Healthy squad might make some noise in MAAC tourney
Jay Bowie missed almost half the season with a concussion, but he?s back and healthy, and his Red Foxes couldn?t be happier.
Bowie?s Marist College men?s basketball team enters the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament today as the eighth seed, facing ninth-seeded Siena in an opening-round game.
This Marist team (10-20, 6-12) is a different bunch of Red Foxes than MAAC teams saw just five weeks ago, when senior guard Devin Price missed time with an injured ankle and Bowie still hadn?t returned to action.
With both back in the starting lineup, Marist will look to match last season?s opening-round win and, hopefully for the Red Foxes, advance even further.
?I think we?ll be pretty dangerous,? said Bowie, who averaged 9.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 17 games during the regular season. ?I think we all have trust in each other. I?m a junior and Devin is a senior, so we brought back a lot of experience.?
The Red Foxes bring a strong end to the regular season into the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Mass., having won their last three games and five of seven.
Head coach Chuck Martin said, ?It?s nice to have my entire team healthy at the right time,? and that helps Marist?s cause in tonight?s opener.
?If there?s a time to be healthy, it?s now, in March,? said Martin, later adding, ?I like my chances when I have Devin, Jay Bowie and the rest of the team really healthy.?
Heading into the tournament, the Red Foxes also bring the experience of having just beaten the Saints (7-23, 4-14) a week ago today.
Marist defeated host Siena 76-74 behind junior center Adam Kemp?s 24 points and 14 rebounds. Kemp credited Marist?s team effort to contain Siena?s all-conference forward, O.D. Anosike (12.9 points per game, 11.4 rebounds).
?The guys came over and helped to double-team him and get the ball out of his hands, and controlling him on the boards and just keeping him out of his zone? was a key to Marist?s win in Albany, Kemp said. ?We know that he is a big facilitator for their entire team. He sort of runs the team, and the team runs through him.?
Marist will look for Kemp to continue his recent strong performances. Bowie said the Red Foxes will likely feed their big man in the paint tonight, in hopes of moving on to the quarterfinals.
Marist made 53.7 percent of its shots in that second game against Siena, and Bowie said working to get good looks tonight will go a long way toward helping the Red Foxes prevail.
?As long as we get good ball movement and work the ball into Adam,? he said, ?we?ll be OK.?
Siena head coach Mitch Buonaguro said the Red Foxes ?are so much better, offensively? when they have a healthy Price and Bowie on the floor together.
?They?ve got six guys now that can score,? Buonaguro said, ?and I think Kemp, right now, is playing as well as any big kid in the league.?
Sydney Johnson knows all too well how potent the Red Foxes can be at full strength.
Johnson, Fairfield?s head coach, watched three Marist players score at least 14 points when the Red Foxes beat his visiting Stags 73-60 in Sunday?s regular-season finale.
?They have an outstanding team,? Johnson said, ?and what they have now is their entire roster back, and Chuck does a great job coaching.
?Me, personally, I wouldn?t want see them again in the tournament because they?re a really good team, they have answers for a lot of stuff, and they?re healthy.?
Jay Bowie missed almost half the season with a concussion, but he?s back and healthy, and his Red Foxes couldn?t be happier.
Bowie?s Marist College men?s basketball team enters the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament today as the eighth seed, facing ninth-seeded Siena in an opening-round game.
This Marist team (10-20, 6-12) is a different bunch of Red Foxes than MAAC teams saw just five weeks ago, when senior guard Devin Price missed time with an injured ankle and Bowie still hadn?t returned to action.
With both back in the starting lineup, Marist will look to match last season?s opening-round win and, hopefully for the Red Foxes, advance even further.
?I think we?ll be pretty dangerous,? said Bowie, who averaged 9.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 17 games during the regular season. ?I think we all have trust in each other. I?m a junior and Devin is a senior, so we brought back a lot of experience.?
The Red Foxes bring a strong end to the regular season into the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Mass., having won their last three games and five of seven.
Head coach Chuck Martin said, ?It?s nice to have my entire team healthy at the right time,? and that helps Marist?s cause in tonight?s opener.
?If there?s a time to be healthy, it?s now, in March,? said Martin, later adding, ?I like my chances when I have Devin, Jay Bowie and the rest of the team really healthy.?
Heading into the tournament, the Red Foxes also bring the experience of having just beaten the Saints (7-23, 4-14) a week ago today.
Marist defeated host Siena 76-74 behind junior center Adam Kemp?s 24 points and 14 rebounds. Kemp credited Marist?s team effort to contain Siena?s all-conference forward, O.D. Anosike (12.9 points per game, 11.4 rebounds).
?The guys came over and helped to double-team him and get the ball out of his hands, and controlling him on the boards and just keeping him out of his zone? was a key to Marist?s win in Albany, Kemp said. ?We know that he is a big facilitator for their entire team. He sort of runs the team, and the team runs through him.?
Marist will look for Kemp to continue his recent strong performances. Bowie said the Red Foxes will likely feed their big man in the paint tonight, in hopes of moving on to the quarterfinals.
Marist made 53.7 percent of its shots in that second game against Siena, and Bowie said working to get good looks tonight will go a long way toward helping the Red Foxes prevail.
?As long as we get good ball movement and work the ball into Adam,? he said, ?we?ll be OK.?
Siena head coach Mitch Buonaguro said the Red Foxes ?are so much better, offensively? when they have a healthy Price and Bowie on the floor together.
?They?ve got six guys now that can score,? Buonaguro said, ?and I think Kemp, right now, is playing as well as any big kid in the league.?
Sydney Johnson knows all too well how potent the Red Foxes can be at full strength.
Johnson, Fairfield?s head coach, watched three Marist players score at least 14 points when the Red Foxes beat his visiting Stags 73-60 in Sunday?s regular-season finale.
?They have an outstanding team,? Johnson said, ?and what they have now is their entire roster back, and Chuck does a great job coaching.
?Me, personally, I wouldn?t want see them again in the tournament because they?re a really good team, they have answers for a lot of stuff, and they?re healthy.?
