McCroskey out 4-6 weeks; Marist ready for Niagara

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Forward sustained ankle sprain in loss





The Marist College men's basketball team not only lost a game on Thursday night, it lost one of its top offensive threats.




The Red Foxes will be without redshirt senior forward Louie McCroskey for tonight's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game with Niagara University at the James J. McCann Recreation Center in the Town of Poughkeepsie.




McCroskey is out for 4-to-6 weeks with an ankle sprain he suffered in an 83-71 MAAC loss to Loyola College (Md.) in Baltimore on Thursday night. McCroskey sustained the injury early in the game.




A starting guard, McCroskey entered the Loyola contest as Marist's leading scorer; he's now second on the team averaging 12.4 points a night, just behind Jay Gavin's 13.4 points-per-game average.




As for the loss, it ended a five-game winning streak for the Red Foxes, who dropped to 11-7 overall.




Marist, which started last week in a three-way tie for first place with Siena College and Niagara, enters tonight's game in a three-way tie for second with Rider University and Niagara.




The Purple Eagles were upset on Friday night by rival Canisius College.




Siena leads the MAAC with a 6-1 conference record.




Leading the conference in scoring, Charron Fisher gives Niagara 27.5 points a night. Tyrone Lewis (14.5 ppg.) and Stanley Hodge (12.6 ppg.) also average double-digit scoring for the Purple Eagles.




Red Fox tales

Marist is 6-0 at the McCann Center this season. The Red Foxes have won 11 consecutive games at home, dating back to last season. ...

 

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NU now knows losing is an option




The Niagara Purple Eagles haven?t lacked confidence all season. That likely won?t change after Friday night?s embarrassing loss at Canisius.

The challenge, according to coach Joe Mihalich, is for players to believe in their ability to win, while keeping the realities of competition in perspective.

?You can?t think your going to lose, but you got to know that you can. Because you always can,? Mihalich said after his team lost to its cross-town rival, 70-62, for the first time in nearly six years.

?If you don?t play the game the right way, if you get out-hustled, out-worked and out-toughed, you don?t win.?

Mihalich gave the Golden Griffs credit for being an ?incredibly inspired team,? but acknowledged that the Purple Eagles (11-5, 5-2) will face an even tougher test tonight when they visit Marist (11-7, 5-2), one of three teams with which they share second place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

?We?ll find out what we?re made of now, because we?re going to play a really good team,? he said.

The Red Foxes lost 76-67 at Taps Gallagher Center last month, and are coming off an 83-71 loss at Loyola. After Siena, Marist is now the RPI?s second-favorite MAAC squad, after the Purple Eagles plummeted out of the top 100 by losing to a Griffs squad that had just two wins coming in.

Tonight?s game is the second of four straight away from Monteagle Ridge for Niagara. They visit St. Peter?s and Fairfield this weekend.

To get their MAAC title quest back on track, Niagara must make more shots than they did Friday. The team?s top three scorers ? Charron Fisher, Tyrone Lewis and Stanley Hodge ? combined to go 4-of-27 from 3-point range. Dismissing desperation 3s in the final two minutes, Niagara was 4-of-22 from beyond the arc.

?I missed shots I should?ve made,? Fisher said.

Intangibly, Mihalich hopes his confident bunch plays with a bit more insecurity.

?We?re only good when we realize how close we are to not being good,? he said. ?There?s not a lot of room for error.?