The Draddy Gymnasium signifies a house of horrors for the Marist Red Foxes. They hope to end the drought tonight. Marist has not won in Manhattan's house since December 7, 2000 when the Foxes edged the Jaspers, 64-60. Both teams enter tonight's game with 2-2 conference records, but Manhattan boasts an 8-6 overall record while Marist sits at 6-10. Manhattan is coming off a narrow win against MAAC cellar-dweller Canisius in which the Jaspers embarked on a 9-0 run in the final 2:15 of the game to escape with a 59-57 win. Both of Manhattan's conference wins have come against Canisius.
Tonight also marks another homecoming for Marist head coach Chuck Martin. This will be the third time this season that Martin has coached against a program he formerly worked for. Martin was an assistant coach with Manhattan during the 1999-2000 season in which he coached 2004 NBA draft pick Luis Flores. Martin has also coached against former teams Memphis and St. John's, where he worked as an assistant coach.
Marist's toughest challenge tonight comes in the form of Chris Smith, the sixth leading scorer in the MAAC. The 6-foot-3 guard averages 14.7 ppg and 3.4 rpg. The sophomore only connects on 36.5 percent of his field goals, however. Manhattan has multiple offensive threats. Four players average above nine ppg and three players score in double-digits. Smith, Devon Austin, and Darryl Crawford all score in double-digits. Junior Antoine Pearson also leads the MAAC in three-point field-goal percentage, a spot formerly occupied by Marist's Dejuan Goodwin (currently fourth).
Marist will rely heavily on Ryan Schneider, as always tonight against Manhattan. Schneider is the one constant in a team with several question marks right now. The health of David Devezin and whether or not he or R.J. Hall will man the point is an issue for the Red Foxes. Devezin sat on the bench for the second half of Marist's loss against Rider and played only 17 minutes.
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