation of new bleachers in both the north and south end zones during the 2005-06 season, Marist has won 30 of its 35 home games, a winning percentage of .857.

THERE WILL BE CHANGES: Entering this season, the Marist roster consists of players who have started just 45 games in a Marist uniform in their careers. Red-shirt junior point guard David Devezin made 31 appearances in the opening lineup last season, and red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin added 14 starts last year. No one on the current Marist roster has started a game for the Red Foxes prior to last year. Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider entered the season with 15 career starts, all coming at the University of Vermont in the 2005-06 season.

RECORD-SETTING SCHEDULE: Marist will play 31 regular-season games this season, eclipsing the program record of 30 set each of the previous two seasons.

MORE TOURNAMENTS: The Garden State Challenge was the first of two in-season tournaments the Red Foxes will play this season. Marist will also take part in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden for the second straight year. The Red Foxes will play St. John's in the opening round on Dec. 20, and will then face either Virginia Tech or Columbia in the championship/consolation game the following day.

A RARE HOLDOVER: Red-shirt senior guard Kaylen Gregory, one of six returners for the Red Foxes this season, is the only member of the team who was in uniform in the 2006-07 season. Of the other five returners, red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider served his year in residency in 2006-07, and red-shirts sophomores Dejuan Goodwin and Lawrence Williams both sat out that season. Red-shirt junior point guard David Devezin and sophomore forward Korey Bauer both joined the program for the 2007-08 season.

WHAT'S NEW: The Red Foxes have an abundance of new faces for the 2008-09 season. Head Coach Chuck Martin was hired on April 17, 2008 as the program's sixth head coach in its Division I history. Marist also has an entirely new coaching staff, consisting of assistants Paul Lee, Tyrone Weeks, Bashir Mason and director of men's basketball operations Will Lanier. The Red Foxes also have eight newcomers this season (Dorvell Carter, Pat McDerby, Daye Kaba, R.J. Hall, Alex Vouyoukas, Nick Amicucci, Mike Taylor and Javon Parris).

LOTS TO REPLACE: The 10 players the Red Foxes lost from their 2007-08 team combined for 70 percent of the team's points, 66 percent of the team's rebounds, 71 percent of the team's three-pointers made, 72 percent of the team's starts and 65 percent of the minutes played last season.

ONLY NEW FACE IN THE MAAC: Head Coach Chuck Martin is the lone newcomer among MAAC head coaches this season.

AN EXPERIENCED STAFF: New Head Coach Chuck Martin has assembled a coaching staff with considerable experience. The entire staff (assistant coaches Paul Lee, Tyrone Weeks and Bashir Mason and director of operations Will Lanier) has combined for three apperances in national championship games, four appearances in the Final Four, 40 seasons of Division I coaching experience, positions at 11 different Division I institutions and 14 years of Division I playing experience.

MAAC PROJECTIONS: The Red Foxes were picked to finish last among the MAAC's 10 team in the conference's preseason poll. Red-shirt junior point guard David Devezin was named Preseason Third Team All-MAAC.

MAAC'S BEST RECORD THE LAST THREE YEARS: Marist has amassed the best record in MAAC regular-seaosn play of any team in the conference the last three seasons. The Red Foxes have posted a 37-17 record in that span, two games ahead of Siena for the MAAC's best mark.

ALL-TIME MAAC RECORD: Since joining the MAAC in the 1997-98 season, the Red Foxes have posted a 106-92 (.535) record in conference games.

RED FOXES ON THE AIRWAVES: All Marist games will broadcast on WKIP (1450 AM) in Poughkeepsie and streamed live on GoRedFoxes.com through Stretch Internet. Ed Weir is in his 31st season of broadcasting Marist athletics, and Dean Darling is in his 26th season with the Red Foxes. Nine Marist games will be broadcast on Time Warner Cable 6, with Darling and former Red Fox Steve Eggink on the call. The Red Foxes will also have both of their games in the Holiday Festival televised by MSG. Marist's game against Canisius on Jan. 23 will be televised by ESPNU, its game against Manhattan on Feb. 2 will air on MSG Plus, and its contest on Feb. 16 at Saint Peter's will be shown on MSG.